Preparing Your Proposal

As organizers, we wish to encourage a wide variety of individuals to present at IWAC 2027! To aid in that goal, we offer a variety of resources for submitters. Below, you will find a short video that orients you to what a successful IWAC proposal looks like. Additionally, you will find information on how to request a proposal coach, should you wish one, as well as information for those preparing to attend and present virtually. 

Table of Contents

• Video by Michael Pemberton and Christopher Basgier on successful proposals
• Components of an IWAC proposal
• Requesting a proposal coach
• Considerations for virtual presenters

Video on Successful Proposals

 

Components of an IWAC proposal

To ease the decision making process during review, we ask that proposers organize their submissions based on the following structure, loosely:

1. Introduce the topic, noting the session type.
2. Provide some context for the problem/focus you'll be addressing, with references.
3. Explain what the session will focus on, depending on its category (e.g., what questions are being asked in a presentation, what will be shown in a teaching demonstration , what will participants do in a workshop, etc.).
4. How might this session be useful to participants? What will they learn or be able to apply?
5. List any references cited in the text.

This structure is generally the same regardless of session type and there is no one way to accomplish these goals; a proposal is effective if it communicates each of these elements in the order expected. If you're unsure about your approach, we encourage you to request a proposal coach!

When submitting, proposers will be asked to identify the type of session they'd like to offer. We welcome:

• Preconference Workshops (2 hours)
• Panels (typically three or four speakers) (75 minutes)
• Roundtables (typically five to seven speakers) (75 minutes)
• Individual Presentations (which will be combined with other proposals to form a panel) (20 minutes)
• Teaching Demonstrations (75 minutes)
• Poster Presentations (both print and digital) (no time limit)

In addition to the body of the proposal and session type, submitters will be asked to provide a descriptive title, a 75-word abstract (a short description of the focus of the session to aid skimming the program), and select up to five tags to help us categorize submissions.

Requesting a proposal coach

Numerous individuals have offered to give guidance and feedback on proposals for those who are new to presenting at conferences and/or IWAC. If you would like to request a proposal coach, please contact Heather Falconer BEFORE August 1, 2026, 9 pm EST.

Send your request for a coach, along with a draft or your working proposal, via email to IWAC2027@gmail.com.

Considerations for virtual sessions

We recognize that not everyone who wants to participate in IWAC is able to travel to Maine for this conference. We welcome submissions for virtual sessions to accommodate! 

Please keep in mind that virtual sessions are limited to panels and individual presentations. 

• For panels where 2 or more presenters are attending in person, we will ask the virtual presenters to pre-record their presentation to be played during the session. 
• For panels where 2 or more presenters are attending virtually, we ask that all presenters pre-record their panel in entirety. We will host these panels within the conference app to allow asynchronous viewing and Q&A.
• We will make every effort to pair individual presentation submissions with in-person attendees, but cannot guarantee this to be the case. Final format will be communicated if the proposal is accepted.