OVERVIEW

In March, 2006, the Office of Science Director Raymond Orbach issued a memo reemphasizing the importance of following DOE 0-110.3 – Conference Management. Director Orbach’s guidance established a $10k (lab-wide, inclusive of overhead) approval threshold for all Office of Science funded on-site/off-site conferences. The Conference Order (revised in November, 2006) requires all requests to be reviewed no fewer than 45 days prior to the conference. However, Berkeley Lab is requiring all requests be submitted to Conference Services no later than 60 days prior to the date of the conference to allow sufficient time to obtain other required Lab and Berkeley Site office approvals. Office of Science continues to review the Conference Management guidance and could make further changes in the near future. Travelers to conferences are encouraged to follow the steps listed below.

IS YOUR MEETING A CONFERENCE?
Any meeting, seminar, retreat, symposium, or similar event that involves official overnight travel could be considered a “conference.” The Conference Order covers conferences held on-site at LBNL and when LBNL employees attend off-site conferences. To help determine if your meeting is a “meeting” or “conference”, please refer to the Conference Questionnaire (MS word) and review the below exclusions:

DOE ORDER 110.3 and Orbach’s guidance excludes several types of meetings from the requirements:

Formal structured training programs including seminars/workshops held for training purposes.
Conferences not funded by DOE, for example WFO, Royalty, Administrative Fund, Grants, etc.
Meetings only requiring local travel
DOE technical program, project or peer reviews
Audit, inspection, and investigation activities
Contract proposal, bid opening and negotiations
Public hearings and associated briefings
Employee traveling to site where DOE work is being performed to review work status.

YOUR MEETING IS A CONFERENCE:
Traveler:

At least 60 days prior to the Conference, contact ESD Senior Administrator, Lisa Kelly, and provide her with the following information

Completed Conference Questionnaire (ppt)
Name of Conference and location
Dates of Conference (not travel dates)
Dates of travel – if known
Funding Source (BES; BER; WFO, etc.)
Estimated Costs

Air
Lodging/Per Diem
Registration Fee
Other

Names of other ESD participants (if known)

ESD Administration:
Upon receipt of the information from the traveler, the ESD Senior Administrator will update the ESD Conference Tracking Worksheet (pdf) with the above data and, if appropriate, the Request for Approval and Conference Services Worksheet will be prepared, submitted for approval to the ES Division Director and then sent to Conference Services for further processing. Please see Conference Approval Flowchart (ppt).
Traveler will be notified of the approval/disapproval directly from Conference Services. Traveler may proceed with making travel plans upon Earth Sciences Division approval. However, the traveler may not depart until they have received approval from Conference Services.

KEY RESOURCES

Berkeley Lab Services – Jill Stark x5683
Conference Services Web Site
ESD Travel Coordinators:

Bldg 90/14C: Helen Strohmeier x6455
Bldg. 70/70A/64: Theresa Pollard x6740

ESD Conference questions: Lisa Kelly, x5041

OTHER RESOURCES

If you have any questions or comments, contact:

Lisa Kelly, x5041