The Scaffold & Access Industry Association (SAIA) is holding an open call for speakers for the 2012 Annual Convention and Exposition. The meeting will be held July 15-18, 2012 in Huntington Beach, CA.

The SAIA is currently comprised of 10 active councils. Each council represents a particular niche of the scaffolding and access industry. The councils are responsible for the development and implementation of affairs consistent with the product and/or service applicable to each council. Councils are tasked with the oversight of regulatory/ jurisdictional safety concerns and specific industry issues relative to each established council.

Although the purpose of this call for speakers is to select quality speakers for the 2012 Annual Convention and Exposition, the outstanding professionals within the industry topic may be asked to supply referrals for future quarterly series. Presentations that are sought provide practical and useful information to an audience representing a broad range of scaffold & access equipment. Each council is looking for a speaker to talk on a subject during the 2012 Annual Convention and Exposition.

Aerial Work Platform Council
The Aerial Platform Council with your involvement is here to serve the access industry which includes manufacturers, dealers, rental companies, government, users and operators to help educate all on the safe use of aerial work platforms.

Construction Hoist Council
The Construction Hoists segment of the access industry is underserved, taken for granted and is in need of a raised profile throughout North America. The SAIA serves the scaffold industry from the ground up (Supported Scaffolds), the top down (Suspended Scaffolds) and now all points in between (Construction Hoists, Mast Climbers, Transport Platforms). SAIA believes that we can use the SAIA platform to advance the initiatives of the verticle transport industry.

Fall Protection Council

Industrial Scaffold Council
Many of the clients of SAIA members operate in what is considered the industrial arena; including the power, refining, shipbuilding, mining, chemical and manufacturing facilities industries. A separate council was initiated to address the unique needs of these clients.

Recommendations regarding personnel issues such as training, government regulations like the TWIC card requirements and various safety issues are developed and made available for use in the marketplace.

International Council
The need to become part of the Global Economy rather than just the U.S. market has never been stressed as much as it is today. Some of the SAIA. members are actively involved in International Trade, both exporting and importing, and many more would like to be, if only they knew how to do it and even where to start. The International Council of the SAIA has established the goal of being the forum for the education process and a resource for the information that is available.

Mast Climbing Council
The Mast Climbing Council (MCC) is one of the many councils offered by the SAIA. Our focus is on Mast Climbing Work Platforms (MCWP) and Transport Platforms (TP). We meet twice a year to discuss issues concerning both MCWP’s and TP’s with a focus on product safety, developing documents, which can be used by the industry, and working with other organizations and groups. We are working with a goal of offering a training program for MCWP’s. The MCC has developed a Code of Safe Practices, which is a set of general guidelines covering how to safely erect, dismantle and use both MCWP’s and TP’s. The Code of Safe Practices for TP’s was recently approved and is currently available from the SAIA and we are in the process of updating the document for MCWP’s.

Permanent Installation Council

Plank & Platform Council
The lack of criteria for producing metal platforms within the scaffolding industry has created safety issues. With a multitude of international and domestic metal plank manufacturers producing plank under various proprietary production methods and testing methods, the platform section of the scaffold industry has a need for clarification on such testing procedures. Our industry will benefit from historical data outlining the different ANSI, SSFI, CSA and UL requirements as well as uniform load and point load tests.

Supported Scaffold Council

Suspended Scaffold Council
The Suspended Scaffold Council has always attracted many attendees at the SAIA’s bi yearly meetings. Enthusiasm and participation continues to drive this group who have always provided educational and useful agenda’s, designed to help reduce accidents or problems in the field.

To date this Council has produced up to date training programs and materials. Items currently available from the SAIA include: The Codes Of Safe Practices for Suspended Scaffolds, a nationally recognized training program and a 200 page-training manual. To date approximately 10, 000 students worldwide have taken the SAIA’s Suspended Scaffold Training program.

Ten speakers will be chosen to present in February 2012.

Attendees are coming to learn - they don't want to hear a sales pitch, no matter
how thickly veiled.
Please do not submit classes that are geared around persuading attendees to buy your product or use your service. SAIA Annual Convention and Exposition sessions are for teaching, not for marketing.

Attendees and the conference organizers are skeptical of talks proposed
by marketing people.
Even the appearance of a sales pitch, such as when a talk is given by a marketer, will cause people to not attend that session.

Attendees don't want to be lectured on why something is important.
That's not why they are coming to SAIA's Annual Convention and Exposition, and that is not why they are attending your session. They are here to learn how to do new things. In your abstract, explain what new tools you will teach.

SAIA wants session proposals from expert instructors - not from companies.
If you are proposing to teach a class at SAIA's Annual Convention and Exposition, be sure that your schedule is clear, and that you are prepared to teach the class.

Speaking at SAIA's Annual Convention and Exposition means more than just showing up at the conference.
Please pay attention to the deadlines for submission of handouts and other materials. These deadlines help us ensure that the conference provides a quality educational experience for all attendees, and your cooperation is appreciated.

Please plan on sticking around for most or all of the conference, to interact with attendees, attend session, and partake of the entire SAIA Annual Convention and Exposition experience.
We are not looking for instructors to parachute in for a class, teach, and then disappear without a trace.

Information shall be presented in a factual manner based upon scientific research or engineering study.
If information presented is based upon experience or observation, it should be so noted in all material and presentation media.

2012 SAIA Annual Convention and Exposition
July 15-18, 2012
Huntington Beach, CA

All submissions must be received by January 31, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. CST.

Speakers will be notified of acceptance by e-mail beginning January 31, 2012 with a detailed contract for your review.

Incomplete submissions will not be considered.

• No materials will be returned once submitted to SAIA.
• One presenter may submit no more than three presentations for consideration.
• No more than two presenters may participate in any session.
• Please do not submit a proposal unless each presenter is available to appear on any day of the conference.
• A primary presenter, who will serve as the point of contact, must be identified for each submission that involves more than one person. The primary presenter is responsible for informing the co-presenter of the final acceptance or rejection of a presentation, audiovisual equipment requirements, and all other deadlines.
• The submission of a presentation does not guarantee participation in the program.
• Presentations must be no more than an hour of information.
• SAIA does not provide expenses for conference presenters; however, a discounted registration fee will be offered to each speaker and co-speaker.
• Speakers will be notified of acceptance by e-mail beginning January 31, 2012, with a detailed contract for your review.
• Everyone will be notified by the end of March whether his or her proposals have been accepted.

Questions? Contact SAIA Headquarters, 816.595.4860 or info@scaffold.org.

All proposals to present at the 2012 SAIA Annual Convention and Exposition must be completed electronically on this site by January 31, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. CST.

To submit a proposal to present, you will need to provide all of the following items exactly as requested for your submission to be considered:

• Full presentation outline, bullet pointed, and no more than 200 words.
• 200-word, or less, description of the session blended with biography for registration/advertisement materials.
• At least two references or recent speaker ratings from other conferences.
• 200 words, or less, professional biography.
• 30 words, or less, on how the session will provide interactive training.
• 30 words, or less, on what the presentation “take-away” will be.
  
• If you have a co-presenter you must list them as well.

Any presenters who fails to stay within these requirements will be asked to re-work and re-submit their submissions if time allows or they will not be considered. All submitted sessions will be rated based on relevancy and topic category, speaker expertise, credentials and prior ratings, interactive training methodologies, and presentation and takeaway materials.

Please use the following link to register online