EDGE 2023 Call for Sessions

CFS Process & Timeline 

Presenting at EDGE offers an excellent opportunity to educate and engage an audience of 2,700+ supply chain professionals from over 30 countries and industries. There are over 100 sessions delivered at EDGE every year to an attendee base comprised of 60% decision makers. Roughly 40% of attendees are new to EDGE every year. 

Session ideas should align with one or more of the EDGE 2023 Educational Tracks. Review the timeline & requirements below before making your submission. 

Stage 1: Submission Period: February 1 – March 6

Submit your session ideas during this period. Third party, late, or incomplete sessions will not be considered. All submissions must be submitted through the Call for Sessions Portal; submissions received via email will not be considered. 

A session is considered complete if it has a: 

• Session Title (12 words max)
• Description (600 characters max) & 
• All participating speakers are listed with name, email address, title, and company

Each speaker must be aware that they are being considered to participate in the session at EDGE 2023 in Kissimmee, Florida.

Stage 2: Committee Review by March 20

Each submission is reviewed and evaluated by the EDGE Conference Committee who are looking for sessions that address current issues and trends with relevant data, experience, and application in addition to customers who can support the objective. Sessions that meet all guidelines and criteria are more likely to be selected.  

The EDGE Committee will review and evaluate the submitted session ideas and elevate the approved sessions to the Sessions Library for the Track Chairs to make their selections.
 
Stage 3: Session Selection by April 13

After Committee reviews are completed, our volunteer Track Chairs will review and consider all approved proposals for selection into their assigned track. No submission proposal is ever guaranteed. Sessions that are not selected will be considered for other opportunities either within EDGE or CSCMP’s global roundtables. Session submitters will be notified of their submission status by April 28.

Stage 4: Sessions Considered Final by June 1

By this date, all tracks and sessions are considered 'final'. 'Final' means that the Track Chair has confirmed all speakers, as well as the session titles and descriptions*. At this point, session promotion in the EDGE website will begin. If the session isn’t final by this date, it will not be promoted in printed materials. 
 
On occasion, a track chair may need to select a replacement session, so sessions not initially selected will be kept on record in the Sessions Library. The Sessions Library will also be offered to the Roundtables, who may contact the submitters for a local event.

Criteria for Eligibility

All sessions must meet the following requirements:

1. Educational Sessions Only. Selling is not permitted. Selling is defined as any of the following: Repeated reference to a company (manufacturers or retailers may be exempt, if they are demonstrating circumstances in their own supply chain and not referring to company services), repeated reference to a company's products or services, distribution of sales or marketing material, or branded content. 
2. CSCMP Membership. You must be a CSCMP member to submit a session. Visit our membership page to become a member today.
3. In-person Conference. All speakers must present the session in-person at the conference location. No virtual sessions will be held. 
4. Session Format. All sessions must fit within a 60-minute time frame. Consider 45 minutes of presentation and 15 minutes of Q&A. 
5. Each Session Needs a Customer. All sessions must have at least one speaker who is a customer and/or retailer or manufacturer. This helps avoid tendencies towards 'selling' and ensures applicable, actionable content from real supply chains.
   1. There is a minimum of 2 presenters for each session idea and a maximum of 5 total presenters. Only retailers/shippers/manufacturers may present alone.
6. Third Party Submissions Not Accepted. Sessions submitted by a third party (such as a marketing consultant or agency) on behalf of the intended speaker/author will not be accepted. Session authors are expected to be committed to crafting educational content and sourcing valuable speakers. A third party implies disinterest in this effort and indicates selling.
7. Limit of 3 Session Ideas. A maximum of three (3) submissions per company will be permitted. Companies may only be represented in one (1) session across all tracks at EDGE, with some exceptions for manufacturers/retailers. 
8. Submit Your Idea Online. All submissions must be submitted through the website; submissions received through email will not be considered.

Content Guidelines 

Our member volunteers evaluate submissions based on their likelihood to produce fresh, interesting, actionable content. The following are taken into consideration when reviewing submissions:

Relevance and Practitioner Value

• Consider how relevant and important the topic is in supply chain right now and in the future.
• What is the impact of this session and its significance to common practices?
• Will attendees be able to take the content back to their job and apply what they have learned?
• Does the content have value for attendees' companies? Is this session broadly transferable?
• Will the practitioner community see the value in this session and be excited to attend?
• Will the attendees be able to relate to the content and improve their knowledge?

Content Clarity

• How well-executed is the session’s description—is it clear and concise without having to guess what the intentions are? Ambiguity counts against a submission. 
• Does the session supply key takeaways (i.e. specific skills or practical knowledge that attendees can apply in their careers)?
• Does the session content provide clear objectives and why the topic is important?

Supporting Speakers

• Are the customers/speakers proposed attractive to the topic?
• Are the speakers from companies that attendees can relate to?
•  Are there any speakers listed at all? Is their contact information provided? 
  • Listing speaker names and contact information shows you have contact with the speaker, which makes confirming their participation possible. A session listed with no names or contact information means the Track Chair will need to source speakers, so please provide suggestions within your network. Talk to your potential speakers ahead of time. Speakers don't have to be confirmed at submission, but a submission with a specific speaker and contact information is far more likely to be selected.  
• Is there a customer presenting with a service provider/consultant? Remember, this is a requirement. 

Overt Selling

• Does this session appear to be geared towards the selling of a certain product or service? (If yes, the session will be disqualified)
• Is this session just a promotion? (If yes, the session will be disqualified)
• Is this session an unbiased view with a case to prove that a method/idea/process/skill is effective to the greater supply chain community? (Case studies regarding application of a best practice or new technique are acceptable, whereas case studies regarding a company-specific product or service are not.)