Proceedings of the Sixty-first Annual Meeting of the Northeastern ...

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EDITOR
Hilary Sandler
Two publications were produced for the 2006 Annual Meeting: the meeting program and the
Annual Proceedings. The program was 48 pages long with 99 titles (poster and oral
presentations), 23 symposium talks, and 13 presentations from Northeast Aquatic Plant
Management Society for a total of 135 titles. These were mailed out in early December by the
editor using first-class postage. The proceedings were 210 pages long and 200 copies were
printed. One-hundred and fifty books were delivered to the hotel and 50 books were sent to
Riverhead, NY for standing orders. Ninety-three abstracts were printed in Volume 60. In
addition, the Presidential address from the 2005 meeting and five abstracts from the
Washington meeting were published in the supplement to the proceedings. As in 2005, two
indices were compiled: an Authors Index and a Main Subject Index (combining the previously
stand-alone Herbicides, Weeds, Crops, Non-crops, and Subject indices into one index). In
2006, approximately 87% of the authors who submitted titles also submitted abstracts
(excluding symposium presentations). Instructions for Authors were modified slightly from the
previous year.
Several cost-saving measures were supported by the EC and were enacted for this meeting:
reduction in the total number of programs and proceedings printed and reduction in the number
of programs sent out by first class mail. Four-hundred and sixty programs were printed (300
programs for NEWSS and 160 mailed directly to NEAPMS); we had ordered 550 programs in
2005 for NEWSS alone. Approximately 210 programs were mailed only to those currently
registered as members and to invited speakers; this was 160 fewer programs mailed than in
2005. Members who received their program in the mail were strongly encouraged to bring the
program to the meeting as fewer copies would be available. We printed 50 fewer proceedings
in 2006 than in 2005.
Despite many frustrations and miscommunications, we continued to work with the server
provider for our web site, Host Depot of South Florida. We gained the ability to independently
edit and upload items on the web site by mid-summer. By the September deadline, most
members were able to sign in and submit titles and abstracts on the web site. More problems
were encountered with the title submission, since this process occurred first, than with the
abstract submission. Almost 90% of all abstracts received were sent and received via the web
site. Many members sent email versions as a back-up file if something seemed suspect on the
web site. Of the problems that were reported, several people had trouble logging on due to
password issues, others received a “page not displayed” error or the abstract was not visible in
the text box, and some submitters were not members and were not permitted to log onto the
web site. We had one report of authors being listed incorrectly. We need to work with Host
Depot to more clearly identify who is the presenter of the talk and which presentations are by
students. Several outstanding issues with the membership database, with respect to
incorporating the flexibility and functionality of member updates, etc. (critical for the secretarytreasurer),
remain to be resolved. In addition to researching other server options, we will
continue to work with Host Depot in 2006 to improve the site, the database, and the submission
process.
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