The majority of speakers for Petfood Forum are selected via a call for papers, issued each June with a due date of October 1. The deadline has passed for Petfood Forum 2013.
After the October 1 deadline passes each year, 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 selections for presentations are made from the papers submitted, if we still have sessions to fill in a given topic area, the editorial staff of Petfood Forum/Petfood Industry may directly invite known experts on a given topic, past speakers or other industry professionals to present.
Petfood Forum 2014
For Petfood Forum 2014 and beyond, please watch the Petfood Forum website as well as the Petfood Industry online news page, Petfood Industry magazine and our e-newsletters, Pet e-News and Nutrition News. The call for papers will be issued multiple times each year until the October 1 deadline.
Once all papers are received, an advisory group of petfood experts evaluates them for:
• Relevance of topic;
• Presence of new or innovative information, concepts or research;
• 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—more attention will be paid to this element than in previous years.
No abstract will be considered if it seems commercial or if it has been published or presented prior to that year's Petfood Forum conference. Abstracts similar in title or content to previously presented material should include significant new information.
Each paper submitted 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).
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 as to text and graphics to provide; then we will create the poster and send it to the submitter/researcher for review and approval.