In order to encourage greater innovation and creative sessions at SMA, the 2009 SMA Program Committee is accepting proposals for innovative sessions for the 2009 annual meeting. Proposed sessions are subject to three requirements:

1. Session length must be consistent with typical SMA conference sessions (70 or 90 minutes)
2. All activities proposed for the session must be legal in the state of North Carolina and be consistent with the Academy of Management’s Revised Code of Ethics, and
3. If your session will be held in the hotel or on the hotel property, activities must also be consistent with hotel guidelines.

To be considered for the “Most Innovative Session Award,” submit your session description as a symposium using the SMA website, and indicate that you wish your session to be considered for this award. If the session content does not fit within an existing track (se the Call for Papers), the session proposal can be submitted directly to the Program Chair (mark.gavin@okstate.edu). Special requirements or equipment other than what is provided for traditional SMA sessions need to be clearly explained in your session proposal.

Innovative session proposals will be reviewed using the same review process used for symposia – they will not be blind-reviewed. Subject to review, a $500 award will be given to the organizer of the most innovative session accepted for the program. 2008 was the first year that the Most Innovative Session Award was offered by SMA.  While we received several submissions for the award, it was ultimately withheld. This was not a reflection on the quality of the submissions, as evidenced by the fact that most were accepted as part of the regular program. Rather, we felt that the submissions were not innovative enough in format. By way of offering further clarification concerning the intent of the award, we encourage those of you who are planning to submit symposia proposals to SMA this year to think beyond traditional conference session format and to propose something truly innovative.

Please contact Mark Gavin (mark.gavin@okstate.edu), 2009 Program Chair, with questions. We look forward to seeing what you come up with!