Most Chapmans focus on a subfield topic (distributed volcanism, water availability as an integrated approach, alfven waves in the sun and heliosphere, etc.). There also have been Chapmans convened on broad topics that involve science and touch society, including justice in geoscience and climate and health in Africa.

Because most Chapmans are subfield specific, conveners begin the submission process already having recruited some speakers and potential attendees. Having your meeting organized, and knowing who can provide expertise, is critical to the meeting being successful. AGU has a Phase I application with simple questions about the conference that can be submitted for review.

All Chapman applications are peer reviewed by scientists. They provide feedback at both the Phase I and Phase II application touchpoints, potentially providing scientific or organizational guidance. If the peer review teams believe the topic is ready to move forward, it is accepted. AGU staff then becomes involved.

Almost all Chapmans are located globally where the subfield science work is occurring. Some Chapmans have been held at the AGU Headquarters in Washington, DC, both for cost savings and as a centralized location for attendees to travel to.

Scientifically, holding a Chapman globally where the science occurs is an excellent way to bring outcomes and focus to the meeting. Conveners wanting to hold a Chapman outside the United States generally have a partner at the location where the Chapman will be held. This partnership helps smooth logistics and provides authentic science from that area of the world. Financially, please remember that many countries charge high tax rates to work in that country. These taxes, and the cost of AGU hiring a company to ensure the conference is in compliance with applicable tax laws, will likely impact registration rates.

AGU team members take the lead on logistics (including securing venue and hotel contracts), promotion (website, marketing assistance, etc.), and overall organization. Conveners and AGU team members communicate regularly throughout the process on all organizational subjects. The AGU team manages logistics for your conference, from booking venues to arranging accommodations to helping secure sponsorships.

Conveners have control over topic and speaker selection as well as format and outcomes of the conference. AGU supports the logistics so you can focus on the science.

AGU stands up websites for Chapmans after having discussions with conveners. Conveners provide the scientific topics and information and may provide artwork or suggestions for the site.

Not all Chapmans open for abstracts. Some meetings have only a few speakers and do the rest of the work in breakout groups or in posters. Some meetings do open for abstracts. In that case, AGU will use its abstract management system for the conference. The primary convener manages the scientific program and all conveners review abstracts. The program, with abstracts, is published online by AGU.

AGU team members manage the budget for the meeting and finalize the registration rates while communicating with the conveners. AGU gauges registration rates to cover the costs of the meeting. Please remember that with such a small number of attendees, costs are spread among 80-120 people, including students, who normally receive reduced registration rates. A student discount will increase "regular" registration rates to balance the budget.

Receiving grant funding and sponsorship monies for the meeting is the way to reduce registration rates.

Conveners often submit funding requests to federal agencies, foundations, and industry partners to support travel and lower costs for the meeting. Grants for travel funds help attendees with their travel costs, but they do not reduce registration rates as travel grant money cannot be used across the general Chapman budget.

Generally, scientists from Tier 1 or Tier 2 World Bank countries receive free or drastically reduced registration rates to help enable their participation. All other attendees, including conveners, pay registrations rates at the decided amounts.

Yes, many Chapman conferences have working field trips included as part of the meeting. If the field trip is part of the scientific program, the costs associated with this trip will be included in the registration costs. If conveners want to organize social trips (city tours, dinners outside a meal included in the registration rate), they need to organize and take the financial risk for those trips. AGU team members can provide guidance in these areas.

If you have a conference idea, it takes an average of 15-18 months from your initial application to convening the actual meeting. All submissions must go through peer review, which can take multiple weeks to multiple months, depending on the time of year and complexity of the science involved. The meeting planning begins after the Chapman application is accepted.

The most productive Chapman Conferences include 80-120 attendees with a fair representation of student and early career scientists as well as expert scientists who represent all aspects of the topic. There have been Chapmans with attendance as small as 60 and as large as 210 attendees.

Onsite meetings generally run 3-5 days, including a field trip. Online meetings can occur in short bursts over a period of a few weeks or in a more extended timeframe over a few days.

An outcomes plan is part of the conference proposal and, minimally, a conference summary that can be published on an AGU website is an outcome. Almost every Chapman have public, scientific, or media outcomes.