Improved Data Export Feature

We've just released some exciting improvements to the data-export feature in ProposalSpace!

• Proposal information is no longer spread across multiple rows. All the information for a proposal—including role data, reviews and scheduling information—is now on the same line.
• You can now select individual questions from the submission and role forms to include in the export file.
• Special characters (like é) now display correctly in the export file.
• The "Proposals to Include" section now shows totals for each category so you can tell in advance how many proposals will be included in the export file.
• We've streamlined the code so the export file is generated even faster.

All of these changes were in response to feedback from our fantastic users. Keep the ideas coming!

New Tracker Dashboard

We've just released a new dashboard for the Session Tracker in ProposalSpace. The dashboard contains a couple of charts designed to help call admins track proposal activity over time and to monitor how many draft proposals are incomplete vs. complete. It also contains an Alerts section that displays issues that might require attention, like impending deadlines, submissions that haven't been approved for review, and submissions that need to be assigned to reviewers.

The idea is to make the Tracker Dashboard a place where admins can stay on top of every aspect of a call. We're always looking to make the feature more useful, so if you have any information that you would like to see on the dashboard, please let us know!

New Merge Fields in Messaging Module

Three new merge fields are now available in the Messaging Module:

• proposal.id, which displays the ID for each proposal.
• proposal.datetime, which displays the date/time assigned to each proposal in the Scheduling Module. (If no date/time is assigned for a proposal, the system displays "N/A".)
• proposal.location, which displays the location assigned to each proposal in the Scheduling Module. (If no location is assigned to a proposal, the system displays "N/A".)

If you have any suggestions for other fields you would like to include in your messages, just let us know!

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!