Session Roles

A session lead is responsible for coordination of the session prior to and during the Annual Conference. Session leads may also serve as a speaker or moderator within a session.

All session leads are responsible for the following:

• Distributing important information, such as deadlines and required materials, to session participants.
• Reviewing promotional materials and final descriptions of the sessions.
• Coordinating planning meetings/calls for session participants, including the ACPC session liaisons as needed.
• Responding to ACPC session liaisons and NSGC staff in a timely manner (within two business days).
• Finalizing learning objectives, quiz questions and session slides, and submitting final materials to NSGC staff.
• Meeting key deadlines as outlined in email communications to sessions.

Session speakers: To be considered a session speaker, individuals must speak for a minimum of 15 minutes during the session, exclusive of panel time and time allotted to interactive activities with the audience. (While patients and patient advocates count towards your speaker total, they are not required to speak for 15 minutes.) Depending on the length of a session, the maximum number of speakers may be four – eight speakers per session (including the session lead).

Session speakers are expected to attend the conference in person. NSGC’s current capabilities do not allow for live-streamed presentations.

NSGC provides complimentary conference registration to a maximum number of speakers per session. Session speakers are eligible to split the session honorarium available for their session type.

Session moderators may provide introductions to speakers and moderate panel discussions. They are not considered session speakers. Session moderators do not receive complimentary, full-conference registration.

Session facilitators may facilitate group discussions and activities within the audience during workshops or pre-conference symposia (pre-cons) only. They are not considered session speakers. Session facilitators do not receive complimentary, full-conference registration.

Registration

NSGC provides complimentary, full-conference registration for session speakers (up to the maximum number of speakers per session). Please note: If the session lead is a speaker or moderator and wishes to receive complimentary conference registration, then the session lead will count towards the maximum number of speakers/complimentary registrations allotted to your session.

Complimentary registration is non-transferable and does not include add-ons, such as pre-cons, after closure of the virtual platform. Continuing Education Unit (CEU) fees are included in your complimentary registration. You are not eligible to claim CEUs for any session(s) where you are a speaker.

Session moderators and facilitators receive access to their session but do not receive complimentary, full-conference registration. Pre-conference symposia moderators and facilitators are required to register for their assigned sessions in order to be eligible to receive CEUs; however, registration is not required for participation, and access to the session will be provided to support their role.

Honoraria

The total honorarium available per session type is listed below. The session honorarium is split equally among all speakers in the session. Both genetic counselors and non-genetic counselors are eligible for honoraria.

• Pre-Conference Symposia: $900 - $1,500 pending the length of the session (three - five hours of content)
• Educational Breakout Sessions: $300 per hour of presentation
  • 60-minute EBS: $300
  • 120-minute EBS: $600
• Workshops: $600
• High-Demand On-Demand: $250 per hour of presentation

Travel and Expense Reimbursement for Non-Genetic Counselor Speakers

All non-genetic counselor speakers receive a travel stipend in addition to their honorarium as outlined below. Non-genetic counselor speakers may include physicians, surgeons, patient advocacy representatives, patients and/or families and other speakers who are not certified genetic counselors. Genetic counseling students and genetic counselors undergoing certification are not eligible for this travel and expense reimbursement.

• One night’s stay in NSGC’s hotel room block(s), billed directly to NSGC.
  • Please note: NSGC will not reimburse hotel rooms or vacation rentals outside of the provided hotel room block(s).
• A travel stipend of $150 to cover any ground transportation to and from the airport to the conference hotel and for meals while traveling for the conference, to be paid following the conference with submission of itemized receipts and an accompanying expense report (to be provided by NSGC).
  • Please note: Bank statements are not an acceptable form of receipt.

NSGC staff will provide additional instructions to coordinate airfare and hotel for non-genetic counselor speakers via email.

Slide Template

All conference participants must use the approved NSGC PowerPoint Template for their presentation. This template has been created to meet accessibility standards. Prior to submitting your presentation, please confirm the following:

1. Review the NSGC Speaker Guide for tips on how to make presentations and other educational activities effective, inclusive and accessible for all learners.
2. Have at least one participant from your session attend the NSGC Accessibility Webinar in July (invitation to be sent via email) or view the recording to learn tips and tools for developing accessible and inclusive presentations.
3. Ensure you have reserved space for closed captioning at the bottom of each slide. Please do not add any additional content in the space between the graphics at the bottom of the slides (pictured below). This area is reserved for closed captioning.
   • Please note: Your slides will be returned to you for edits if content is added to the closed captioning area, if the header or font sizes and styles have been edited to deviate from the template, or if other accessibility standards as outlined in the NSGC Speaker Guide are not met.
4. All speakers are required to include a conflict of interest (COI) disclosure slide at the beginning of the presentation. Please refer to the COI disclosure template slide in the PowerPoint template.

Download the NSGC 45th Annual Conference PowerPoint template

Additional Session Details

Will moderators for sessions be introduced?
Apart from sessions taking place on the plenary stage, moderators will not receive a formal introduction at the start of a session. Moderators are encouraged to introduce themselves. Moderators will also receive scripts containing speaker bios, which can be used to open the session.

Do I need to submit quiz questions?
Yes. All conference presentations, with the exception of workshops, will be recorded, and recordings will be eligible for CEUs after the Annual Conference. As subject matter experts, we ask session leads to create quiz questions for your session. These questions should assess how much a viewer has learned. NSGC requests five quiz questions per each one hour of session content (1.5-hour session = 8 quiz questions). Please refer to the Guidelines for Formatting Quiz Questions for CEU Activities for additional guidance on formatting quiz questions. Workshops do not need to submit quiz questions.

When are final materials due?
All final materials (slides, handouts, etc.) and quiz questions are due to NSGC for COI and formatting review (refer to the Slide Template details above) by Friday, Oct. 9. Session leads will be required to send one unified slide deck to NSGC per session by emailing speakers@nsgc.org. Quiz questions will be collected via a SurveyMonkey form that will be shared with session leads via email.

Additional Questions

For logistical questions regarding your participation in the Annual Conference, session details and overall timeline, please contact the NSGC Executive Office at speakers@nsgc.org.

For questions related to the content of your session (e.g., development of learning objectives, session outline, presentation), please contact your session liaisons.