Seafood Directions is Australia’s premier seafood industry conference, hosted by Seafood Industry Australia. We are delighted you are interested in submitting an abstract for the conference.

The conference program will feature more than 45 informative sessions highlighting essential issues, seafood trends, innovation and technology all approached with a focus on togetherness and harmonisation.

KEY DATES AND INFORMATION

Call for abstracts open | 22 December 2023  

Call for abstracts close | 15 May 2024 

Submitted papers are reviewed by the conference committee after the closing of the call for speakers. Final notification of your application(s) acceptance into the Seafood Directions program will not occur in May 2024. All submissions must be submitted via the Abstract portal. 

PRESENTATION DURATION AND STYLE

All speaking slots will be allocated either a 10 or 20 minute time slot, inclusive of Q&A.

A chair will run each concurrent session of presentations. 

Prepare your PowerPoint presentation in 16:9 aspect ratio and save your presentation file to a USB for uploading in the Speaker Preparation Room on site. It is NOT necessary to send the file to Leishman Associates prior to the Conference.

PRESENTATION TOPICS

The theme for this year’s conference is the Future of Seafood. Carefully considered sub-topics are outlined below and content covering these topics will be considered. It’s important to note the conference program does not lend itself to promotional presentations or sales pitches. Your presentation must be vendor neutral.

Climate change & future resilience

Water and the environment

People as drivers of innovation

Sustainability

Resource security & spatial squeeze

Market access & Trade

Presentation Helpful Hints

The conference is a vendor-neutral and inclusive conference. Our committees welcome all speakers submissions with equal gratitude. Sponsor and exhibitor submissions are reviewed with the same criteria by our program committee judges who are selected based on their industry knowledge and experience.

TIPS FOR SUBMITTING TO SEAFOOD DIRECTIONS CONFERENCE

Below are some tips that have helped previous speakers get selected to speak at our conferences:

TIP 1 Select your topic carefully

This can be the most challenging aspect of the entire process. You need to consider:

Experience: The scope of your personal expertise and those of any co-speakers. Having personal experience in the subject matter or a story to tell automatically positions you as an expert.

Timeliness of the topic: If it is a topic that is in the headlines now – or was of major importance in past conferences – you may need a fresh angle (or a different topic) to drive interest for the 2024 conference – make sure it’s relevant and will stand out from the crowd.

Technical level of the topic: The average conference attendee has many years of experience in the seafood industry. Attendees are looking for high quality information and engaging content.

Geographic significance of the topic: While Seafood Directions 2024 will attract an international audience, the attendees do primarily hail from Australia. 

TIP 2 Develop a unique approach to the topic

Recognise that your professional peers may be submitting their presentations on a similar topic. Consider how to make your presentation stand out from the crowd. We would recommend you consider completing your submission off line first, make your adjustments, and then once ready, copy and paste it into your online submission.

TIP 3 Consider every aspect of your submission

Each item on the online form is important to your potential selection and your proposed presentation. Many of these items are character-restricted and the character count includes spaces. Save time by ensuring that each item is within the correct character count before going online. The session detail portion is particularly important—please make sure to give this section the time and attention it deserves! Also make sure the depth of your presentation is in line with the experience of our attendees

TIP 4 Respect your audience

As you think about your session and the audience you will address, think carefully about your theme and matching your content to our audience.