A. TIMELINE
NOVEMBER 2011
November 2 - Submissions are due no later than 5:00pm MT (-07:00 GMT)
MARCH 2012
March 6 - You will be notified if you have been chosen to participate in a DAC Panel
A. A technical panel is a 90 to 120 minute panel; typically with three to seven participants (including the moderator) in a theater style setting among a seated audience of up to 400 people. A pavilion panel takes place on the DAC exhibit floor in an exhibit booth named the DAC Pavilion. This forum is a 30 to 60 minute panel with three to four participants (including the moderator) in a talk-show-like informal setting with an audience of up to 100 people.
A. The panel topic should be interesting, timely, informative, and enlightening. Be sure to keep those qualifications in mind as you develop your topic ideas and panelist list. The topic should be relevant to one or more segments of DAC attendees. A good panel session explores a single, high-level issue or question and has representatives of differing viewpoints. Controversy is appropriate; bickering and personal attacks are not. Sales pitches are inappropriate in a DAC panel. You will alienate your audience if ANY of the panelists attempt to use the conference panel session as a way to promote their products.
A. Panel suggestions may include any topics that might appeal to the design automation community. DAC continues to seek suggestions for core EDA topics in verification, timing, physical design, and design for manufacturability. Special focus areas in 2012 include embedded software and systems, cloud computing, parallelization, and new technologies (e.g., 3-D).
A. The DAC Panel Committee determines which and how many panels are included in the DAC program, as well as their placement in the conference schedule. Panel suggestions are used as a base for panel creation. The Panel Committee constructs panels based on:
- The completeness of the panel suggestion.
- The degree of controversy, if applicable, and the variety of viewpoints represented by panelists.
- The breadth of interest in the area and the timeliness of the topic.
- How well the topic fits within the overall content of the conference.
- Quality of the suggested participants.
The committee may decide to take a panel suggestion and morph it, e.g., by changing the title, focus, and picking alternative panelists. An accept/reject notification will be sent based on whether the initial panel suggestion was used in the Committee’s construction of the actual panel.
A. The Panel Committee requests suggestions for possible panelists and moderators. The Committee may choose only a subset, or none, of the proposed panelists. Confirmation of the Panelists is up to the Committee, so the submitter only needs to submit their “dream team” and not worry about confirming participants.
Panel Organizer: The Panel Organizer generates the initial idea, proposes moderators, and proposes panelists for the chosen topic. The DAC Panel Committee will be the responsible party to confirm and coordinate the ideas of the Panel.
Moderator: The Panel Moderator introduces the topic and the panelists, manages the discussion during the panel presentation, and directs the question and answer segment of the panel. Moderators must be capable of controlling the discussion and should be prepared with questions that will highlight distinctions between the panelists’ viewpoints. (The organizer and moderator may be the same person)
Panelists: The panelists state their positions on the panel topic, participate in the panel discussion, and participate in the audience Q&A segment of the event. The Organizer(s) is encouraged to propose panelists with differing, interesting viewpoints on the proposed topic.
A. This year, DAC requires all panel suggestions to be made via the web submission form. This allows the panel proposal to more directly reflect the information that the Panel Committee needs to construct a panel. Please fill out ALL required information completely and accurately. We suggest gathering the information below BEFORE completing the online submission form, since web browsers are notorious for crashing and losing information. The form requires:
- Full name, job title, affiliation, email, and location information (city, state/country) for each Organizer, Moderator, and proposed panelist.
- For each panelist, answer the question “What perspective does this person bring to the panel? For example: Technical Lead of Manufacturing Technology at leading silicon provider.
- A short bio of each proposed panelist (50-100 words).
- Title and a 60 word (or less) abstract as one would want it to appear in the Conference Program. Try to make the title and abstract sell the panel to possible attendees.
- Brief description of the rationale behind the proposal – why now?
- A more detailed description of the panel; more detail than what is given in the 60-word abstract.
In addition, the Panel Committee requires each panelist to submit a two-slide PowerPoint, OpenOffice, or LibreOffice file that summarizes the key information in the submission (for the simple reason that it makes it easier for the DAC Panel Committee). The content in the slides should be identical to the submission. Simply follow the slide template located at the bottom of the submission form.
A. Yes. Panels on similar topics can be presented in different ways and with different perspectives. In the description of “Why now?” please explain the unique perspective the panel brings compared to similar panels of previous years.
A. Samples of abstracts and position statements from previously accepted panels can be found on the DAC Archive, click on the file cabinet, check the box for a specific DAC year, select “Panel” from the “Event Type” drop down menu and hit the “Browse” button. A list of result links will appear at the bottom of the page to click on to view the corresponding information.
A. DAC will send you an update by February 15, 2012 on the status of your proposal. The Panel Committee will attempt to work with the original organizer in refining the panel, but if this is not successful, another organizer may be appointed or the Panel Committee will organize it internally. Panelists will be confirmed through the Panel Committee, not the Organizer.
A. For additional information, email Charles Alpert, 49th DAC Panel Committee Chair.