55th Plenary Session of the Administrative Conference of

55^th Plenary Session of the Administrative Conference of the United States

Conference Member Comment Form

A key role of the Office of the Chairman of the Administrative Conference is to support and assist the Assembly in carrying out the Conference’s functions. Staff responsibilities include planning and logistics for the semi-annual plenary session, as well as legal research, communications and general committee support. Now that the December 2011 plenary session is behind us, we encourage all Conference members (both voting and non-voting) to share your feedback and let us know your ideas about what worked well and what could be improved, so that our next plenary session will be even more successful.

We have created this survey form to simplify your response. To check the boxes, double left click on your mouse and select the “checked” option. However, if you find it easier to provide feedback in a different format (e.g., an unstructured e-mail message), please feel free to use any format you wish. Please email all responses to Gabrielle Guy (gguy@acus.gov).

If you have any questions or need more information about this inquiry, please contact Shawne McGibbon (smcgibbon@acus.gov). This survey should take less than ten minutes to complete and will address logistics, communications, conference space, technology, scheduling, reception and overall assessment. Please submit your completed form within three weeks of the date of receipt.

1. Your Name: ____________________________________________________________________

2. Preparation for the Plenary Session

1. Did you receive all necessary materials for understanding the proposed recommendations in sufficient time to prepare for the debate?

Yes

No

Comments:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

2. Did you receive adequate and timely information about time and location of the plenary session and (for out-of-town members) travel arrangements?

Yes

No

Comments:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

3. Would you prefer more or fewer communications from our office regarding plenary logistics?

More

Fewer

Same

Comments:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

4. Did you feel that you had adequate opportunities, either through committee meetings, pre-plenary written submissions, or debate at the plenary, to offer your input into the Conference's recommendations?  If not, what could be done to improve those opportunities?

Yes

No

Comments:

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

3. Physical Facilities and Technology

1. What did you like about the CFTC Conference Center as a venue? (Choose all that apply and indicate any problems or suggestions in the space provided.)

1. Congenial, intimate setting

2. Location in the city

3. Technological capabilities (video/audio)

4. Availability of parking

5. General aesthetics

6. Wi-Fi access

7. Other (Please specify)

Comments:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

2. Was projection of the texts under consideration helpful to you for participating in or following the discussions? Please note any suggestions you may have for making this service more useful (comment below).

Yes

No

Comments:

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

3. If you viewed some or all of the proceedings via the Internet, was the streaming coverage clear and trouble-free? Please note any suggestions you may have for making this service more useful (comment below).

Yes

No

Comments:

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

4. Scheduling

1. Do you like the two half-day plenary schedule?

Yes

No

2. Would you prefer the session on either or both days to be longer?

Yes

No

3. Should the 2:00 p.m. Thursday session begin at a different time?

1. 12:30 p.m.

2. 1:00 p.m.

3. 1:30 p.m.

4. Keep 2:00 p.m.

4. If a future plenary session agenda has a greater number of proposed recommendations, would you support extending the meeting into Friday afternoon?

Yes

No

5. Do you have any additional suggestions for scheduling?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

E. Reception

1. If you attended the Thursday evening reception, how did it compare with the June 2011 plenary session reception?

1. Much better than the prior reception

2. Slightly better than the prior reception

3. No significant difference

4. Slightly worse than the prior reception

5. Much worse than the prior reception

6. N/A

2. Based on your answer to the preceding question, in what way(s) was the reception better or worse than the prior plenary session reception? Do you have any comments or suggestions about food, beverages, facilities or cost of the reception?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

3. How long should the reception be?

1. 6:00-7:00 p.m.

2. 6:00-7:30 p.m.

3. 6:00-8:00 p.m.

4. Other ________________________________________________________________

F. Overall Assessment

1. How did the 55^th plenary session compare with the June 2011 plenary session?

1. Much better than the prior plenary session

2. Slightly better than the prior plenary session

3. No significant difference

4. Slightly worse than the prior plenary session

5. Much worse than the prior plenary session

2. Based on your answer to the preceding question, please provide specific examples of how we might improve upon this year’s sessions. In what ways was the 55^th session an improvement upon previous plenary sessions?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

3. If you attended the Walter Gellhorn Innovation Award ceremony where an award was given to the agency with a best practice that could be shared government-wide, do you have any comments on that event specifically? In your response, please share any thoughts on whether ACUS should continue the award program annually or modify it in any way.

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

The purpose of this inquiry is to enable the Office of the Chairman of the Administrative Conference to identify strengths and weaknesses of current services and to make improvements based on feedback. Information gathered will be used internally for program management purposes only. The average burden for each response to this information collection is estimated to be less than ten minutes. Any comments concerning the accuracy of this burden estimate and any suggestions for reducing this burden may be directed to Shawne McGibbon, General Counsel, Office of the Chairman of the Administrative Conference.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a current valid OMB control number.

OMB Control No. 3002-0006

Expiration Date: 5/31/2014 Page 5