Thank you for agreeing to take on the important task of chairing a session at the 2026 AMS Annual Meeting. Below is additional guidance that may help you prepare for and manage your session.
Before the Meeting
Connecting with Colleagues
You will have received a detailed list of the presenters, their email addresses, and paper titles. If you did not, you may request this from the conference organizers by contacting events@amsmusicology.org. Once you have this information, please introduce yourself to all the presenters or panelists in your session, and feel free to request a draft of the paper(s) to be presented along with any handouts, so that you can review these materials before the meeting.
Also, you may wish to request brief biographical sketches (affiliations, list of publications, etc.) from each of the presenters, so that you can facilitate introductions.
Planning the Session
It is important that you plan your time as precisely as possible. Start the session on time. Ask everyone to stay muted.
Session chairs should facilitate introductions, manage the Q&A, and monitor session timing. Please be sure to prepare one or two comments or questions for each presenter in the event that there are no immediate questions from the audience and discussion needs to be initiated by the chair.
We also recommend that you ask your presenters if they would like to share their social media handles, or if they have objections to attendees live-tweeting their presentations or posting photos of their PowerPoint slides. If presenters do not want social media posts, this should be announced clearly prior to each presentation. All attendees are strongly advised to review and adhere to our Social Media Dos and Don’ts.
Paper Presentation Chairs
For most sessions, you can plan on twenty-minute papers and Q&A periods of roughly 8–9 minutes per presentation. Allow 1 minute at the beginning of each paper for introductions.
Paper Forum Chairs
If you are chairing a paper forum, note that the session is a paper forum so audience members are aware, and explain how it will be handled differently from regular paper sessions.
You should plan for 15–18 minutes per paper presentation, 10–15 minutes for the discussant, and 30 minutes for a combined Q&A. If you are chairing a session with a special format or atypical number of presentations, please adjust accordingly. The remaining time is for introductions and questions. The session chair will give a 1-minute introduction, and the Q&A for each presentation will last approximately 8–9 minutes. Paper Forums have one collective Q&A at the end of the session.
During the Session
When to Arrive
Both chairs and presenters are encouraged to join the session room 10-15 minutes before the start of the session to meet each other, introduce themselves, and test the tech (screen share, audio samples, microphones, etc.). An early-access link to the session room will be provided by the conference organizers. If you require technical assistance, you may solicit assistance from the conference volunteer assigned to your Zoom room.
Managing the Session
Before the session starts, please remind presenters of their time limits and the session format. Be respectful and pleasant, but firm in enforcing those limits. Set a clear signal (e.g., chat, hand signal, etc.) for indicating that the presenter has exceeded the allowed time. If the presenter does not see the signal or respond to it, feel free to end the presentation time by gently interrupting.
You should instruct your session’s attendees to refrain from using the chat during presentations, as these may distract presenters. Instead, they should save any questions for the Q&A. When managing the Q&A, advise the audience to use either the hand raise function, or to enter their questions into the chat. Remind the audience to ask questions only, and to keep any background information as brief as possible. If people don’t comply with these guidelines, don’t be afraid to remind or even interrupt them. Be polite and tactful, but firm. Be prepared to challenge offensive or discriminatory comments.
When managing the Q&A, try to establish and announce the order of questioners when possible. If there are more questions than time allows, announce in advance who will get the last question, apologize to the others, and stop when the last person’s question has been answered.
If the Q&A is slow to start or no one has a question, ask a question you have prepared. Make sure all presenters are asked at least one or two questions that allow them to further explore their presentations and encourage discussion.
Most importantly, please take care to ensure that your session begins and ends on time. Sessions that go long inconvenience others and make it difficult for succeeding sessions held in the same room to start on time.
Volunteers
Volunteer room monitors will be in all Zoom session rooms. These volunteers are responsible for assisting with the Zoom platform and notifying the conference organizers in the event of any technical difficulties. Room monitors are not technicians, however, and may not be able to assist with complicated technical issues having to do with your own device(s). If you are presenting, it is your responsibility to test your equipment setup before your presentation.