Organisation of National Conference of the ISPN (ISPNCON)

Background: The national conference of ISPN is conducted annually at the end of calendar year. The conference is attended not only by pediatric nephrologists and trainees, but also pediatricians and adult nephrologists. Currently, there is no formal process of expression of interest in hosting the conference or in the allotment of conference to various cities represented by ISPN members. Usually, the decision to allot the hosting rights are decided 1-2 year in advance during the GBM conducted at the time of ISPN. Following the discussion in GBM, consensus is obtained among the attendees in case more than one city is interested in hosting the conference. However, while selecting a host centre, certain criteria need to be considered to ensure uniformity and avoiding bias.

Bidding Process and Timelines

Expression of interest to host conference

• Applicants are expected to discuss with their respective teams regarding holding the proposed ISPN conference in the following years and prepare the application. The application should be endorsed by two senior ISPN members, not necessarily belonging to host city. ISPN life members from any city are eligible to apply for hosting the national conference if they meet the following criteria.

Connectivity and infrastructure

• The host city should be well connected to other cities by direct air travel (preferred) or railways. In case the city does not have an airport, the travel by road/train from nearest airport should not be longer than 3 hours.
  There should be adequate facility to organise the conference in terms of venue space, accommodation for faculty and delegates at reasonable cost, and availability of local transport.
  The conference venue should have all basic amenities to be able to accommodate 250-300 participants/delegates with at least two separate halls for simultaneous sessions. There should be a display area for poster sessions.
  It is preferred that all the meeting spaces are at one venue or in close proximity to each other, including scientific and general sessions and exhibit/poster areas.

Organizing team

• Applicants should submit a tentative organizing committee comprising of at least 5 members with chairperson and organizing secretary.
  The chairperson and organizing secretary should be active life members of the ISPN for at least 5 years.

Rotation Policy

• Whenever possible, the host city will be rotated among the five zones (north, south, east, west, and central) of India.
  The city should not have hosted an annual conference of ISPN in the 3 years preceding the application.
  Change of venue: In the event of some unforeseeable difficulty or crisis, if the host for the next year is unable to organise the proposed national ISPN conference, they should intimate the ISPN committee at least 6 months in advance. In case of defaulting on informing in time in this regard, a penalty will be imposed on the team in not allowing them to bid for the next two years.

Organizational structure and general schedule of ISPN conference

• The President of the ISPN, along with the Executive Committee and Chair/Secretary of local organizing committee, have the overall responsibility for the conference.

Scientific Program

• The scientific program of the annual conference will be developed jointly by the Academic Committee of the ISPN and the local organizing team.
  The Annual conference will be held for a duration of two days. It may include additional pre- conference workshops for physicians/other healthcare professionals.
  The general schedule for the meeting will be as follows:
  Day -1: Workshops (Maximum 4 parallel workshops): May include those for allied health care professionals (renal nurses, HD and PD technicians/nurses)
  Day 1: Scientific sessions in the morning and afternoon, GBM, Conference dinner
  Day 2: Scientific sessions in the morning and afternoon
  The conference scientific program should include dedicated sessions for oral research presentations, poster presentations, and ISPN postgraduate quiz.

Conference Faculty

• The conference should predominantly have national speakers with representation from across the country.
  Foreign speakers with eminence in their field of work should be restricted to 2-4 in number.
  The conference faculty of the annual conference will be decided based on discussions between the Academic Committee of the ISPN and the local organizing team.
  There is no restriction on the number of self-funded foreign participants as delegates.

Funding and budget

• It will be the responsibility of the local organizing team to raise the required funds for organizing the conference.
  The local organizers will propose a detailed budget to the ISPN Executive for organizing the conference with details of educational grants from government and non-government agencies for meeting the expenditure.
  The local organizer will take care of the travel and stay of the invited international speakers.
  Registration fee of lifetime achievement award recipients will be waived off by the organizers.
  The local organizers will fund the registration and stay of the participating teams for the national round of ISPN Postgraduate Quiz. The ISPN will provide travel grants to support the cost of travel.
  The local organizing team will open a separate conference account which should be audited and closed within 6 months of end of the conference.
  25% of the unspent funds after repayment of income-tax, will be transferred to the central ISPN account within a year from the date of conference, along with an audited utilization certificate and statement of expenditure.

Expression of interest

• It shall include the following:
  Brief overview of the city, its location and accessibility
  Proposed conference venue
  Proposed theme for workshop and main conference
  Names and membership IDs of ISPN members supporting the application
  Proposed names of conference chairperson and organizing secretary
  An online application to express interest in hosting the next year’s conference should be submitted to the ISPN Executive before the announced deadline (end of June of the calendar year).
  
  Form template is enclosed below, available online at ISPN website and at: