The International Law Students Association is currently soliciting bids from schools with an ILSA Chapter to host the 2008 ILSA Fall Conference. The Fall Conference consists of academic panel discussions related to timely issues of international law and information about international legal opportunities for students. Conferences provide students an excellent opportunity to network with international law practitioners, academics and other law students from schools around the world. The 2007 ILSA Fall Conference was held at the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law and focused on international environmental law. It was a successful conference, as the student organizers were able to secure prominent practitioners and academics as speakers, and worked hard to assure that the conference was well-attended by ILSA student members.

Chapters wishing to submit a bid to host the 2008 Fall Conference should include the following information in their proposal:

• An introduction of the chapter and any past involvement with ILSA;
• A summary of the proposed topic for the conference;
• A financial summary and budget that breaks down all anticipated costs associated with hosting the conference and how the school intends to pay for the costs (Note: ILSA will provide $3000 towards the cost of the conference);
• A list of individuals to serve on the conference planning committee, including any faculty support;
• A proposed conference schedule, including proposed conference dates (Note that the conference cannot be held on the weekend of October 16-18, as ILSA has another conference scheduled on this date);
• Proposed keynote speakers, including each speaker’s biography;
• Proposed panel topics fitting in with the topic of the conference and information on proposed speakers for each panel;
• A description of the facilities at which the conference will be held;
• Contact information for the student conference planning committee; and
• A list of schools and organizations the chapter plans on contacting to aid in conference planning, if any.

The chapter that is selected to host the Fall Conference will be required to:

• Keep in contact with the ILSA Programs Coordinator and Student Officers;
• Provide planning updates to the Executive Office every few weeks;
• Send advertising materials to ILSA to be dispersed to ILSA chapters;
• Post and update a Fall Conference website;
• Work with local hotels to assure that affordable and convenient accommodations will be available for participants and attendees;
• Communicate with international students regarding travel arrangements;
• Meet scheduling and planning deadlines set by the ILSA Executive Office.

A detailed explanation of these requirements and responsibilities can be found here. All proposals must be emailed to the ILSA Executive Office at jshereau@ilsa.org, on or before February 15, 2008. A three-person committee will be appointed to evaluate each bid and a decision will be made by March 1, 2008. The committee will take into account the following factors in making its decision:

• Whether and how the conference will explore important issues in international law and contribute to existing scholarship;
• Whether the conference plan is complete, well-organized, and can be implemented by the student planning committee;
• Whether the conference topic will appeal to the broader legal community, and whether the proposal details how the planning committee will engage the legal community in conference planning and activities.

Questions regarding this process may be directed to Jill Schmieder Hereau, ILSA Programs Coordinator at jshereau@ilsa.org