Qualifying Sessions
- Regular sessions, seminars, labs and case studies with one or two Speakers
- Labs regardless of the number of Speakers
- Vendor Product Sessions with one or two Speakers who are attending without using an Exhibitor Corporate Badge
Non-Qualifying Sessions
- Roundtables and panel discussions
- Sessions with more than two speakers
- Birds of a Feather discussions
- Sessions presented by Speakers who are attending with an Exhibitor Corporate Badge*
* If a Speaker uses a Corporate Badge from their exhibiting company, that Speaker forfeits their first two Speaker Credits.
Important to Note
- Speakers must be active COMMON members
- A Speaker Credit shall have no monetary value but shall represent a percentage of fixed registration fees for the conference
- Speakers must present one (1) or more sessions in order to receive the Volunteer Registration Rate**
- Speakers must present a minimum of two (2) sessions to be eligible to receive the first Speaker Credit
- Speakers will receive one (1) Speaker Credit per session unit consisting of at least one hour for two (2) or more sessions presented up to a maximum of three (3) sessions
- No speaker shall receive more than two (2) Speaker Credits no matter how many sessions they present***
** If a Speaker does not stay in the Conference Hotel, the $200 non-conference hotel differential will be added to the Volunteer Registration Rate.
*** There will be only one Speaker Credit awarded per session unit. If there are multiple speakers for a session, the Speaker Credit will not be split. The Speaker Credit will go to the lead speaker. The lead speaker will be, by default, the first speaker listed in the agenda. If there are two speakers for a two-unit session, by default the Speaker Credits will be divided between the speakers.
Note: If there is an IBM speaker and a non-IBM speaker giving a session, the Speaker Credits will be, by default, given to the non-IBM speaker. IBM Speakers are compensated under a different policy.
Usage of Speaker Credits
Each Speaker Credit can only be utilized for the following:
- Fifty percent (50%) off the published Volunteer Registration Rate up to a maximum of One Hundred percent (100%)
- Speakers receiving One Hundred percent (100%) registration agree to participate in one additional event for COMMON outside of the conference but within the current calendar year. Qualifying events include – but are not limited to – the presentation of a webcast, writing a short article for COMMON.CONNECT or CONNECTOR, writing a blog post, participating in COMMON social media, or sitting on a committee.
Speaker Credits must be used to defray the costs for registration in whole credit units up until the point that the remaining registration balance is zero.
Speaker Credits can only be applied to the volunteer registration costs for the Annual Meeting at which the speaker is presenting the sessions.
Speaker Credits Usage Summary
# of Sessions Presented / Benefits Earned
- 1 / Volunteer Registration Rate
- 2 / 1 Speaker Credit = 50% off Volunteer Registration Rate
- 3 / 2 Speaker Credits = 100% off Volunteer Registration Rate
Transferability
Speaker Credits may not be transferred to another speaker or another COMMON Annual Meeting.
The President may designate a volunteer, paid staff or other individuals to be responsible for the designation of the types of sessions.
