Sponsorship Prospectus

The RNA Society is a non-profit, international scientific society with more than 1300 members dedicated to fostering research and education in the field of RNA science. The Society’s annual meeting attracts top researchers from all across the globe, with presentations detailing the very latest discoveries in this field. This is an ideal opportunity for companies to help advance RNA science in a very tangible way, while also having their company more closely associated with top-level research.

Conference Name:

RNA 2014:
The Nineteenth Annual Meeting of the RNA Society

Date:

Tuesday,3 June to Sunday, 8 June, 2014

Venue:

Centre des Congrès de Québec, Québec City, Canada

Host:

The RNA Society
9650 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA
301-634-7166
meetings@nullRNAsociety.org

Website:

www.RNAsociety.org/conference-sub-sites/rna-2014/

Attendance:

900-1200 participants

Organizers:

Benoit Chabot
Université de Sherbrooke
Canada
Martin Simard
Université Laval, CHU de Québec
Canada
Elena Conti
Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry
Germany
Fátima Gebauer
Centre for Genomic Regulation
Spain
Barbara Golden
Purdue University
USA
Sean Ryder
UMass Medical School
USA

Past Conferences:

2013: Davos, Switzerland; 943 conferees, 32 countries
2012: Ann Arbor, MI, USA; 855 conferees, 31 countries
2011: Kyoto, Japan; 1050 conferees, 36 countries
2010: Seattle, WA, USA; 855 conferees, 29 countries
2009: Madison, WI, USA; 823 conferees, 37 countries
2008: Berlin, Germany; 1226 conferees, 38 countries
2007: Madison, WI, USA; 1021 conferees, 35 countries
2006: Seattle, WA, USA; 854 conferees; 34 countries
2005: Banff, Alberta, Canada; 700 conferees; 25 countries
2004: Madison, WI, USA; 1008 conferees; 23 countries
2003: Vienna, Austria; 600 conferees from 22 countries

Registration Fees:

	Early Registration until 31-March	Standard Registration after 1-April
Member	$750	$850
Student Member	$650	$750
Non-member	$925	$1025

Registration fees for the 5-day conference average only $150/day, since most attendees are Society members and register early. This includes lunch, dinner, coffee breaks and a banquet. Society membership costs only $154/year for full members ($36 for students) and saves members $100 on registration fees.

Contact

RNA 2014
c/o Simple Meetings
PO Box 31623
Seattle, WA 98103 USA
Phone: +1-206-706-8118
Email:registration@nullwww2.rnasociety.org

Sponsorship Opportunities

Sponsorships are an excellent way to promote your company while helping the RNA Society keep the cost of conference registration to an affordable level.

1. Categories	A variety of sponsorship opportunities are available. A meeting sponsor provides non-exclusive general financial support for the meeting. Session sponsors provide exclusive financial support for one of the two-dozen sessions, workshops, beer garden and/or banquet that make up the conference (see the attached program).
2.Cost	General meeting sponsorship starts at $2000 USD. Exclusive session sponsorship is: • Welcome gala reception: $10,000 USD • Opening keynote: $10,000 USD • Plenary sessions: $5,000 USD • Concurrent sessions: $2,500 USD • Workshops: $1,500 USD • Poster sessions $2,000 USD • Closing banquet & dance $10,000 USD
3. Benefits	The sponsor name and logo will be printed in the abstract book’s sponsorship page, acknowledged on the conference acknowledgement slides, and mentioned in messages to the conferees. In addition, session sponsors will be prominently featured and acknowledged at the beginning of, midway through, and at the end of the sponsored session, as well on printed posters at the entrances to the sessions.
4. How to apply	Please fill out the Sponsorship Proposal Form below and send it to RNA 2014 as described on that form and above.
5. Deadline	Tuesday, 1 April, 2014 (for acknowledgement in the printed abstract book)
6. Payment	After receiving your proposal, the Society will send an invoice indicating “Sponsorship”. Payment is due by check, credit card or bank transfer by the specified date. (Please note that your wire transaction may pass through one or more banks before reaching the designated account. All transaction fees including fees deducted by conduit must be borne in advance by the sponsoring company.)
7. Notice	Please note that cancellation of your sponsorship is not permitted after acceptance of your application by the Society, with the exception of circumstances deemed unavoidable. The Society will require an electronic copy of the sponsor’s logo for the acknowledgements.

Junior Scientist Sponsorship Opportunities

Roughly half of the conferees will be graduate students and post docs, and the Society recognizes this as an excellent opportunity for the “Junior Scientists” to interact and socialize with their peers, to discuss common concerns, and to build lifetime contacts in the science community. The RNA Society welcomes and encourages these interactions by organizing activities designed solely for these Junior Scientists. Sponsoring these activities is an excellent way to promote your company to the next generation of scientific leaders, while also helping these scientists to build their support groups.

1. Categories	Sponsorship opportunities include support for a pre-meeting social gathering, as well as a Junior Scientists Social and a Career Development Workshop that take place during the meeting.
2. Cost	General sponsorship starts at $1000 USD. Exclusive session sponsorship is: • Pre-meeting Gathering: $1000 USD • Junior Scientists Social: $1000 USD • Career Development Workshop: $1000 USD
3. Benefits	The sponsor name and logo will be printed in the abstract book’s sponsorship page, acknowledged on the conference acknowledgement slides, and mentioned in messages to the conferees. In addition, the Career Development Workshop sponsor will be prominently featured and acknowledged during the workshop.
4. How to apply	Please fill out the Sponsorship Proposal Form and send it to RNA 2014 as described on that form and above.
5. Deadline	Tuesday, 1 April, 2014 (for acknowledgement in the printed abstract book)
6. Payment	After receiving your proposal, the Society will send an invoice indicating “Jr. Scientist Sponsorship”. Payment is due by check, credit card or bank transfer by the specified date. (Please note that your wire transaction may pass through one or more banks before reaching the designated account. All transaction fees including fees deducted by conduit must be borne in advance by the sponsoring company.)
7. Notice	Please note that cancellation of your sponsorship is not permitted after acceptance of your application by the Society, with the exception of circumstances deemed unavoidable. The Society will require an electronic copy of the sponsor’s logo for the acknowledgements.

Travel Fellowships for Young Scientists

The Society is committed to making our annual meeting affordable for all scientists, and that includes those coming from less affluent countries or laboratories. We have already reserved $30,000 for travel fellowships to young scientists, but that will meet only 20-40% of the total need.

1. Categories	Travel fellowship categories are open for negotiation. The sponsor may prefer to open applications to all scientists, or to limit awards by scientific subject or geographic location of the applicants.
2. Cost	Award amounts are also open to negotiation, however we recommend awards of $750 (the cost of conference registration), up to ~$4000 (complete travel, lodging and conference expenses).
3. Benefits	The sponsor name and logo will be printed in the abstract book’s sponsorship page, acknowledged on the conference acknowledgement slides, and mentioned in messages to the conferees when announcing the availability of such fellowships.
4. How to apply	Please fill out the Sponsorship Proposal Form at the bottom of this document, and send it to RNA 2014 as described on that form and above. Describe your proposed fellowship, and we will discuss with you the feasibility and how we can make it happen.
5. Deadline	Tuesday, 1 April, 2014 (for acknowledgement in the printed abstract book)
6. Payment	After receiving your proposal, the Society will send an invoice indicating “Travel Fellowship Sponsorship”. Payment is due by check, credit card or bank transfer by the specified date. (Please note that your wire transaction may pass through one or more banks before reaching the designated account. All transaction fees including fees deducted by conduit must be borne in advance by the sponsoring company.)
7. Notice	Please note that cancellation of your fellowship is not permitted after acceptance of your application by the Society, with the exception of circumstances deemed unavoidable. The Society will require an electronic copy of the sponsor’s logo, and a paragraph describing the award. The Society reserves the right to alter the descriptive paragraph in order to make it conform to the rest of the abstract book. We will work with the sponsor to make the paragraph acceptable to both the sponsor and the Society.

Awards

The Society currently offers a small number of merit-based awards to young scientists, but more such awards are always welcome. Young scientists are invited to submit applications and abstracts detailing their current research, and a committee of scientists selects the winners based on the quality of the research. Contributors are welcome to participate in the selection process, or they can leave the selection process to a committee of RNA Society scientists.

1. Categories	Awards categories are open for negotiation. The sponsor may prefer to open award applications to all scientists, or to limit awards by scientific subject or geographic location of the applicant.
2. Cost	Award amounts are also open to negotiation. Per person award amounts could be as low as $200 (the current value of our Poster awards), but we recommend awards of $750 (the cost of conference registration), up to $5000 (complete travel, lodging and conference expenses, plus a ~$1000 award check).
3. Benefits	The corporate name and logo will be printed in the abstract book’s awards page, along with a paragraph describing the nature of the award.
4. How to apply	Please fill out the Sponsorship Proposal Form at the bottom of this document, and send it to RNA 2014 as described on that form and above. Describe your proposed award, and we will discuss with you the feasibility and how we can make it happen.
5. Deadline	Tuesday, 1 April, 2014 (for acknowledgement in the printed abstract book)
6. Payment	After receiving your proposal, the Society will send an invoice indicating “Award Sponsorship”. Payment is due by check, credit card or bank transfer by the specified date. (Please note that your wire transaction may pass through one or more banks before reaching the designated account. All transaction fees including fees deducted by conduit must be borne in advance by the sponsoring company.)
7. Notice	Please note that cancellation of your sponsorship is not permitted after acceptance of your application by the Society, with the exception of circumstances deemed unavoidable. The Society will require an electronic copy of the sponsor’s logo, and a paragraph describing the award. The Society reserves the right to alter the descriptive paragraph in order to make it conform to the rest of the abstract book. We will work with the sponsor to make the paragraph acceptable to both the sponsor and the Society.

Advertising Opportunities

Companies are invited to advertise in the RNA Society’s abstract book, with inserts in the conference bags, and/or on banners at the conference site.

1. Book Layout	The RNA Society Abstract Book will be approximately 400 pages, printed in English and 8.5″ X 11″ page size (subject to change – format will be confirmed well before 1 April, 2014). The book will be offered in both printed and electronic format to all conference participants as part of their registration fee.
2. Categories, cost and How to apply and Cost	For program book ads, send an email to registration@nullwww2.rnasociety.org and you will be referred to our publishing partners at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. Costs vary depending on ad size and location.For registration inserts, complete and return the applicable Exhibitor/Ad form below with payment. Cost is $500 per inserted item.
3. Deadline	Tuesday, 1 April, 2014 (for Abstract book ads) Thursday, 1 May, 2014 (for inserts in conference bags)
4. Notice	Both a hard copy and a data file are required. Ads will be accepted in EPS or Illustrator formats for line art, or in 300 ppi TIFF, JPEG or PNG formats for line art and photos. Contact the Society early on if other formats are required. We recommend that you send us contact information for the graphic artist who created your ad, in case we have questions. Details regarding page assignment will be handled by the Society. We will, however, make an effort to accommodate advertiser preferences.

Exhibits

Companies are invited to set up an exhibit at the annual meeting in order to advertise their products and to make direct contact with the conferees.

1. Categories	You will be provided one table in an area 6 square meters (approximately 6.5 feet x 10 feet) for the display of your products. If a shell standing exhibit space is desired, please let us know and we can investigate the available space and additional cost.
2. Cost	$3,000 USD
3. Schedule	Exhibits will be located in the poster area which is accessible to all attendees during lunch Wednesday through Saturday, and dinner Wednesday and Friday, in addition to formal poster sessions on Wednesday and Friday evenings. Set-up and move-out hours will be determined by 1 April, 2014. Exhibitors are not required to be present for all days of the conference. Specific questions about exhibiting should be directed to registration@nullwww2.rnasociety.org.
4. Exhibits	Clinical instruments, testing equipment, drugs and medicines, medical equipment/systems, books, software, etc.
5. How to apply	Complete and return the applicable Exhibit/Ad form below with payment.
6. Deadline	Tuesday, 1 April, 2014
7. Notice	Please note that cancellation of your exhibition is not permitted after receipt of your registration form by the Society, with the exception of circumstances deemed unavoidable. An exhibitor will receive two name badges for exhibition personnel. The badges are NOT valid for attending the conference program. Presentation of a poster and/or attendance at conference sessions, workshops, meals and other events requires attendee conference registration. Exhibitors cannot sell their products and services on the premises during the conference. All exhibits and decoration must remain within the allotted exhibition space. Taping or anchoring on the floor is prohibited. The location of exhibit space will be determined by the Society.