North American Saxophone Alliance
Regional Conference Presenter Guidelines

Purposes of the Regional Conference
As with all other professional societies, meetings of the Alliance are organized for its members to gather for professional interaction. Events should be programmed that will showcase performance, research and teaching taking place within the region. The conference can be promoted to non-members in order to increase interest in the saxophone, and to promote the benefits of NASA membership.

Name of Event
In all publicity, programs, and other print and broadcast media the conference shall be referred to as:

2007 Region 6 Conference of the North American Saxophone Alliance

The year and region number should be adjusted accordingly. For conferences being held in the fall, use the following format:

2006-2007 Region 6 Conference of the North American Saxophone Alliance

Scheduling
Regional NASA Conferences take place during the years between the Biennial Conferences (even/odd years: 2006-2007, 2008-2009…). The time of year is driven primarily by space availability at the hosting institution. It is advisable to avoid the following times:  late November and early December (holidays, end-of-semester exams, juries), late January and February (college audition dates), and the end of April and May (end-of-semester exams, recitals). 
Members/Institutions wishing to host a regional conference should contact their Regional Director to reserve a year.
Once you have been awarded a Regional Conference, immediately reserve the necessary rooms for the events. If you plan to have exhibits, keep in mind that participants may want to try instruments, mouthpieces, etc.  These rooms should be near the concert spaces, but should also be acoustically isolated from them.  Most regional conferences run only one event at a time, so multiple performance spaces are probably not required. Keep in mind the participants need to use practice rooms, chamber music rehearsal rooms, and studio spaces with pianos. Rehearsal time on the performance stages can be limited to performers using electronics, or incorporating other multi-media content (video, dance…).
There will be logistical issues with the moving of percussion equipment, electronic equipment (personnel, sound checks), practice room scheduling, to name a few.

Hotel Room Blocks
As soon as dates are confirmed, the conference host should reserve room blocks in area hotels. Often, the area tourism bureau or chamber of commerce will work with you to negotiate discounted rates. If you work directly with the hotels, these arrangements are usually made with the sales office in the local hotel.
Regional Conferences generally will take place during two days and two nights.  Hotel reservations should take into account participants who may arrive the day before. If the conference begins on Friday morning, and ends with a Saturday night concert, hotels should be blocked for three nights (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday).

Participation
Preference for participation in Regional Conferences should be given to members within the Region.  Only after all in-Region performers have been accommodated, may members from outside the region be scheduled. Hosts should avoid offering featured performance slots to persons from outside the region.
You may want to contact former regional hosts (or current contacts within the region) in order to estimate the number of participants to expect. You will have a good idea of this number once the presentation proposals have been submitted.
Generally, the call for proposals should be issued in the fall for a spring conference. Plan to have at least a three-month lead time between the deadline for submission of applications and the conference.  You will need to notify participants about two months ahead of time so reasonably-priced travel arrangements can be made.
You may decide to form the selection committee entirely from faculty at your institution (i.e., sax prof, clarinet prof, composition faculty). If concerto selection is involved, it is advisable to have a larger selection committee comprised of prominent NASA members from outside your region to adjudicate these.

Programming
You may want to include the following types of events at the conference:
Performances
Master Classes
Lectures
Lecture-Recitals
Panel Discussions
Exhibits

Program Printing
You can spend a lot of money on program printing. Or you can do something very economical. Choose according to your budget. A basic program can be produced at a local copy shop at very reasonable rates. [Photocopy: 2-sided, 2 program pages per side, folded into a booklet with a heavy cardstock cover.]
Include a list of NASA Executive Officers (http://www.saxalliance.org/officers) in your program. Also include reference to the NASA web site: http://www.saxalliance.org
Large ensembles
It is valuable to present concerto performances with large ensembles (much of our repertoire may not be heard widely in this format).  However, be sure to consider all the costs—financial and otherwise—involved here. 
•    Music rental can increase your budget significantly. No photocopied scores may be used. 
•    Large ensembles will rarely perform an entire program of concerti.  Usually they spend as much as half the concert performing works for the large ensemble alone—not a wise use of conference time. 
•    Another problem with concertos arises when choosing performers. Very few can be accommodated.  In order to have a fair selection of soloists, it is advisable for the conference host to elicit the services of an impartial selection committee. 
•    The presence of concertos on the conference may also result in lower conference attendance—some will only attend conference like these if they are chosen to perform a concerto.
•    Added costs must be borne by conference host and/or hosting institutions.

Many regional conferences present just recital and chamber music programs.

Information for participants
The following information should be made available to participants at the indicated time. Information may be published in the NASA Update, and should be posted on a Conference Web site and linked from the NASA web site (some information can be placed directly on the NASA web site). Notices should also be posted in the NASA Discussion Forums (http://www.saxalliance.org/forums/).

AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, BUT NO LATER THAN FOUR MONTHS BEFORE THE CONFERENCE:
•    Call for Participation: The official call for participation should be published on the conference web site (if there is one), posted to the NASA Discussion Forums (http://www.saxalliance.org/forums/), and provided to the NASA Update Editor.

AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, BUT NO LATER THAN TWO MONTHS BEFORE THE CONFERENCE:
•    Hotel rates/location: It is very helpful to include detailed information regarding location of hotels relative to the conference. How will participants get from hotels to the conference center?  Walk/shuttle bus/drive & park…
•    Transportation: Provide airport information and ground transportation information—airports, airport transfer info (shuttle bus, taxi, subway, etc.), rental car info, driving directions, etc.
•    Parking information:  Are parking passes required? How will they get them? Cost?
•    Start and end times: It is important to advertise the estimated start and end times of the conference, so appropriate travel arrangements can be made.
AT THE CONFERENCE:
•    Restaurant map: Local eateries with walking/driving directions
•    Specific hotel shuttle information (stops, schedule)
•    Local area map

Budget
NASA will provide a Regional Conference Support Grant to assist with many expenses you may encounter.  The amount of this grant is generally determined by the Executive Committee in the fall. The use of this money is restricted to a limited range of approved expenditures. It may not be used to pay any NASA member for any reason. It can be used for any of the following expenses:
Hall rental
Program printing
Equipment rental
Music rental
Name badges
Receipts must be submitted and approved before reimbursement will be sent. Invoices to be paid directly may be sent to the NASA treasurer from printers and other service providers.

The remainder of your event income will consist of:
Program advertising
Exhibit booth rental
Dean/Chair contribution
Conference support grant from your institution
Ticket sales to non-participants for evening concerts
In-kind donations
External grants (state or local arts council, etc.)

Program advertising and Exhibit space rental income should all be paid directly to the NASA Treasurer. Conference expenses will be paid by the NASA treasurer from these funds and from the approved Regional Conference Support Grant.  Guest Artists and receptions cannot be paid for with this money.

Institutional contributions, concert ticket sales to non-participants, and grants received through the hosting institution are considered the hosting institution's sponsorship, and are not restricted in any way by NASA.

The conference host agrees that any work entered into in producing this conference is provided voluntarily. As the conference host, you assume a position of leadership that determines how NASA monies are spent.  As a result, you are ineligible for payments from NASA for your work on the conference.

The conference host should keep an up-to-date budget listing all anticipated income and expenses. It is the conference host’s responsibility to secure funding for any expenses undertaken.
Guest Artists
The inclusion of Guest Artists on Conference programs is optional. If guest artists will present at the conference, they must be NASA members. If it is deemed advisable, the Conference can pay the membership dues for the guest artist. Guest Artists may not be paid with NASA monies—this would include all advertising income and exhibit booth rental in addition to the Regional Conference Support Grant.  Guest Artists may be paid with funds provided by the hosting institution, with direct payments from corporate supporters (through artist clinician programs), and/or with external grant amounts raised through the hosting institution (i.e. a State Arts Council grant).

Recording
It is illegal to record performances for any purpose other than to provide the performer with an archival copy of his/her performance. Under no circumstances can recordings be made for sale to others. Many smaller conferences choose not to record concerts.

Membership Dues
Current NASA members shall be admitted to the conference free of charge.
Membership dues shall be collected from non-members attending the conference. All dues collected shall be forwarded to the Membership Director, along with all required membership information (name, address, email, membership type).     Membership types and rates are currently (Fall 2006) as follows:
Professional    $35/year, $60 for two years
Student    $25/year, $40 for two years
Senior (over 60)    $25/year, $40 for two years
Under 18    $10/year (Saxophone Symposium not included)

The under 18 rate has been instituted particularly to encourage Junior High and High School student attendance at regional conferences. Please advertise this to local schools. 18 year olds still in high school may join at this rate.

Receptions
Receptions are not a required feature of NASA conferences, though some hosts choose to include them. If the host wishes to include a reception, it must be funded with non-NASA funds. NASA monies (conference grant, program advertising, and exhibit space
rental) cannot be used to fund receptions.