We welcome you to the large number of volunteers who have organized one, or more, IFIP events. As you know there is a long tradition of IFIP sponsored events that have taken place over the last (almost) forty years. In 1997 alone, IFIP (co-)sponsored over 70 events. Your conference will continue the succession of excellent events sponsored by your Technical Committee/Working Group.

As part of your responsibility, we ask you to complete the web-based Event Request Form on IFIP’s website. The system will automatically inform the IFIP WG Chair (if applicable) and/or the respective IFIP TC Chair who will review the form and send it on to the IFIP Activity Management Board for final checking and approval. The following are some points to remember as you prepare this request:

1. You should be sure to have a copy of the IFIP Event Approval Guidelines since it covers a number of points referred to in the online Event Request Form. We are often asked to distinguish between an Open Conference and a Working Conference. In general, an Open Conference is a large conference with a mix of invited and solicited, refereed contributions, with an expected attendance of more than 100 participants. A Working Conference usually focuses on a special subject area and has a restricted and small number of participants (less than 100).
2. Another question that often gets asked is IFIP’s policy on providing cancellation and other liability insurance for conferences. IFIP expects that each conference organizer will accept all financial and other legal liabilities apart from any support eventually approved by IFIP. The local organization and arrangements are the responsibility of local organizing committees. IFIP recommends event organizers to consider insurance locally and to include any insurance costs in the conference budget. Many universities and research organizations have blanket insurance policies for their events. IFIP event organizers are encouraged to investigate whether their organization has an existing insurance policy before other arrangements are explored.
3. We realize that this might well be the first event of this type that you have organized for IFIP. We hope you find these notes useful. You may also refer to the helpful checklist and to the benefits page which we have prepared for your convenience. Context-sensitive help on completing the Event Request Form is also provided on the form itself. For further information please consult your WG and/or TC Chair and the IFIP secretariat. If we can be of any further assistance in helping you organize a successful conference please let us know.

The IFIP Activity Management Board