Greetings to All ICGI members!!!

We hope everyone is doing well.  The ICGI meeting in Wuhan was superb and we hope that you were able to attend.  

Now, the 2015 PAG meeting is approaching, including our annual workshop there!!   
The COTTON GENOME INITIATIVE workshop will be SUNDAY, January 11, 2015, 4:00-6:10pm in Pacific Salon 2.  

This email is primarily about Workshop Speakers, but before discussing that, please note these abstract information and deadlines:

WORKSHOP SPEAKER ABSTRACTS:
	Each workshop speakers will receive an email, after acceptance, with instructions regarding submission of their workshop abstract.
POSTER ABSTRACTS:  
	(Note, we expect to select about 15 poster presenters for 1-minute presentations at the Workshop, like last year.)
	See http://www.intlpag.org/2015/abstracts/poster-submission 
The Poster Abstract Submissions Deadline is October 31, 2015.
The Poster Abstract Submissions Editing Deadline is November 14, 2015.
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WE ARE SOLICITING NOMINEES AND VOLUNTEERS AS 
SPEAKERS FOR the 2015 PAG "COTTON GENOME INITIATIVE" WORKSHOP !!!
At this time, we solicit volunteers and nominations for "Cotton Genome Initiative (“ICGI”) Workshop Speakers.  The speakers will be committee-selected from the submitted and nominated talks. 
-- --  Please, follow the different instructions below for volunteering yourself or nominating a possible speaker. 

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Please submit volunteered and nominated talks 
by the end of October 16 (one week): 

A.  Instructions for submitting your volunteered topic and draft abstract:  

send an email with the following  SUBJECT LINE:   

	“2015 PAG Cotton Genome Workshop candidate abstract” 

to these two email addresses:

	stelly@tamu.edu, cotton@njau.edu.cn 

In your email, please include the following components:
1.	Presenter (Your name):  Family_name, First_name 
	Institutional affiliation:   ______
2.	Email address(es), separated by a comma.  
3.	List of co-authors (draft)
4.	Abstract (draft) -- follow guidelines for PAG, please
5. 	Prioritize the ICGI workgroups your work relates most closely (top)
		Bioinformatics
		Evolutionary & Comparative Genomics
		Functional Genomics
		Germplasm & Genetic Stocks	
		Structural Genomics

If you do not get a response acknowledging reception of the submission, please inquire!  Note that the Subject Line is important -- we will use it to identify submissions, so we recommend you use COPY/PASTE to fill in the Subject Line of your email.

We will attempt to make speaker selections by the end of Oct. 22, which will leave speakers with at least one week to submit their abstracts.  

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B.  Instructions for nominating someone else as a prospective speaker:  

[1] confer with the person you think would be an appropriate speaker about availability, their desire to speak (~20 minutes) at the Workshop (be sure to mention Sunday Jan. 12 4-6pm, so that they arrive in time), prospective topic title, and willingness if selected (~ Oct. 22) to provide a finalized abstract to PAG before the deadline (probably ~Nov. 14).  It would be important to inform that individual that PAG provides no support for travel or any other expenses for Workshop speakers, except as mentioned below. Speakers must register for the Conference (a non-trivial expense).  (Prior to the November 1 deadline, the rates for workshop speakers are the same as attendees. However, workshop speakers are protected from paying the increased rates after Nov 1. If they are registering late, after Nov 1, they will ned to request a discount code to avoid paying the higher rates. They should send an email to: pag@scherago.com)

[2] if the person you wish to nominate confirms their interest, send an email containing with the following  SUBJECT LINE:   

	2015 PAG Cotton Genome Workshop speaker nomination

to these two email addresses:

	stelly@tamu.edu, cotton@njau.edu.cn 

In your email, please explain why this person and topic might be a superb speaker in the Cotton Genome workshop.   

If you do not get a response acknowledging reception of the submission, please inquire!  Note that the Subject Line is important -- we will use it to identify submissions, so we recommend you use COPY/PASTE to fill in the Subject Line of your email.

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM PAG TO PROSPECTIVE WORKSHOP SPEAKERS:

Once speakers are added to a workshop, each speaker will be sent an automated email with instructions how to login and post their individual workshop abstract. This form will include an option and instructions for submitting a poster abstract as well. All speakers must register for the conference. Prior to the November 1 deadline, the rates for workshop speakers are the same as attendees. However, workshop speakers are protected from paying the increased rates after Nov 1. If they are registering late, after Nov 1, they will ned to request a discount code to avoid paying the higher rates. They should send an email to: pag@scherago.com

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ANTICIPATED TIMELINE FOR CHOOSING WORKSHOP SPEAKERS

After collecting input from everyone, we'll share the data and consult with workgroup leaders (chair and co-chairs) as best we can to help guide us identifying an attractive set of topics for the 2015 PAG Cotton Genome Initiative Workshop.  Again, we will attempt to arrive at decisions by the end of Oct. 22, so that everyone has plenty of time to perfect and submit their abstracts, and if not chose, to submit a poster instead.  (Please note however, that space for posters is limited, so it might be wise to submit poster abstracts well before Oct. 23.)

Thanks,

Workshop Organizers:   
David Stelly and Tianzhen Zhang
ICGI Co-Chair and Chair