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    Webinar Proposal Guidelines

    Thank you for your interest in producing an educational webinar with us!

    Thank you for your interest in producing an educational webinar with us!

    Our goal is to make the process as easy as possible for you.

    The following guidelines are designed to assist you in putting together your webinar program information and submitting a proposal form.

    Here's what you need know in order to submit the form:

    Types of webinars

    We classify our webinars into two different types:

    Member Benefit Webinar (1 per month)

    • Free for DR Section members, $25 for ABA members, $50 for non-ABA members
    • Content should aim to educate dispute resolution professionals
    • Not eligible for continuing legal education (CLE) credit
    • Hosted on Zoom platform

    CLE Webinar (2 per year)

    • $25 for DR Section members, $50 for ABA members, $100 for non-ABA members
    • Attendees and presenters receive continuing legal education (CLE) credit
    • Must meet formal educational requirements. Click here to view the baseline standards for accreditation. Essentially, your program content needs to be targeted towards attorneys, you need to provide written educational materials to attendees, and at least one presenter must be a licensed attorney.
    • If you have a concern about meeting any of the CLE requirements, please let us know in the proposal form and we will be glad to assist (ie, finding an attorney panelist, helping prepare materials, etc.). CLE credit is a draw for attendees and we don’t want you to avoid creating a CLE webinar because you feel that the requirements are a burden.
    • Hosted on the Beacon 360 platform

    Date options

    In the proposal form, we will provide you with a list of available dates for you to select depending on your webinar type. We offer 1 member benefit webinar per month, and 2 CLE webinars per year. Dates fill up quickly and member benefit/CLE webinars are usually scheduled six months to a year in advance.

    To accommodate typical professional schedules and time zone differences, our date options are all Wednesdays at 1:00 pm ET. Programs can be 60, 75, or 90 minutes long. However, in the case of presenter conflict, we have some flexibility to make date and time accommodations.

    Here are the next available dates through August 2025:

    • September 18, 2024 (CLE)
    • October 9, 2024 (Member Benefit)
    • November 6, 2024 (Member Benefit)
    • December 11, 2024 (Member Benefit)
    • January 15, 2025 (Member Benefit)
    • February 12, 2025 (Member Benefit)
    • March 12, 2025 (CLE)
    • May 14, 2025 (Member Benefit)
    • June 11, 2025 (Member Benefit)
    • July 9, 2025 (Member Benefit)

    Time commitment

    We just ask that faculty focus on developing program content, and staff will handle the logistics. Since our marketing efforts are limited to our Section members, we also ask that faculty use our pre-made marketing material to advertise the program to your networks. All in all, the total commitment should take no more than a few hours of your time.

    Once your program is accepted, we will send a welcome email to all presenters explaining the next steps in getting your webinar to production. So that you can get a general idea of the planning timeline now, here is a basic outline of due dates to expect:

    • As soon as possible before the program (ideally 10 weeks out): Finalize program information in order to market the program, including the program title, date and time, description, presenters, and their bios and photographs.
    • 2 weeks before the program: Program materials, including the Powerpoint Presentation, are due.
    • 1 week before the program: Please note that all presenters for webinars are required to participate in a 30-minute technical rehearsal the week before your live program. In the rehearsal, staff will test your technology, train you in how to use the webinar platform, discuss order of presentation, and be available to answer any questions you have about the webinar platform.

    Policies

    Before you submit a proposal, we have a few policies you should be aware of:

    • Click here for the Section's Editorial Policy.
    • At least one of your faculty needs to be an ABA Section of Dispute Resolution member.
    • The program will be recorded and made available for attendees to watch on-demand and non-registrants to purchase for up to 3 years.
    • Our Diversity Policy requires that you take proactive measures to invite and include diverse presenters for your program.
    • If your program is for CLE, it must meet the baseline standards for accreditation.
    • The live webinar and the on-demand recording will be set up with an attendee registration pricing structure with tiered levels for DR Section members, ABA members, and non-members.

    Proposal form preview

    Here is a copy of the proposal form for you to preview. We recommend that you prepare your form answers in advance so that you can submit the actual form online in one sitting.

    Proposal form link

    Here is the link to the online form to submit your webinar proposal. After you submit your proposal, you will receive an automated confirmation email. We typically are able to email you about the committee’s decision on your proposal within a week of submission.

    Questions?

    Please contact our Associate Director of Programming Melissa Buckley at [email protected] if you have any questions.

    Thank you again for your interest and we look forward to working with you!