Call for Bids for Venue Host: 2018 Conference on EU Politics

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Call for bids for venue host (local organizing committee) of the 9th Pan-European Conference on EU Politics in 2018

The Steering Committee of the European Consortium of Political Research (ECPR) Standing Group on the European Union (SGEU) invites bids, to be submitted by 1 February 2017, for the site of the 9th Pan-European Conference on the European Union to be held in 2018.

The conference venue must be available for 3 days, preferably during the months of either June or September and exact dates will be agreed upon in consultation with the ECPR-SGEU Steering Committee.

THE ECPR-SGEU

The Standing Group on the European Union (SGEU) is broad based standing group affiliated to the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR).

Created in 1995 to promote co-ordination and collaboration among political scientists interested in the blooming area of research on the European Union, SGEU main activities covers the organization of biennial pan-European conferences on the politics of the European Union, and other activities.

Although primarily a group of political scientists, SGEU also fosters multidisciplinary collaboration across any social science discipline, including anthropology, economics, law, sociology, and social psychology, with a substantive focus on the European Union.

The standing group is open to individuals in ECPR member institutions as well as those from non-ECPR institutions. The standing group is led by a Steering Committee. It meets at the biennial pan-European conference on the politics of the European Union and at the ECPR General Conference.

ECPR SGEU organizes biennial conferences, which attract about 300 participants. Previous conferences took place in Bordeaux (26-28 September 2002); Bologna (24-26 June 2004); Istanbul (21-23 September 2006); Riga (25-27 September 2008); Porto (23-26 June 2010); Tampere (13-15 September 2012); The Hague (5-7 June 2014), and Trento (16 -18 June 2016).

CONFERENCE REQUIREMENTS

VENUE

International Transport

An international airport, with regular, direct connections to main airports world-wide, must be located close to the host city.

Venue Requirements

Facilities for approximately 350-400 attendees must be available for free, or at a minimal cost, and must include:

  • 1 plenary hall with a capacity of at least 200 persons
  • 8 rooms with a capacity of 25-40 persons (simultaneous sessions)
  • (Optional) Book exhibition space for some book sellers (at the meeting site, or in close proximity)
  • Luncheon facilities on the conference site or in restaurants within walking distance that can serve 350-400 persons within two hours
  • (Optional) At the conference site, or in very close proximity, the following services: ATM bank machine; Cybercafe

Technical Equipment Requirements

  • Standard audio-visual equipment in all session rooms: computer with PowerPoint and data projector
  • Availability of other equipment including: internet connection, projection screen, and a microphone system (if needed)
  • WiFi on-site

Hotel Facility Requirements

  • A distance between conference venue and hotels of no more than 15 minutes by public transport or 25 minutes on foot
  • Hotels of different categories: two star hotels; three star hotels; four star hotels (preferably arrange conference discount rates at some of these)
  • Availability of medium and low-cost accommodations (including student dormitories) for at least 50 persons
  • Information about hotels and low-cost accommodation be made known in the program booklet/website.

LOCAL ORGANISING COMMITTEE

The main contact person of the organizing committee should preferably have attended at least two earlier ECPR-SGEU meetings and be familiar with the event (ideally having served as Section Chair or in some other organizational capacity).

The Local Organising Committee (LOC) must be committed to assist in the organisation of the following aspects of the event:

  • Rent of the conference venue(s), including book exhibition and social events
  • Responsibility for the tasks associated with ensuring that the conference runs smoothly, including at least: establishing media relations, developing regional contacts, encouraging participation in the conference, mobilising volunteers
  • Opening and/or closing reception
  • Social programme (if applicable)
  • Suggest hotel accommodation for participants and put information thereof on the website
  • Production and printing of the conference program
  • Maintaining relations with the ECPR-SGEU conference convenor and the academic program chairs.

COSTS

In order for a bid to be considered, the costs of hosting the conference should be shown to be reasonable. In the past the norm has been that the ECPR-SGEU cannot pay more than a small amount to the local host (for expenses incurred) and that the cost of the venue and personnel typically are considerd the responsibility of the local organisors and would not normally be considered reimbursable. The following financial aspects should be taken into consideration when preparing a bid. Please clearly specify the costs for each point; if the information is not available, please specify that it will be at added later.

  • Conference facilities: rent and cleaning; technical equipment and support; signs and decoration; internet connection, WiFi and Cybercafe; exhibition space; registration area
  • Conference materials: design of conference poster and logo; conference bag (incl. local information, maps, etc.); printed materials such as posters and leaflets; programme book
  • Social events: reception.
  • A list of approximate air fares from representative sites across the globe.

DEADLINE FOR BIDS

Bids, including all information requested in this call, should be received by the ECPR SGEU Convenor (see contact information below) no later than 1 February 2017. A decision will be made by the ECPR-SGEU Steering Committee no later than 15 March.

Thomas König (ECPR SGEU Convenor)

koenig@uni-mannheim.de

Please put in the subject header ‘ECPR SGEU Conference Venue Bid ‘YOUR NAME’

For more information about the ECPR SGEU: http://standinggroups.ecpr.eu/sgeu/

If you have any questions when preparing the bid, please feel free to contact Thomas König for more information or to answer your questions.