CDASR Speaker Series
The CDASR speaker series generally begins in the fall and ends in June. The series takes place on approximately every other Wednesday from 9:30-10:30 am in the Academic conference room in deMarneffe.
One of the RAs will be assigned to be the coordinator. Their responsibilities are:
- Review the program of speakers when Diego finalizes it (usually in August) and book the Academic conference room for every date.
- Before the event, the coordinator double-checks the room booking, orders catered food (tip: mini muffins sound good, but don’t taste as good as the big ones!), confirms with the speaker in advance, send an email announcing the seminar, and makes sure the projector works.
- See “common\Admin\SpeakerSeries\CDASR_Speaker_Series” for separate document with instructions and email templates. You can also find the catering order forms there.
Booking Conference Rooms
The BrainWaves page at https://mclean.partners.org/departments/administration/conferenceRooms.aspx provides most of the information you’ll need for most if not all conference rooms. Each room has an Outlook Calendar, where you can check availability. The calendars are buried in the “Folders” section of Outlook:
Public folders > All Public Folders > Partners > McL > Conference Rooms
Hint: when you find the calendars you’re interested in, drag the icon to your “Favorites” folder so you don’t have to follow this path next time.
To book the Academic CR (room 218) or the Research CR (room 245), send your request to officeofcao@mclean.harvard.edu. Use this generic address, and either Laurie Sibilia or Caroline Rotundi will take care of. They can also help posting events on the McLean events calendar, and advertising it on the video displays in the cafeteria.
To book conference rooms in the Administration Building (e.g. Pierce Hall, Putnam Room, etc.), contact Mary Beth Traynor (x3581).
Media Services
Helpful info on booking rooms, requesting catering and room setup, A/V equipment, and recording, as well as the appropriate contacts for these services, can be found at: https://mclean.partners.org/departments/administration/conferenceRooms.aspx.
Catering
A sample catering order form can be found in common/Admin/SpeakerSeries. Fax to Dot at #2658 at least 48 hours in advance. For events like prospective faculty talks, which may require fancy sandwiches (everyone loves these!!!), contact Colleen Sullivan (she’s very helpful and nice; csullivan34@partners.org, x3379 or 617-972-0789). The fancy sandwich menu can be found in common/Admin/SpeakerSeries.
Booking a Conference Call
You can either book a conference call online (this is the best option because it will send Diego a confirmation email and can be viewed/modified anytime) or by phone.
Booking a conference call online:
- Go to Verizon Manage My Meetings: https://e-meetings.verizonbusiness.com/global/en/login.php?langKey=en
- See passwords document (common\confidential\passwords) for login information
- Click tab “reserved audio calls”, then “add calls”
- Complete the forms
- If the call has international participants, it needs to be “operator assisted”.
- Send Diego the call in number and passcode. He should also receive an automated email from Verizon with this information
- You should then be able to see the call and information (and make any changes if necessary) by going back to the “reserved audio calls” tab.
Booking a conference call by phone:
- Call MCI Conferencing at: 800-475-5000
- Choose option 1 (audio conferencing)
- Provide the operator with the following information:
- Authorization code: 2160209
- Name of the conference call leader
- Type of call you want to have (premier, standard, or unattended)
- Date, time, length of call
- Number of participants on call
- They will then provide you with the call-in number and code. Make sure to circulate with Diego and others participating in the call!
Publicizing an Event
Center-Wide Events/ Holiday Functions
- The food/reservation expenses have been charged to Diego’s Sundry card. Because it is usually a center-wide event, these charges are then transferred by Janice over to the Pierce Sundry which doesn’t have a credit card. You should confirm with Diego whether this will be the case going forward.
- Before the event, you may need to get in touch with the Corporate Cards department, who are responsible for monitoring the corporate cards (mmcorporatecard@partners.org) to make sure that the facilities are approved.
- You will also need to fill out an advance authorization form from research administration regarding the specific number of people who will be attending, total cost, per person cost, and the date and venue of the event. You will also need a list of names of all attendees. The contact for this is Raquel Espinosa (x2868, respinosa@partners.org), but Janice will be able to provide up to date information about who the contact is for this.
Our experience with holiday parties:
- In 2012, the CDASR holiday party was held at the Asgard in Central Square. I’ve heard the food was good, but the space was a little cramped and it was hot.
- In 2013, it was held at Moksa in Central Square. It blizzarded that night so was underattended. There was plenty of room, but it was a little weird because it was basically a dance club. The food was so-so.
- In 2014, it was at Diego’s house and we ordered food from Sofra, which people liked very much. We also had a CDASR party at Diego’s house in summer 2014 and ordered catering from Basta Pasta in Cambridge, which was good.
- In 2015, it was at Flatbread Company in Somerville, which offers pizza and bowling. The food was very good, and they are able to accommodate nicely for food allergies. However, it was a little less festive than in years past.