Think Like Your Attendees

Dave Lutz, over at the Midcourse Corrections blog, lays out six really good ways to improve your conference committee. Here at ProposalSpace, we always try to see things through the eyes of our users, so we especially liked his recommendation to "Walk in the attendee's shoes":

Many conference committees evaluate potential sessions and speakers using more information than the attendees will see. Attendees make the decision to attend based on session title, session description, and learning objectives. Embrace a blind review process. It will help eliminate personal agendas and challenge the committee to evaluate the program as a paying attendee would.

New Tutorial: Updating Your Profile Photo

We've just uploaded a new video tutorial that shows how to update the photo associated with your ProposalSpace profile. Check it out at http://youtu.be/kse4JmehA8k .

New Feature: Late Submissions

Good news, call administrators: You no longer have to re-open a call just to create a late submission. Now, even if your call's submission deadline has passed, you will continue to see it on the Start a Proposal page.

A few important notes:

1. Only you and your fellow administrators can see the call on the Start a Proposal page. If you want to allow a non-administrator to start a proposal, you will need to re-open the call.
2. The call will remain listed on the Start a Proposal page until it is archived.
3. Proposals you create are attached to your account. If you want to create a proposal on behalf of someone else, you will need to add that person to the proposal so that he/she can have access to it.
4. Proposals you create after the submission deadline has passed will still need to be approved for review.

New Tutorial: Reviewing Submissions

We've just posted a brief tutorial on YouTube that explains how to review submissions in ProposalSpace: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTWIBReUifc. If you manage a call, you might want to have your reviewers view the tutorial before they get started so they know what to expect.

If you have any suggestions for how we can improve the tutorial—or would like to see us create videos for other topics—just let us know!

New Feature: Customizable Submission Labels

If you are one of the growing number of organizations using ProposalSpace for managing award nominations, you might not have cared for the term "proposal" we use throughout the site (for example, "Start a Proposal" or "Edit Proposal").

Well, good news. Now you can customize the term. The default is still "proposal", but you can change it to "nomination", "abstract", "idea", or anything else that fits your needs. Just pull up the call and look in the General Settings page for a field called Submission Type.

Nice Call

Global Equity Organization's call for their annual conference really stands out for its clarity and conciseness. Our favorite part? The "What Happens After You Submit Your Proposal" section. Check it out at http://www.globalequity.org/geo/node/3265 and see if you agree.

New Feature: Breadcrumbs

We've made it easier than ever to find your way around ProposalSpace with breadcrumbs. Just check the top of any page to see where you are in relation to your Account Home page.