Petfood Forum 2018

Petfood Forum 2018 call for papers

Abstracts due by October 9, 2017

The Petfood Forum 2018 content advisory board is seeking abstracts for noncommercial oral presentations, due October 9, 2017.

Petfood Forum 2018 is scheduled for April 23-25 at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Please do not submit an abstract if you are not sure you will be able to attend Petfood Forum during those dates.

Scientific posters will be handled as a separate submission process. Information on submitting an abstract for a poster will be available by November 2017.

What to submit

Potential speakers are invited to submit noncommercial abstracts on topics including:

• New research on companion animal nutrition;

• Novel ingredients and their potential applications in pet food or treat formulations;

• Data, trends and predictions for the pet food market, either global or focusing on a specific market, including opportunities for innovation;

• New pet retailing information pertinent to the selling or distribution of pet food;

• New information or ideas for marketing pet food, including via social media;

• New information, techniques or processes for new product development in pet food;

• Update on regulatory information relevant to pet food in the US or other, specific markets;

• New research, technology or processes for pet food production;

• New research, technology or other information on pet food packaging;

• New, specific information on one focused aspect of pet food safety (no general overviews of regulations or pet food safety programs).

An advisory board of pet food industry experts will evaluate all submissions for:

• Relevance of topic;

• Presence of new or innovative information, concepts or research; originality is key, so please be sure your abstract gives a clear idea of how your topic is unique and/or based on new research findings or work not found elsewhere;

• 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.

Each submission 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.

No abstract will be considered if it seems commercial or if it has been published or presented prior to Petfood Forum 2018. Abstracts similar in title or content to previously presented material should include significant new information.

How to submit

You will need to log in, using the link at the upper left corner of the page. The system will prompt you to register as a new user or log in if you are a previous user. If you have registered online for a recent Petfood Forum conference outside of the US, such as Petfood Forum Europe 2017 or Petfood Forum Asia 2016, you may already have an account in this system. Simply enter your email address; you can request for your password to be sent if you do not remember it.

Once logged in, please click on My Profile and complete or update that form. (Be sure to click “Save” at the bottom if you make any changes or add new information.)

Then click on Submissions at the top of the page to create a new submission. Follow the instructions to complete the form, using the guidelines below. When finished, be sure to click “Save” at the bottom of the page.

Guidelines:

• Abstracts must be written in English.

• The abstract should sufficiently explain the topic, especially how it is unique or based on new information. The potential speaker’s expertise in or knowledge of the topic should also be clear.

• The following elements must be part of the abstract:

o Abstract title and name, title and organization of corresponding author/potential speaker (if different or in addition to the information given in the My Profile section);

o The purpose/objective of the presentation;

o A concise list of 3-5 useful take-home points;

o Information presented in sufficient detail to support the conclusions and take-home points, plus how the topic is unique or based on new information.

The submission form also includes a required field for a 50-100 word biography of the potential presenter. Public speaking experience must be included; it is also helpful to include information on the speaker’s knowledge of or experience with the topic.

Abstracts must be received no later than October 9. After this deadline, the abstract submission system will no longer accept submissions. Any requests for late submissions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

After review of submissions

All submissions will be reviewed within four to six weeks after the October 9 deadline; you will receive an email from the abstract system about whether your submission has been accepted or declined. (The email will come from Petfood Forum 2018 as the name, with an email address of eventinfo@wattglobal.com.)

If your abstract is chosen for an oral presentation, you will receive a Word template to complete a proceedings document, plus a PowerPoint template to use to create your presentation, including a set range of number of slides and recommended amount of information or bullet points to include on each slide. Please use and follow these templates.

Authors will be required to sign a copyright release to permit publication of the abstract and the use or re-use of other materials. You will also be required to provide a photo (head shot) and, by a specified date, a longer, more developed abstract if your initial submission is not sufficient for publication.

Failure to provide required files and information by the specified deadlines could result in your being replaced as a speaker for Petfood Forum 2018.