An abstract or session rarely belongs to just one person. A single session might have a primary speaker, several co-authors, and a moderator, and each of them may need to submit a bio, upload a headshot, or sign a conflict of interest form before the event. The Speaker Manager gives you one place to collect that information and track who has (and hasn't) completed what.
“Speaker” or “Participant”?
By default, OpenWater labels this feature Participants throughout the admin panel and portal (for example, Participant Settings and Participant Types). These articles use “Speaker Manager” for the feature itself but shows button and menu names exactly as they appear on screen, so they're easy to find.
If you'd like your users to see “Speaker,” “Presenter,” “Contributor,” or any other term instead of “Participant,” you can relabel it with the System Phrases feature. See Change the default system phrases.
Key concepts
The Speaker Manager is built from a few pieces that work together:
Concept | What it does |
Participant | Anyone attached to a submission or session in a speaking or contributing role. Applicants and session chairs can become participants automatically, and submitters can add others to their submission. |
Speaker profile | A set of program-specific fields that every participant completes once, such as a bio or headshot. Each program can have its own profile fields. |
Participant types | The roles people play, such as Author, Primary Speaker, or Moderator. One person can hold several roles across different submissions or sessions. |
Participant type groups | Control which profile fields appear for which roles, for example requiring a headshot from speakers but not from authors. |
Participant tasks | Additional forms that participants must complete, such as a conflict of interest disclosure, each with its own open and due dates. |
Participants field | A submission or session form field that lets submitters and session organizers add people in a specific role. |
Participant gallery | A public or login-protected page showcasing your speakers. |
Before you begin
The Speaker Manager is configured inside the program that collects your abstracts or sessions. If you haven't set that program up yet, start with Learn best practices to collecting abstract and session proposals.
Articles in this series
Next Steps
Turn on the Speaker Manager for your program and choose how participants are added. See Enable the Speaker Manager for your program.