ASLA Annual Meeting & EXPO
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Oct. 7 - 10, 2005

Invitation to Prospective Authors/Presenters

Suggested Topics for Education Sessions

Meeting Theme - Winds of Change: Keys for the Future

Education Formats

Time Line

ASLA Continuing Professional Education

Proposal Evaluation Process

Benefits to Author/Presenter

Expectations of Author/Presenter

Education Session Submission Requirements

Electronic Online Submission

Invitation to Prospective Authors/Presenters

The American Society of Landscape Architects Annual Meeting & Expo, attracting over 3,500 participants each year, is an outstanding opportunity to experience a range of innovations defining the future practice of landscape architecture. Through a combination of networking opportunities, education sessions, tours, supplier exhibits, and meeting abstracts, the ASLA assembles an unparalleled view of the profession.

To create this educational opportunity, the ASLA Annual Meeting Steering Committee and the LandTech Advisory Committee invite presentation proposals from landscape architects, related art, design and environmental professionals, educators, suppliers, and technology experts. In addition, proposals from associated professionals that address government and regulatory issues, financial planning and business development topics, or cultural and social trends are welcome to help expand the greater context of landscape architecture practice. These proposals, plus a group of notable invited speakers, form an outstanding education program created especially for design professionals at all career stages.

Back to Top^

Suggested Topics for Education Sessions

In keeping with the theme and the direction of this year’s meeting, several topics are included as suggestions for proposal. These potential topic areas include subjects of current interest to landscape architects as well as subjects that continue to provide valuable information and assistance. However, all proposals are given careful consideration and may deviate from this list of suggested topics.

A list of suggested session topics can be found below, but don't let this list limit your creativity in topics for sessions:

Natural and Cultural Resources

Practice Management/Business

Planning, Design, Implementation
o Urban
o Regional, Community
o Tourism, Resort, Entertainment, Attractions
o Residential
o Campus
o Special Populations, i.e. Baby Boomers, Walkable Communities, etc.
o Other

Parks and Recreation

Transportation

Design Toolbox
o ADA
o Process
o Graphics
o Elements of Design, i.e. Plants, Lighting, Irrigation, Hardscape, etc.
o Public Art
o Other

LandTech – Digital Technology, i.e. Software, Visualization, Technical Analysis, etc.

Other Topics of “Winds of Change”

Back to Top^

Meeting Theme - Winds of Change: Keys for the Future

Winds of change are blowing throughout the nation and the world. Globalization, urban sprawl, energy consumption, water quality, and human health and safety are having a profound impact on the world. These winds of change present challenges, as well as opportunities. How the world will look in the future depends largely on how landscape architects step forward to accept the challenges before them. Change is a fact – it is imperative for the future that landscape architects become leaders in dealing with change.

One of the most difficult things about being leaders is sorting out things that can be affected from those that cannot. A wise person once said, "We cannot change the wind, but we can adjust the sail.” Rather than fight the wind, landscape architects must know from which direction it comes and how to harness it in order to get them where they want to go. The profession must be able to quickly adjust the sail to keep on course. In this manner, the keys to a brighter and healthier future for people and the environment can be found.

As landscape architects, the winds of change can be harnessed to move in a positive direction with respect to the environment, culture, economy, and land use policies, and to find the keys to a higher and more sustainable quality of life. “Winds of Change: Keys for the Future” has been selected as the theme of the 2005 ASLA Annual Meeting to be held in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, October 7-11. The meeting will provide a forum to share experiences and engage in dialogues about the nature of change, its affect on the landscape, how landscape architects should respond, and how to identify keys to a brighter more sustainable future.

Back to Top^

Education Formats

Education Session
These sessions are 90-minute presentations and take place at the convention center. Sessions may have up to five presenters/panelists. The rooms are set in theater style with one screen and one LCD panel to accommodate an electronic presentation. Laptop computers are NOT provided by ASLA. Handouts are strongly encouraged. Limited seating education sessions are permitted; be certain to explain the need for this smaller, more in-depth presentation format in your submission materials. These sessions are included in the registration fee of all primary meeting registrants and badges are required for entry.

Education Session with a Mobile Component
In many instances, education sessions can be enhanced by the addition of a mobile component. ASLA’s host cities can often serve as a showcase of built and/or planned elements that reflect the subject matter of the education session. When considering an education session with a mobile component, ASLA suggests the author/presenter have first-hand knowledge of various sites to be visited or at least have a co-author/presenter who’s personally knowledgeable of these sites. The education session portion should remain close to 90 minutes in length and may feature up to five presenters/panelists. The overall length of the session will include the amount of time allotted for the mobile component.

The scheduling of these sessions will be governed by the Steering Committee and may take place during the meeting itself or on a pre- or post-day of the meeting (Friday or Tuesday) and must include a classroom portion as a major element of the session. Handouts are strongly encouraged. Based upon the cost of providing these sessions and the possible need to limit the number of participants, attendance fees may be charged. These sessions require a primary registrant badge for entry and/or ticket purchase and badges/tickets are required for entry.

NOTE: These sessions are not tours. For the most part, tours are created and conducted by the host chapter. Any individuals or groups other than the host chapter who wish to conduct a tour must provide staff with a written proposal (not submitted through this online submission format) no later than January 14, 2005, which outlines the purpose of the tour, the sites to be visited, etc. Prior to submitting a proposal, contact JoAnn Brown (202-216-2333; jbrown@asla.org) for additional requirements. These proposals will be reviewed by the Steering Committee for appropriateness and viability within the overall meeting program and host chapter tour plans.

LandTech Education Session and Demonstration Session
These presentations are two-fold: the education session component, which is 90 minutes long and may include up to five presenters/panelists, showcases real projects and business strategies that have been accomplished using the latest technology and software. The presenters or software developers will then follow up with a 60-minute demonstration which may have up to three presenters/panelists, which takes place in the EXPO LandTech Pavilion. These demonstrations showcase the software and technologies discussed in the education session and illustrate their use in project design and business goals. Handouts are strongly encouraged.

Proposals should include both the education session, focusing on the project or business application, as well as the demonstration session, including hardware and software being presented. Digital presentations for LandTech could include professional and/or educational applications and programs for site analysis, modeling, multimedia, digital design, imaging, animation techniques, video, GIS, land use & resource planning tools, and approaches to internet, CD-ROM, DVD and print copy delivery. Business software can include any applications for use in the practitioner’s daily work activities including database management and accounting, communication tools, and online applications.

The rooms for the education session portion are set in theater style with one screen and one LCD panel to accommodate an electronic presentation. Handouts are strongly encouraged. The demonstration portion of the session, which takes places on the floor of the EXPO, is set in theater style with one screen and an LCD projector using rear screen projection. Laptop computers are NOT provided by ASLA for either of these types of sessions.

The education sessions are included in the registration fee of all primary meeting registrants and badges are required for entry. The demonstration sessions are offered to all badged registrants.

Back to Top^

Time Line

ASLA Continuing Professional Education
The presentations made at the Annual Meeting are an integral component of ASLA’s Continuing Education Program. This program is directed towards enhancing and expanding the knowledge, skill, and ability of practicing landscape architects. These learning experiences allow landscape architects to remain current and render competent professional service to clients, the profession, and the public. ASLA’s education program objectives are to:

• Encourage regular, systematic continuing professional education for landscape architects;
• Advance the profession by enabling individual landscape architects to achieve personal and professional development objectives; and
• Fulfill ASLA’s mandated role in educating landscape architects.

In a continuing effort to upgrade the education programming, ASLA offers an electronic scanning system to assist those landscape architects needing to submit attendance verification to state registration boards for credits gained from formal education sessions. Primary registrants’ badges are scanned electronically by the session monitors at each room for up to 15 minutes after the start of the session. A record of attended sessions will be mailed after the annual meeting to those individuals who used this system. On behalf of all landscape architects registered in Florida, ASLA will submit your attendance verification to the Florida Board of Landscape Architects.

Back to Top^

Proposal Evaluation Process
Presentations are expected to make significant contributions to the professional dialogue and development of attendees’ skills. Presentations of built work should exemplify and articulate a specific design theory, innovation or approach, and authors/presenters must refrain from marketing particular products or services.

Proposals will initially receive peer review by subject area from volunteer adjunct reviewers with final review and approval from the ASLA Annual Meeting Steering Committee. The Steering Committee may request that accepted proposals be combined with related ones to form a stronger session. ASLA membership is not a pre-requisite for submissions and proposals from disciplines other than landscape architecture are encouraged, as are proposals from the supplier community.

Selection criteria include the clarity of the proposal itself; the relevance of the topic to the meeting theme and the profession of landscape architecture; the presentation’s inspirational and practical value; and the quality and degree of interaction proposed between author/presenter and audience.

Back to Top^

Benefits to Author/Presenter

• Complimentary registration to the ASLA Annual Meeting.
• Business networking contacts, sharing of your expertise, and further opportunities for public speaking and personal growth.
• Publication in the 2005 ASLA Annual Meeting Abstracts.

Back to Top^

Expectations of Author/Presenter

• Make no changes in content, or of presenters, without prior approval from ASLA once the session has been selected.
• Write the proposal for the presentation and serve as moderator (if multiple speakers or panelists are involved) for the session. Or name another individual who’s not involved in the presentation to serve as moderator.
• Act as point of contact for ASLA staff. Provide names and contact information on all presenters/panelists involved in the session.
• After acceptance as an annual meeting speaker, submit an electronic 1,500-2,000-word paper on the presentation topic for inclusion in the 2005 ASLA Annual Meeting Abstracts. Delineate the individuals from the presentation to be listed as authors on the abstract paper.
• Agree to have the presentation recorded in Salt Lake for the benefit of those who cannot attend the session.

Back to Top^

Education Session Submission Requirements

• Only electronic submissions using the online format will be accepted. The online format will be available on Thursday, November 18, 2004 and will be accessible from the link in the meetings area of ASLA’s website.
  If you have questions regarding the content of your proposal prior to the submission deadline, contact Ron Leighton (202-216-2338, rleighton@asla.org).
• When creating the proposal for submission, identify information such as the author/presenter’s name, session title, topic area, target audience, instructional objectives, format, learning objectives, delivery methods, panelist information (if applicable), mobile component offering (if applicable), LandTech demonstration offering (if applicable), etc.
• Authors/presenters need to also create the following materials for online submission:
  • Biography of 100 words on the principal author/presenter;
  • Marketing statement of 75 words (excluding author and speaker names) describing this session; this statement will be used for marketing purposes. If applicable, submit a separate 75-word marketing statement on the mobile component or the LandTech demonstration session;
  • Learning outcomes (minimum of three) describing the knowledge, understanding, and skills, which the participants will acquire as a result of attending this session;
  • Session description of 200 words (in an outline format), which provides overview information on what will be covered in the session; and
  • Detailed session summary of 500 words, which will be used when the proposal is reviewed, providing a description of the key issues, topics, and concepts to be addressed.
  • Additional information will be required in the event a mobile component is accepted as part of an education session, i.e. tour guide(s) names; a realistic budget including admission fees, rental fees, handouts, snacks, parking; a mapped-out tour route; bus size restrictions, etc. This information will be solicited directly from the author/presenter at a later date and does not need to be part of the original proposal submission.

Back to Top^

Electronic Online Submission:
Proposals must be input by Friday, January 14, 2005, at 11:59pm EST using the online submission process. Mailed or faxed submittals and late electronic submittals will not be accepted. Changes may be made to the original submission until January 14, 2005.

Back to Top^