American Pain Society Annual Meeting

Note: The submission deadline for Corporate Satellite Symposia proposals has passed. The following information will remain on the APS Web site through the conclusion of the 2008 annual meeting. These guidelines and instructions have been developed as a resource for you in the planning and implementation of a satellite symposium program. Please refer to these guidelines frequently.

APS Mission Statement: The American Pain Society is a multidisciplinary community that brings together a diverse group of scientists, clinicians and other professionals to increase the knowledge of pain and transform public policy to reduce pain-related suffering.

The American Pain Society (APS) invites its Corporate Members and their medical education partners to submit proposals for the official Corporate Satellite Symposia, which will occur in conjunction with the APS Annual Scientific Meeting, May 8-10, 2008 in Tampa, FL. Proposals will be reviewed by the APS Scientific Program Committee, and will be evaluated based on the quality of the proposed programs and their relevance to a multidisciplinary pain community. The proposed programs must demonstrate scientific rigor and objectivity and be free of commercial bias for or against any product.

If a proposal is accepted by the Scientific Program Committee, the program will be scheduled as an official Corporate Satellite Symposium of the annual meeting in a breakfast, lunch, or dinner slot, and will be held concurrently with other Corporate Satellite Symposia. The APS Scientific Program Committee will determine program placement based on several factors. Once a time has been assigned, it cannot be changed. The symposia are considered as official satellite events held in conjunction with the 27th Annual Scientific Meeting. No other educational programs or social events supported or sponsored by any other organization and directed at the same audience may be offered over the official dates and times of the 27th Annual Scientific Meeting in the same city as the APS meeting.

The APS Scientific Program Committee will review all proposals. Criteria for acceptance of a proposal include the following:

The topic is timely and of broad interest to a multidisciplinary pain community. Programs that are designed for a multidisciplinary audience will be given first consideration.
The topic was developed in accordance with all accreditation/sponsorship guidelines, e.g., ACCME Standards for Commercial Support, ANCC Commercial Support Guidelines, ACPE Guidelines for Standards for Commercial Support, and APA Promotion and Advertising of Programs; and, the content is free of commercial bias for or against any product.
The proposed program is designated for physician, nursing, psychologist, and pharmacist credit by an ACCME, ANCC, ACPE accredited provider and an approved APA sponsor. This is a requirement of acceptance and inclusion in the program.
The APS Scientific Program Committee will meet in August 2007 and will review all proposals. Proposals must be received by electronic submission by July 27, 2007. Late proposals, or those received by any means other than the electronic submission system, will not be reviewed by the APS Scientific Program Committee.

Timeline

6/15/07	Submission tool available on www.ampainsoc.org
7/27/07	Proposals for Corporate Satellite Symposia due to APS
9/15/07	Companies notified of acceptance and recommended revisions, as determined by the Scientific Program Committee. An invoice and sample Letter of Agreement for the educational grant will be included with the acceptance letter (see below).
11/15/07	Educational grant and letter of agreement due to APS. The session description submitted in the proposal will be used for the registration brochure. If you wish to submit an updated version, you may do so by this date. A list of confirmed faculty is also due at this time. NOTE: The sample Letter of Agreement furnished by APS is intended as a possible format. If a corporate member or medical education partner wishes to use another format, this is acceptable providing that all necessary parties sign the agreement as follows: corporate member, who will be acknowledged in the brochure and program book as a Diamond Level Supporter of the 27th Annual Meeting; accredited provider; medical education company; and, the American Pain Society. All parties are required to sign the agreement. If a signed letter of agreement is not submitted with all aforementioned parties, the program will not be included in the registration brochure and program book nor will the corporate member be acknowledged in accordance with ACCME guidelines.
1/21/08	APS to provide logistical information packet, including: AV equipment, floor diagram and facility contacts on the APS Web site http://www.ampainsoc.org
2/01/08	Draft copy of invitation submitted to APS for approval
2/15/08	APS Program Book advertising deadlines (optional, additional fee)
3/03/08	APS will provide APS member mailing labels. Requests due for additional audiovisual equipment, audience response system, etc.
4/07/08	APS will provide mailing labels for pre-registrations for meeting
4/07/08	Badge requests for faculty and staff due to APS
4/11/08	Room Drop Closing (optional, additional fee)
7/05/08	Summary of program evaluations to APS post-conference

The process for submission, selection, and conduct of the Corporate Satellite Symposia is described below.

Proposal Submission/Selection Process

Companies wishing to present a Corporate Satellite Symposium at the APS Annual Scientific Meeting may do so by following the link at the bottom of this page and completing a proposal form.
One proposal per Corporate Member.
Late proposals, or those received by any means other than the electronic submission system will not be reviewed by the APS Scientific Program Committee.
The APS Scientific Program Committee will evaluate and rate all proposals. Ratings will be based on overall quality, scientific merit and broad-based appeal. APS highly encourages multidisciplinary content. This can be achieved, in part, by including a psychosocial component to the program and including faculty from several disciplines.
The submitted proposals will be "blinded" to eliminate bias from the Scientific Program Committee.
To avoid any appearance of conflict, the current APS President and members of the Scientific Program Committee should not be included as speakers or moderators in a Corporate Satellite Symposium. Members of the Board of Directors need to carefully consider whether their participation might be construed as a conflict of interest.

The 2007-2008 APS President and Scientific Program Committee members are:

Judy Paice, PhD RN, President
Charles Inturrisi, PhD, President-Elect
Timothy Brennan, MD PhD, Chair
David Clark, MD PhD
Nessa Coyle, PhD RN
Ricardo Cruciani, MD PhD
Carolyn Fairbanks, PhD
Robert Gereau, PhD
Linda Porter, PhD
Barbara Rakel, PhD RN
Cielito Reyes-Gibby, DrPH
Linda Sorkin, PhD, Chair-elect
Steven Stanos, DO
Scott Strassels, PharmD
Raymond Tait, PhD
Knox Todd, MD MPH
Gary Walco, PhD
Robert Yezierski, PhD

All Corporate Satellite Symposia must be designated for physician, nursing, psychologist, and pharmacist credit by an ACCME/ANCC/ACPE accredited provider and an approved APA sponsor. APS will not provide continuing education credit for Corporate Satellite Symposia. For possible sources of psychologist credit, go to http://www.apa.org/ce/sponappr.html.
APS will notify the commercial supporter in writing regarding the committee's decision as noted on the timeline. Applicants may not contact reviewers directly to provide additional information or to check the status of a proposal.
A proposal will be considered complete when it includes: the rationale for holding the symposium, learning objectives, complete agenda for the program, including proposed speakers and topics, synopsis of program content (session description) for publication in APS conference brochure, and a description of how evaluation and awarding of CE credits will be handled on site. A representative of the company must sign the proposal.

Program Content and Speakers

Corporate Satellite Symposia must comply with ACCME, ANCC, and ACPE guidelines regarding objectivity and scientific rigor of program content, appropriate disclosure of commercial relationships and discussion of unlabeled uses by speakers, and program evaluation.
Current APS President and Scientific Program Committee members may not be included as speakers or moderators in a Corporate Satellite Symposium (see above).
The format of the APS meeting allows for concurrent satellite symposia. When confirming your faculty, it is important that you determine that the potential faculty member is not participating in another program being held at the same time.
The program topic/content cannot be changed once it is selected and approved.
All correspondence with Corporate Satellite Symposium speakers, including honoraria and expense reimbursement, will be the responsibility of the organizer of the symposium.

Promotion

APS will list Corporate Satellite Symposia, including brief program synopses, in the APS Annual Scientific Meeting registration brochure, on-site program book and on the APS Web site.
APS will provide supporters of Corporate Satellite Symposia with one set of mailing labels for all APS members 9 weeks prior to the annual meeting. In addition, 4 weeks prior to the conference APS will provide one set of mailing labels for the 2008 APS conference pre-registration list.
Invitations for the Corporate Satellite Symposium must be submitted to APS for review and approval prior to publication.
Please allow at least five business days for APS to turn around approvals.
You may refer to your program as a "Corporate Satellite Symposium," or a "CE Satellite Luncheon/Dinner Symposium;" however, APS requires that the rest of the verbiage is stated in this manner: "Held in conjunction with the 27th Annual Meeting of the American Pain Society."
Please note - any usage of the APS logo requires permission from APS.

Registration

APS will assign a vendor to handle all pre-registration for Corporate Satellite Symposia. Attendees will be referred to one web site to register for all satellite events.
Registration reports will be sent on a scheduled basis identifying all pre-registrants with their demographic profile.
Satellite symposia personnel must be available outside the session room an hour prior to the scheduled start time of the event to handle registration and answer questions.
A registration table, easels and rope and stanchion will be provided outside the session room.

Event Logistics

One person must be designated as the sole contact for the Corporate Satellite Symposium. APS will deal directly with that one person. It is the commercial supporter's responsibility to share all information included in these guidelines with the medical education company retained to manage the event.
APS will assign a meeting room, with your notification letter, for your event at the meeting facility.
APS to provide logistical information packet, including: AV equipment, floor diagram, and facility contact on the APS Web site January 21, 2008. www.ampainsoc.org
Meeting rooms designated for Corporate Satellite Symposia will be set with round tables, banquet style. No buffet set up will be allowed without prior permission from the APS contact.
A minimum of 350 should be budgeted for food & beverage. Guarantees should be based on your preregistration numbers and past attendance at similar events at APS.
APS may require you to change your menu based on other events within the meeting.
The symposium and all food & beverage must be kept contained within the assigned meeting room and the assigned time frame.
Corporate Satellite Symposium organizer is responsible for handling onsite management of the event.
A registration table, easels and rope and stanchion will be provided outside the session room. No other furniture, display units, banners or unapproved signage may be placed outside the room. No sales activities may take place and no promotional materials may be distributed in the meeting room or the registration area.
Space will also be allocated for a maximum of 4 signs (22' x 28') for the Corporate Satellite Symposium. Placement of signs will be determined by APS.
APS requires that you use the designated audio/visual contractor for this meeting, MAC Productions. A detailed AV equipment list and diagram will be provided. You have approval to bring in your own Producer and to order additional equipment.
Audio/video taping will be the responsibility of symposium organizer and can be arranged through MAC Productions.
All expenses associated with room set-up and clean up, food and beverage, electrical, telephone, shipping, etc., are the sole responsibility of the Corporate Satellite Symposium organizer.
Evaluations and certificates for continuing education credits are the responsibility of the Corporate Satellite Symposium organizer. A summary of participant evaluations must be provided to APS no later than 8 weeks after the conference.

Educational Grants

The fee for a Corporate Satellite Symposium is $55,000 in the form of an educational grant to the American Pain Society.

Grants and accompanying signed letters of agreements must be received by APS by November 15, 2007.

San Diego, CA, May 6-9, 2009