A Special Session is devoted to either a traditional core EDA topic, a topic of future interest, or an ESS topic. The topic should be presented from an angle that does not overlap content from traditional research manuscripts, having a more educational component.
A complete submission should list at least three inspiring speakers who address the topic from different angles. Incomplete special sessions with just one or two speakers WILL also be considered and are encouraged (but complete proposals are preferred). Incomplete proposals may potentially be merged with other proposals.
The Special Session submission form is streamlined this year, requiring an overall abstract for the special session plus a title, short abstract, and speaker name (and full contact info.) for each of the proposed talks. Note that the organizer/submitter of the special session may also be a speaker for the session.
A. DAC Special Sessions are part of the technical program and occupy a time slot of either 1.5 or 2 hours. As in a regular session in the technical program, there is an Organizer, Moderator (which can also be the Special Session Chair) and an opportunity for three or more participants to speak in a room with theater style seating with a seated audience of up to 200 people.
A.Yes, the Organizer has the opportunity to select whether or not the participants will produce a manuscript to be included in the DAC Proceedings. There are two options to choose from regarding manuscript production:
- One manuscript is produced encompassing all talks in the session: One file is submitted with all speakers listed as authors on the manuscript.
- Several manuscripts are produced: One manuscript per speaker is produced. That means if there are three speakers in a session, there will be three separate manuscripts written for the session.
Manuscripts must be a minimum of two (2) pages but no more than six (6) pages (including references). Should you need more than six pages, please contact the Special Session Chair,
Charles Alpert.
A. TIMELINE:
| September 7 |
Submission site OPENS |
| November 2 |
Submission deadline: 5:00pm MT (-7:00 GMT) |
| February 8, 2013 |
Accept/reject notification sent |
| March 1, 2013 |
Draft manuscript due to Special Session Chair from presenters (if session participants are submitting manuscript(s) to be included in the Proceedings). |
| March 13, 2013 |
Feedback due to special session presenters on draft manuscript from Special Session Chair. |
| March 29, 2013 |
Copyright form due |
| April 5, 2013 |
Registration and final manuscript deadline |
A.There are three different popular structures for a DAC special session. Of course, variations on any of these structures may be appropriate - but please justify your choice of structure in your proposal. The popular structures are:
- Traditional - As many 30-minute talks that will fit into a session of 90 or 120 minutes.
- Mini-tutorial plus solutions - The first talk is a 30 or 45-minute setup talk which acts as a mini-tutorial outlining a problem, followed by 15 or 30-minute talks which cover various solutions or experiments looking for solutions in the topic area.
- Talks and panel - e.g., three 30-minute talks, followed by a 30-minute panel discussion moderated by the Session Chair and involving all the speakers, and Q&A moderated by the Chair which engages the audience.
A. The DAC Technical Program Co-Chairs review the proposals for the special sessions and coordinate with the Organizer(s) on the final content. All suggestions must be submitted via the DAC website; even direct solicitations must be entered. However, please feel free to consult the Technical Program Co-Chairs prior to submitting the proposal.
A. You must first download and complete the
special session proposal slide template here. You will attach this completed file to your submission form (either in .ppt, .pptx or .pdf format). When you complete the submission slide template, be sure to complete ALL of the required fields.
Submissions with missing information in the slide template or the web form will be at a disadvantage. You may find a
sample of a completed template here.
The .pptx attachment is MANDATORY and is what the TPC will use to base their decision upon. It is best to have these items ready before completing the submission process:
- Title - Indicate the focus (technical, business or mixed)
- Topic area - Choose from the drop-down list of topics
- Abstract or description - Summarize the content of the special session and the proposed length - 90 or 120 minutes. What are the viewpoints of the main sub-areas in the session? What is the balance between vendor and customer (user), technologist and methodologist, various competing technology solutions, etc.? What is your chosen structure, and why?
- Speakers - Confirmed in advance -Names, affiliations, contact information and presenters' qualifications to be part of the special session
- Proposed chair - Confirmed in advance - Name, address, and contact information
- Organizer information - Name, address, and contact information
- Presentation/manuscript titles - Please indicate these on the .pptx form. Manuscript titles and presentation titles are one in the same; all presentation titles MUST match the title of the manuscript submitted for the DAC Proceedings
- Short abstract of each paper/talk - Please give two or three sentences that describe each proposed paper/talk
- Short bio/viewpoints of each speaker - Please describe how each proposed speaker will enrich the session
IMPORTANT: Do not submit your special session proposal until you have confirmed participation by the designated chair and speakers. Do not wait to find out if the special session has been accepted before obtaining confirmation.
A. There are a number of things to consider in a special session proposal:
- Focus - Technical or business? The majority of special sessions have a technical focus, which is appropriate, as they are part of the technical program. Sometimes they have a mixed focus, but a business-only special session would likely be better as a panel or part of a special DAC "management track".
- Premise and Motivation - Consider why a special session is appropriate and what the overall theme is meant to convey. What is the key issue? Why have it at DAC, and why in this year? (i.e., what makes it timely?) Why the special session format?
- Topic and Speakers - There are only a few special sessions in each DAC, and the topic should be of significant importance to the technical audience at this time. The speakers need to convey compelling information about the topic, and it must be of high value to the attendees.
- Speakers and Structure - Who are the invited speakers? What is the title, the length and the topic of each talk? Speakers should be confirmed in advance before making the proposal. They should know and agree to the theme of the session. Each speaker will have the opportunity to submit an invited manuscript for the proceedings. The manuscript will be reviewed by the TPC Co-Chairs, the session organizer and the session chair. If each speaker in a session would like to collaborate and only produce one manuscript for the proceedings covering the entire session, that is acceptable, as well. What ties the speakers together into the overall theme, and what is the order of the talks? A special session may have an interesting thematic structure - for example, the first talk may give a mini-tutorial overview of a problem; the next talks may give various solutions to that problem. (See below for more suggestions on structure)
- Chair - The chair of a special session and the organizer(s) can be different. The Chair will have to be present at the session while organizer participation is not mandatory.
- Constraints on Roles - An individual can be both an organizer and a speaker; however, no organization may be associated with both the chair and speaker roles. That is, the designated chair must be affiliated with a different organization than all the speakers.
A. Please go to the
DAC Archives for previously accepted submissions. Click on the file cabinet, check the box for a specific DAC year.
A. The DAC Program Committee determines which and how many Special Sessions are included in the DAC program, as well as their placement in the conference schedule. The Program Committee selects Special Sessions based on:
- Completeness of the Special Session proposal
- Timeliness of the proposal - i.e., why it is especially suitable for DAC to cover this topic at this time
- Breadth of interest in the area
- Confirmed speaker list and the coverage of the topic in their talks
- How well the topic fits within the overall content of the conference
Once the Special Session submission has been reviewed, the Program Committee may make any changes to the Special Session they deem necessary, including:
- Modify the topic
- Replace the proposed chair
- Add, remove, or replace proposed speakers
If multiple Special Session proposals are submitted with similar topics, the Program Committee may choose to accept one over the others, to merge the proposed sessions, or to reject all of them.
A. The following people:
- Organizer: The Organizer writes the proposal for the special session, selects and confirms the participation of the Session Chair and Speakers, and submits the proposal to DAC by the deadline. The Organizer also coordinates the proceedings manuscripts with the Speakers.
- Chair: The Special Session Chair fills the same role as the chair of any regular technical program session. He or she may also be the Session Organizer. He or she briefly introduces the session and each speaker, keeps track of time, moderates the panel (if a panel is part of the special session), and manages the question and answer session after each manuscript.
- Speakers: The Speakers for the Special Sessions fill the same role as any regular technical speaker at DAC, and must submit separate invited manuscripts for publication in the proceedings. The TPC Co-Chairs, Special Session Organizer and Chair will review the manuscript and provide feedback.
A. If you have an idea for 1-2 talks in a Special Session, we still encourage you to submit the incomplete session. The DAC Committee may find other speakers in order to fill out the session. It may be possible to merge incomplete Special Session proposals into one session.
A. Feel free to contact
Charles Alpert, 50th DAC Technical Program Co-Chair, if you have any questions. Putting together a Special Session typically requires iterations with the Technical Program Committee, so feel free to contact Charles any time
before the deadline to get any opinions or advice.