Call for Program Ideas, Presentations, and Session Proposals
Proposals for non-paper presentations and sessions, as well as ideas for compelling program topics, are now being accepted for SimBuild 2024. Submissions are open for three types of proposals:
- Conversation and debate topics for IBPSA-USA organized open conversation sessions or debates
- Presentations, including short lightning talks and lecture-style presentations
- Full sessions, with a mix of "talk with" and "talk at" formats
Submissions are due by January 12, 2024. January 26, 2024
Submit conversation and debate topics here.
Submit presentations and session proposals here.
Information about conference paper submissions are available here: https://www.ibpsa.us/simbuild-2024/simbuild2024-for-authors/
What are pressing questions or topics you want to see answered or debated?
Fill out this simple form to give us ideas for conversation and debate topics and let us know if you’d like to participate in a debate.
Use this submission type for short lightning talks or non-paper presentations which would be part of a longer presentation session.
Lightning Talk (5-7 minutes)
Lightning talks are short 5-7 minute presentations on a topic. If you are finding it difficult to keep your presentation to 5-7 minutes, you may find these formats helpful:
- Ignite (20 slides, slides auto-advance every 15 seconds)
- Pecha Kucha (20 slides, slides auto-advance every 20 seconds)
Non-Paper Presentation (10-15 minutes with Q&A)
Lecture style presentation with slides, followed by 3-5 minutes for questions. We have limited spots for non-paper 15-20 minute presentations. Consider submitting a shorter lightning talk instead.
Use this submission type to propose a full session which can have one or more speakers/panelists (30-90 minutes).
SimBuild 2024 seeks to have a balanced mix of the following session formats:
Large Group / Large Room (20-150 participants)
Sessions with 20 or more participants in a room with chairs in rows facing the front. This session format entails limited or no participant interaction. Examples of large group / large room formats:
- 45-60 minute standard panel. A moderator poses questions to a panel composed of 3-4 experts. Panelists may give very short presentations (<5 minutes) at the start for background. Questions may be sourced and voted on by the audience through a web application, or asked directly.
- Storytelling. Presenters tell a story over 15-20 minutes through the use of pictures and other visual aids like graphs (no text).
Small Group / Large Room (20-150 participants)
Sessions with 20 or more participants in a room with groups of 4-8 chairs arranged in circles or around tables. This session format entails substantial participant interaction. Most of the time will entail participants talking with each other.
Examples of small group / large room formats:
- Split group discussion. A short presentation, followed by small group breakouts of 4-8 people on a topic within the presentation. Small groups may work on the same or different topics. Small groups may report back to the larger group, or not.
- Divide and conquer. The session opens with a big problem. Participants vote on the most important sub-topics or sub-problems. Participants break into groups on each sub-topic, then report back their findings to the larger group. This differs from split group discussion in that topics are not determined in advance.
- Skits. Participants come up with a theatrical skit to role play a common scenario (e.g. an initial design meeting with an architect).
- Competition. Break the room into teams of 3-6. Each team has 30-40 minutes to produce a result which is then presented to the larger group. Winners may be determined by popular vote or a group of expert judges. Examples include creating a visual of a building science concept (Stasio-style) with art supplies, or coming up with an interesting concept for a design challenge.
- Games. Games with teams of 3-6. Games may be competitive or cooperative. Examples are IBPSA trivia or a mystery building science puzzle.
Small Group / Small Room (Up to 20 participants)
Sessions with 20 or fewer participants. There may be a limit on the number of participants. The session may be run multiple times, for example, an escape room. And the room setup may vary. This session format entails substantial participant interaction. Most of the time will entail participants talking with each other.
Examples of small group / small room formats:
- Focus group. A focus group of 3-8 people working on a specific topic.
- Fishbowl. A few participants are in a circle of chairs in the middle, with one chair empty. A participant outside the circle may join the empty chair, at which point one participant in the circle must voluntarily leave to free a chair. This session works best with 10-20 participants.
- Escape Room. Teams of 4-6 work to solve a series of puzzles, trying to complete it in as little time as possible. Run serially, so many teams can compete.
- Office Hours. If you anticipate many people will want to schedule 1:1 meetings with you, you may choose to host a dedicated office hours time.
If you encounter any technical issues, please contact us at SimBuild@ibpsa.us.
