Town Halls
Let your voice be heard! Town halls provide a valuable opportunity for academic programs, special projects, and other focused interest groups to gather input from the broader marine sciences community at the Ocean Sciences Meeting held every two years.
New for OSM26: federal agencies and other funding organizations will have an alternative venue to share information with meeting attendees outside of the town hall program. The submission period to request an agency session will align with the abstract submission period beginning in early July.
Overview
Town halls are:
- Open to all meeting attendees.
- One hour in length and scheduled Monday through Thursday during lunch.
- Scheduled onsite for live in-person participation only.
Proposals must be submitted by 23:59 EDT/03:59 UTC on 28 May 2025.
Requirements and Guidelines
- The description should not be more than 200 words. Please include target audience, the goals of the town hall, and any specific types of feedback you are seeking. While town halls can include brief updates on programs, we emphasize that they are opportunities for conveners to gather information from the community and to answer their questions. Conveners should consider ways to make the sessions more conversational.
- Town hall proposals must include a primary contact, including affiliation, as well as a list of proposed speaker names, if applicable.
- Please add as much information as known at the time of submission. If accepted, you will have an opportunity to update your list of participants at a later date.
- The following types of proposals generally will not be considered:
- Proposals that are primarily advertisements of commercial products and services, or that contain the name of a specific experiment in the title or description. For opportunities to exhibit or sponsor activities at OSM26, visit the Exhibit page.
- Proposals that duplicate scientific session formats or replace ancillary event requests.
- Proposals focused on government agency grant programs. Federal agencies and funding organizations will have an alternative path to provide updates at the meeting. The proposal period for an agency session will open in early July in conjunction with the abstract submission period.
- All town hall participants and organizers must register to attend the Ocean Sciences Meeting to attend the town hall; registration will open in August and one day registrations will be available.
Next Steps
The Ocean Sciences Meeting Program Committee will review and assess the proposals and finalize the schedule for all approved town halls. The program committee reserves the right to:
- Reject, move, or merge proposals on related topics.
- Request that organizers revise the town hall title and/or description.
Town hall organizers will be notified of acceptance or rejection in mid-July. If accepted, town hall organizers will be asked to pay a $400 technology and labor fee.