The Local Arrangements Committee is responsible for overseeing the setup of the lecture sessions. It is reasonable to expect the lecture halls to have the screens, acoustics, podium, and seating setup so that the audience can see and hear the presentations. Here are some simple guidelines to follow when arranging the lecture rooms. Assuming that the screens are square all the specifications are given in terms of the screen's width. The first row of chairs should not be closer to the screen than the width of the screen. The last row of chairs should be about 6 times the width of the screen, and should never be farther from the screen than eight times its width. Obviously (to us but not to hotel crews) the bottom of the screen must be higher than the sea of heads and shoulders in front of a seated person. Since the eye level of seated people is 4 to 4 and a half feet, the screen must be at least five feet off the floor to be visible.
The chairs in lecture sessions should not be placed in extremely long rows with aisles only at each end. Since some people arrive and depart between each 15 minute lecture (and some even during), attendees are always climbing over each other, and usually no one sits in the middles of the rows. This problem can be alleviated by having several interior aisles to allow easier access. The hotel or convention center personnel will not necessarily plan for good access unless it is specified in the contract or other written instructions.