CAWCR (700 Collins St) Seminar Coordinator Instructions

Compiled by Beth Ebert (April 1998), updates by Diana Greenslade (2001), Matthew Wheeler (2003), Vaughan Barras (2009)

CAWCR BoM (700 Collins St) runs a seminar series that contains both formal and informal talks on a range of topics of interest to the Bureau. Tuesday - Thursday mornings at 10:00 a.m is the usual time, but they may be arranged for any time. The job of the CAWCR Seminar Coordinator entails the following tasks:

· organising seminar speakers

· updating the seminar schedule

· publicising the seminars

· reserving the seminar room

· arranging videotaping of seminars on request

· conducting the seminar

This document describes these tasks, with notes from the experiences from past coordinators. The time commitment is usually about an hour or two each week, in addition to the time spent attending the seminar(s).
 
 

1. Organising seminar speakers

(vjb) This has changed slightly from the BMRC Coordinator's role in that speakers are generally invited by a contact person at the Bureau who then gets in touch with the Seminar Coodinator. Experience has found that there are generally enough speakers to adequately fill the schedule. More informal talks by Bureau staff that used to be scheduled regularly on Wednesday mornings tend to now occur on Thursday afternoons (~3:30pm) as 'Science Tea' presentations. These are a good opportunity for staff to practise a presentation to be given at an upcoming conference or to present and/or discuss some interesting research findings. Biscuits are usually provided too. The current contact for Science Tea presentations is either the Seminar Coordinator or Aurel Moise.

Don't schedule any informal speakers for the week of the BMRC (now CAWCR) Modelling Workshop (usually during October), as there are many visitors who will want to give seminars.
 
  2. Updating the seminar schedule

(vjb) With the advent of CAWCR this has also changed. The CAWCR Seminar website has relocated to: http://www.cawcr.gov.au/events/seminars/collins.php and lists the upcoming seminars in a table with most recent / upcoming talks at the top. There are links from each seminar title down to its corresponding abstract (~100-200 words) at the bottom of the page. The Seminar Coordinator should request this from the speaker (or through the contact person) when arranging the date and time. It's good to have these at least a week (preferably more) before the date of the talk.

The link above is the main Seminars page, therefore it is imperative that this site is maintained and updated regularly.

There is also an internal Seminars webpage which archives *.pdf copies of CAWCR Seminars along with audio presentation files (*.wmv) for internal distribution (http://gale.ho.bom.gov.au/bm/internal/seminars/index.html). The software to produce the audio files is on the Seminars laptop. Again, this site needs regular updating as often people may miss the talk and are keen to see presentation slides soon after. One thing to check is that the speaker is happy for a copy of the presentation to be archived. In most cases this is fine, but occasionally there may be results or information speakers don't want widely publicised at the time so it's best to get their permission first.
 

3. Publicising the seminars

You should electronically advertise the seminars by sending e-mail messages to:

Other e-mail aliases that may be used, depending on the seminar topic, are:

4. Reserving the seminar room

This is done through an online booking system. You need to have a username and password given to you in order to make bookings on this page. See: http://intraho1:88/index.asp (this is an internal Bureau page - useful for Bureau staff to check room availabiilty when arranging possible speakers).
 
 

5. Videotaping the seminars

During the last few years we have videotaped seminars on request from people in Head Office or the Regional Offices who cannot attend the seminar. They hear about the seminar, usually via the e-mail announcements, and put in a request to the Coordinator that a particular seminar be videotaped. There are a few people in BMRC who now how to do it. BMRC has its own video camera, kept by the last person who made a video! The camera takes 8 mm (exabyte) tape, which we provide for our own use.

After the seminar has been filmed, the exabyte must be transcribed onto VHS tape to run on a normal VCR. When the transcription is completed, take the videotape and the original exabyte tape to the Library to be catalogued. Ask the librarians to send the tape to the people who requested it

Finally, indicate on the current and/or past seminar web-page that a video exists by including the camera icon in the date column.

(vjb) Uncertain as to the status of videotaping. The Seminars laptop now has software which records audio with a powerpoint presentation - these are then archived on the internal Seminars webpage

6. Conducting the seminar

First thing in the morning (before 9am), or before leaving on the previous day...

Send an e-mail message to allbmrc and bmrc_seminars@bom.gov.au to remind people of the seminar.

30 minutes before...

If any equipment is required beyond just the overhead projector, set them up now, e.g. video-camera, data-projection system.

15 minutes before...

Check that the Conference Room is tidy, that the chairs are in place, and the overhead projector or data-projection system is set up, works properly, and is focussed on the screen.

5 minutes before...

Do the "town crier" -- go around all of BMRC and remind everyone of the seminar title and speaker. This is a signal for people to finish up what they're doing and get their coffee before the seminar starts.

Just before the seminar time...

While people are settling (usually during the first five minutes) get some biographical information from the speaker -- where he/she studied, when he/she joined the Bureau, what he/she has been working on lately, anything that might be of interest. If the seminar looks to be very popular and the room is likely to fill up, check that nobody is using the Board Room next door, then open the folding divider to make more space.

Start time (or just after)

Introduce the speaker. When the speaker puts on the first slide, turn off the lights in the front of the room (bottom light switch!). This is not necessary if the data-projection system is being used. BMRC informal seminars usually last 30 minutes, while visitors' seminars usually last one hour.

After the speaker has finished...

You should stand and moderate the questions (some speakers may prefer to do this themselves). If there are no questions from the audience, you should be prepared with one of your own (this means you have to pay attention during the seminar!). After a reasonable time for questions, thank the speaker and applaud. Return all equipment that has been borrowed. Close the folding divider to the meeting room if necessary.