KITP requires the lead conference coordinator to inform us of all conference committee decisions. The lead coordinator will liaise with Claudia Gutierrez, the Conference Assistant (CA), on speaker selection, schedule, and budgetary matters.
Budget
We offer up to six nights at Best Western South Coast Inn (BWSCI) for each of up to 20 invited speakers and conference coordinators. In addition, we budget $5,000 for speaker and conference coordinator travel reimbursements. Speakers and coordinators must call the hotel and reserve a room with a credit card number (in case of incidental charges). The CA will track your travel budget. KITP offers no travel or lodging support for program participants that are already in residence at KITP at the time of the conference. The conference budget cannot be used to reimburse speakers for the required registration fee.
Registration Fees
The conference registration fee is $390.00 per participant. Program participants in-house during the conference week must register for the conference and pay the registration fee. Graduate student affiliates in-house for the program during conference week must register, but pay a discounted rate of $260.00. These amounts cover the cost for refreshments, lunches, dinners and additional expenses (e.g. copying, mailing costs, rentals, media needs and transportation of participants between the motel and campus). Conference coordinators pay a reduced registration fee of $150.00. We accept online credit card payments starting 90 days prior to the start of the conference. Program affiliates and conference coordinators will use a coupon code to receive their discounted fee. There is a late charge of $50 for paying the registration fee fewer than 30 days before the conference begins.
Refund policy
Participants who cancel more than ten days before the conference receive a full refund of fees paid. Cancellations Those who cancel less than ten days before the conference will be refunded fees paid, less the Special Events fee of $90.
Limiting Registrants
KITP conferences comfortably accommodate 120 participants. We stop accepting registrations at 130 participants. You can monitor conference registration, as well as the status of speaker invitations and confirmations, on the conference coordinators’ data site: there is a link to the conference data site in the upper right-hand corner of the associated program’s data site.
Poster Session
Notify KITP in advance if you want to provide a poster session. Each poster board is 4' high x 6' long mounted on two vertical uprights, making available a space of 44” high and 34” wide for each poster.
Reimbursement of Expenses for Invited Speakers
The KITP Director will make financial commitments to speakers in writing. Verbal commitments by the coordinators are not considered final. Conference participants who are in residence at the KITP for at least one week besides the conference week are considered program participants. Their financial support will come from the program budget.
The Director’s letter of invitation will initially offer to pay speakers six nights of lodging and will query the speaker regarding the need for travel support. As the resulting travel requests come to the CA, he/she will help you track your $5,000 travel budget allocation. These commitments must be finalized and will be reported to the Director two weeks in advance of the conference.
Talks online
When contacting speakers, please advise them that KITP posts audio, video, and slides from all talks on its website. These online records greatly enlarge the audience for your talks and accelerate scientific communication.
Schedule
KITP conferences provide a unique atmosphere that fosters interaction and discussion. We strongly encourage you to allot at least 50% of the speaker’s formal presentation time for discussion. Refreshment breaks of at least 30 minutes each and a lunch period of at least 90 minutes are needed, preferably at the same time each day. This provides maximum scientific benefit for the audience, allows adequate break periods for a large number of people, and is flexible enough to accommodate shorter/longer talks. Before planning your schedule, please review past conferences. The KITP Director will have final approval of your schedule before it is made public.
Logistics
The KITP is located 2.5 miles from the nearest hotel. Because of this, participants can’t retreat to their hotel room for a mental break, although there are several lounges where visitors may read, relax, and enjoy refreshments. We advise leaving an entire afternoon and evening free. Participants can explore Santa Barbara and environs without missing any sessions. It is also advisable to end early in the afternoon on the last day so the staff is still available to help.
Staff support
If you have any questions, please direct them to your Conference Assistant.
We look forward to working with you for a successful meeting.
1. List of Speakers and Session Chairs
First, conference coordinators submit a draft speaker list to the Conference Coordinator and Deputy Director. Once the list is approved by KITP, the coordinators contact potential speakers As they receive tentative commitments from the speakers, they will forward recommendations to the CA. The CA, after obtaining the Deputy Director’s approval, will issue official invitations to the speakers. When thinking of speakers, try to identify people from underrepresented groups and make sure that such participants are chosen as session chairs. You should have your speakers lined up at least six months in advance of the conference, at which point the Director will schedule a teleconference with you to review the speaker list and address any concerns you may have. Your session chairs should be selected and confirmed at least one month in advance.
2. Online Registration
Register on our website. With the form is information on arrival procedures, accommodations, transportation, social events, etc. The conference hotel is the Best Western South Coast Inn in Goleta, California.
3. Staged Registration
The CA will inform you when the number of registrants reaches 75 (this includes program participants who are at KITP during the Conference period, but will not include speakers ). At this stage, we will add a note to the conference website stating, "This conference is nearing capacity. We are still accepting registrations, but we reserve the right to stop accepting registrations at any time and to implement a waiting list." Next, review the list of registrants and contact those people you wish to attend. Personally ask them to register. Once registrations reach 120, including speakers, we will add a note to the conference website, "Note: We have now reached capacity for this conference. If you wish to be placed on the waiting list in the event of cancellations, please complete a registration form now, and we will automatically put you on the wait list when we receive it. Please do *not* pay the registration fee at this time. Determination of available space will be made by X-Date to allow time to make travel plans." By closing registration at 120, you will still have 10 slots available. You can track who has registered on the Coordinators' Data Site.
4. Schedule
Submit a draft schedule one month prior to the conference and a final schedule one week. The Director must approve the schedule. The CA will send you a schedule template.
5. Conference Report
After the conference, the coordinators will write a brief report, which will be included in the program coordinators’ report. The conference report should describe the conference, highlight any new or important science that was discussed and point out possibilities for future work that might emerge. This report should describe your efforts at promoting diversity and the degree of success achieved. This summary part of our reporting to the NSF.
The Coordinators' Data Site is accessible only to coordinators and KITP staff. It lists all of the applications to your program along with the applications' status.
Dear Colleague:
We are providing this information in connection with your recent letter of invitation to speak at KITP. As you prepare for your visit, other "Before your Visit" pages in the left-hand menu will help you plan. In particular, please note:
Location
KITP is in Kohn Hall, located directly across from the main entrance of the UCSB campus in Santa Barbara, California.
Lodging
- For program speakers or other short visits: Please review the local hotel options. Based upon the time of year and your length of stay a recommendation may have been made to you. You will need to call the hotel to arrange your own lodging. Be sure to ask for the KITP discount!
- For conferences: A block of rooms is usually reserved at the Best Western South Coast Inn.
Local Transportation
- For program speakers or other short visits: for mini workshops and mini programs we do not reserve blocks of rooms or provide transportation to and from the Institute. The Best West South Coast Inn has free shuttle service, and the Ramada Limited will reimburse one round-trip taxi fare per day. (This information is subject to change.)
- For conferences: transportation between the Best Western South Coast Inn and KITP is provided by KITP.
Meals
- Restaurants in a variety of price ranges can be found near the South Coast Inn and on the campus. Also, many varying types of food are available nearby in Santa Barbara.
- For conferences: breaks and lunches are provided as part of the meeting and are covered by your registration fee. Lunch will be held on the KITP Center Patio.