Abstracts due by September 16, 2013
The Petfood Forum 2014 content advisory board is seeking abstracts for noncommercial oral and poster presentations, due via e-mail by September 16, 2013.
Potential speakers are invited to submit abstracts on petfood/pet treat topics including, but not limited, to:
- Nutrition and ingredients;
- Packaging;
- Safety and regulatory;
- Processing and production;
- Market data, trends and predictions, including for markets outside the US;
- Company profiles and case studies;
- Marketing, promotions or social media; and
- New product development.
Petfood Forum 2014 is scheduled for March 31-April 1, 2014, at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel, about 10 miles west of O'Hare Airport near Chicago, Illinois, USA.What to submit
An advisory board of petfood experts will evaluate all submissions for:
- Relevance of topic;
- Presence of new or innovative information, concepts or research; originality is key, so please be sure your abstract gives a good idea of how your topic is unique and/or based on new research findings or work not found elsewhere;
- Proposed speaker's experience or background with the topic;
- Lack of commercialization or promotion-it is crucial that the paper/presentation does not come across as a sales pitch, seeking to promote your organization or product(s);
- Evidence of previous speaking experience.
Each submission is evaluated on its own merits against these criteria but also in relation to other papers received-for example, it is highly unlikely two papers on the same or a very similar subject would be selected for presentations-and to how many sessions are scheduled for a given topic area. We seek to present a balance of timely topics as well as ensure particular areas of high industry importance and popularity are sufficiently covered (examples include nutrition/ingredients and, currently, petfood safety).
No abstract will be considered if it seems commercial or if it has been published or presented prior to Petfood Forum 2014. Abstracts similar in title or content to previously presented material should include significant new information.
How to submit
Please submit your abstract by e-mail to dphillips@wattnet.net, in Microsoft Word. Abstracts must be written in English.
Try to keep the abstract to no more than 300 words; however, the length of the abstract is less important than the need for it to sufficiently explain the topic, especially how it is unique or based on new information. The potential speaker's expertise in or knowledge of the topic should also be clear. Finally, it is helpful to include a concise list of three to five useful "take-home points."
We recommend organizing the body of the abstract as follows:
- Abstract title and name of corresponding author/potential speaker;
- Address, telephone number and e-mail address of the corresponding author;
- Whether you prefer an oral or poster presentation;
- The purpose of the presentation;
- A concise list of 3-5 useful "take-home points";
- Information presented in sufficient detail to support the conclusions and take-home points, plus how the topic is unique or based on new information.
- A 50-100 word biography of the potential presenter. Public speaking experience must be included.
Abstracts must be received no later than September 16, 2013. After this deadline, any papers submitted will be considered on a case-by-case basis. They may still be evaluated; or it may simply be too late.
After review of submissions
If your abstract is chosen for an oral presentation, you will receive a PowerPoint template to use to create your presentation, including a set range of number of slides.
Authors will be required to sign a copyright release to permit publication of the abstract.
If your paper is not selected, you will be invited to submit your topic for a poster that will be on display throughout Petfood Forum. We will provide specific guidelines about submitting text and graphics for the poster; then we will create the poster and send it to the submitter/researcher for review and approval.