The SP Conference Board meets approximately twice per year to discuss new workshop and ICASSP proposals, and to review the progress of currently formed ICASSP Conference Committees. In the event that action is needed before the next regular meeting of the Conference Board, the Chairperson may poll the members of the board.
To propose an ICASSP, five to seven years prior to the proposed ICASSP, the interested organizer should contact the Conference Board Chairperson to check if the board would consider the location, and to obtain the names of conference management firms experienced with running Signal Processing Society meetings. Then three to five years prior to the proposed ICASSP, submit a preliminary proposal with the following basic information: year and location of the proposed ICASSP, names of key ICASSP Committee chairpersons, including the ICASSP General, Finance, and Technical Program Chairperson(s), and available conference facilities for a conference with approximately 800 presentations, 100 exhibit booths, and 1700 to 2200 attendees.
If this proposal seems feasible to the Board members, the interested organizer is usually invited to make a formal presentation of a proposal to the next meeting of the Board. Information that should be presented at that time includes: feasible hotel and meeting room logistics, potential dates (usually May, Tuesday through Friday), staffing of the Conference Committee, and a first-pass budget. This first budget should include comparisons with the budgets of one or two previous ICASSPs which would have similar expenses.
The Conference Board has some general guidelines regarding ICASSP locations. ICASSPs are normally to be abroad in approximate proportion to the SP Society membership abroad. ICASSPs within the USA usually move around geographically.
The acceptance of a proposal is generally accompanied by the acceptance of a budget and an authorization for the Conference Board Treasurer to request that IEEE advance a loan money to the ICASSP Conference Committee. The amount of the money that the Conference Board may loan is regulated by the BOG. Once an ICASSP is approved, the General Chairperson becomes a member of the Conference Board and continues to serve until three years after the ICASSP.
The Conference Board Treasurer handles all transfers of budgets and funds between an ICASSP and the IEEE. Preliminary, interim, and final budgets, loan applications and repayments, and payments of surplus funds should be submitted directly to the Conference Board Treasurer for forwarding to the IEEE.
The ICASSP Conference Committee generally handles contract negotiations with hotels and meeting facilities. However, the Conference Committee has no authority to sign this contract. It must be forwarded to the Conference Board for approval; it will then be signed by a duly authorized Society officer.
The Conference Board will call upon the General Chairperson of the ICASSP Conference Committee to periodically report on the progress of preparations for an upcoming ICASSP, and any revisions in the ICASSP budget. This happens approximately twice per year. After an ICASSP, the Conference Committee gives a concluding report to a joint meeting of the Conference Board and the BOG. During the time preceding an ICASSP, the Conference Board Chairperson also reports on the progress of ICASSP preparations to the BOG.