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    Preliminary Spotlight Info Sheet

    ABA Tax Meeting Resources

    Information to include in your preliminary spotlight

    Title (or at least topic) of each planned panel; Brief description of each panel; Any Moderators and Speakers who can be confirmed or listed as “invited” at this time.  

    Prepare to invite government speakers

    Begin reaching out informally to potential government speakers as you develop your preliminary spotlights to determine their availability and willingness to speak. Requests to invite government speakers must be submitted along with your final spotlights – see the speaker request form for full policy details. 

    Ensure that your panels meet the ABA’s Diversity & Inclusion CLE Policy

    All panels must be planned in accordance with the ABA’s Diversity & Inclusion CLE Policy. Ensure that each panel includes moderators and faculty members from historically underrepresented communities e.g., racial and ethnic demographic groups/people of color, women, persons with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ individuals. 

    Plan ahead to meet CLE requirements

    All CLE panels must include “Learning Objectives”, to be submitted along with your final spotlights. It is recommended that you develop your “Learning Objectives” in parallel with the panels – start with a clear idea of what you want attendees to take away from each panel. There is no “CLE Rules” requirement to include break times in your committee’s session. Break times between committee sessions have been built into the overall meeting schedule. 

    Be mindful of potential subject matter overlaps

    If you think that a topic included in your spotlight might overlap with areas normally covered by another committee, please consider reaching out to that committee's leadership. Coordination between committees can prevent situations where programs with similar topics are presented in overlapping timeslots. 

    Preliminary spotlights are used to promote the meeting

    Submit your preliminary spotlights by the deadline to ensure that your panel information is included in the first “preliminary agenda now available” promotional email which will be circulated to potential attendees.