Hi, Everyone, 

I am writing from Minnesota, the ELUNA 2024 Annual Meeting state. It was a coincidence that I am now the new Conference Program Committee Chair for ELUNA 2024, and it has nothing to do with my proximity to the venue. However, this change is sad because Shay Beezley has had to step back from leading the committee to a consultancy role. We will all miss her outstanding leadership and support for the annual meeting. I appreciate her willingness to provide some support to guide us through the process as the committee makeup is also changing.  

To get to the next important part of this message, we are looking for additional program committee members to help us do everything we need to do to make ELUNA wonderful. If you are intrigued, here is an overview of what we will be working on: 

• We review program proposals for the tracks to see if they match attendee interests. We rarely turn down a presentation outright. However, we might notice similar presentation proposals during our reviews and suggest the submitters partner up.  

• We also help encourage presenters by contacting people individually regarding presentation topics they could use. Sending encouraging emails to the discussion lists is another way to find presenters.   

• We also help communicate information to the presenters. That could include acceptance emails, scheduling requests, and moderator information, depending on what the software we use can do. 

• We review various publications (print program, online schedule, etc.) depending on availability and timelines. 

• In the past, there has been a moderator coordinator position too. They would start once the schedule was finalized to slot moderators into sessions. They didn't participate in the review/acceptance process. 

• If interested, you could also help me with some data entry tasks typically assigned to the Chair. 

Carrie Curie