Actes du colloque - Volume 6

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Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013
conferences organised by FedIGS Sister Societies as a condition
of its permission to use the ISSMGE logo. It will be a condition
of the support of the ISSMGE that it shall be made clear on all
publicity material, at the conference venue and in any printed
proceedings, that the meeting is supported by the ISSMGE. The
ISSMGE logo, shown below, should appear on all publicity
materials. The normal size of the logo is height 3cm and width
3.7cm though this can be reduced to up to 50% provided the
aspect ratio is maintained. The logo can be obtained from the
ISSMGE Secretariat email:
ISSMGE Officers or other prominent individuals are often
invited to attend these conferences. Whenever possible, some
support in kind should be offered, usually in the form of waived
registration fees
Appendix B: CONFERENCE ORGANISATION
B.1 Introduction
There is a wide range of conferences organised “under the
auspices of ISSMGE”. In order for this to have meaning it is
necessary to adhere to a minimum set of requirements as
regards the organising committee, any advisory committees,
refereeing of papers, setting fees, etc. As a general requirement,
it is expected that all members of advisory and organising
committees will be members of the International Society for
Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering.
B.2 Organising Committee
The conference organising committee takes responsibility for
the administration, detailed organisation and financing of a
conference. Thus the Organising Committee comprises mainly
individuals local to the host country. Others may be involved,
and in particular the organising committee should consult with
appropriate officers of the ISSMGE. For the International
Conference, these necessarily include the President and
Secretary General and for the Regional Conferences the relevant
Vice-Presidents must be involved. The organisers of specialist
conferences should keep informed the Vice-President for the
Region acting as host to a Technical Committee and the
Secretary General.
B.3 Advisory Committee
The Advisory Committee is responsible for such issues as the
technical programme, keynote speakers, session leaders etc. For
the International Conference the committee normally comprises
the President, the Vice-President of the region in which the
conference is to be held, the secretary or chairman of the
Organising Committee for the previous International
Conference, two members of the Organising Committee for the
current conference and the Secretary General. Comparable
arrangements should be made in respect of other conferences.
For example, for the Regional Conferences the Vice-Presidents
will have a primary role though the President may also be
invited to contribute. For specialist conferences core members
from the relevant Technical Committees should be involved.
B.4 Papers
The strength of ISSMGE conferences lies in the quality of the
published papers and it is the responsibility of the conference
organisers to ensure that high standards are maintained. It is
expected that the Abstracts and Papers will be reviewed and
refereed to ensure that they fall within the scope of the
conference and are of an appropriate standard both in terms of
technical and presentational quality. The conference organisers
will need to establish an appropriate team of referees who are
members of ISSMGE and who are knowledgeable of the
requirements for the critical review of technical literature. For
the International and Regional conferences, refereeing of
Abstracts and Papers is normally delegated to the relevant
Member Societies though it is expected that members of
Technical Committees will be involved. A list of referees
involved should normally be printed in the conference
proceedings.
B.5 Publication
ISSMGE conferences should result in referable technical
literature. There must be a clear statement in the Preface or in
some other appropriate place that the published papers have
been refereed and giving details of the referee process.
Publications have normally been in the form of printed
proceedings though alternative forms of publication media can
be considered provided that the proceedings can be available for
reference in the long-term. A copy of the published proceedings
must be sent to SGI-line for inclusion in their Geotechnical
Literature Database.
B.6 Involvement of Technical Committees
The Technical Committees perform an important function for
ISSMGE. The committees have members who are both
enthusiasts and specialists in their area. They meet regularly to
exchange new ideas on technical developments and to develop
publications on new guidelines or state-of-the-art reports etc. It
is therefore expected that key Technical Committee members
will be involved in the organisation and delivery of conference
sessions that are directly related to their technical expertise.
B.7 Involvement of practitioners
The ISSMGE aims to cater for the needs of all members of the
geotechnical community. Conference organisers are encouraged
to ensure a balance between the involvement of academics,
researchers and practitioners in the organisation of the
conference and in the conference programme. The extent of
practitioner involvement will vary depending on the nature of
the conference. As a guideline, practitioner involvement in
general conferences should preferably not be less than 25%
increasing to 50% in the case of practical speciality conferences.
B.8 Exhibitors and sponsorship
It is quite normal for conferences to include a technical
exhibition related to the theme of the conference. This is to be
encouraged. Conference organisers should recognise that
individuals or companies paying for exhibition space often
guarantee the financial viability of a conference. The venue for
the exhibition should be chosen to be as near to the conference
halls as practicable and care should be taken to ensure that
delegates have the opportunity and occasion to visit the
exhibition. A particularly successful arrangement has been to
organise the coffee breaks etc. within the exhibition area. Also,
there should normally be an official opening ceremony for the
exhibition followed by a period when delegates can visit the
exhibition with no other planned conference activities.
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