The deadline for cancellation without risk of penalty is May 1. Instructions for how to cancel are included in all notification emails sent to presenters. You should reply to any of those emails to cancel. For cancellations after May 1, please read the following section.

Late cancellations and failures to give scheduled presentations (no shows) are disruptive and leave gaps in the program that are a source of frustration for attendees. Therefore, ESA has adopted the following policies for avoidable situations which result in gaps in the meeting program. These penalties are not applied to presenters with understandable and unavoidable reasons for not attending the conference (medical issues, family emergencies, unforeseen travel problems, and similar situations outside of a presenter’s control). Late cancellations due to a presenter’s inability to secure funding to attend are considered avoidable. The purpose of the penalties is to deter avoidable cancellations by encouraging presenters with a great deal of uncertainty regarding their attendance to cancel before scheduling begins in May. Presenters in uncertain funding situations should cancel by May 1 or be prepared to pay the penalty.

Late Cancellations

• What is a late cancellation? A cancellation occurring after May 1, with an exemption for medical and family situations as well as difficulty acquiring a visa to travel to the US.
• The late cancellation fee is $50 USD regardless of presentation type (posters and talks). It applies only to the presenting author, not to any coauthors.
• Please do not submit an abstract “just in case.” Before submitting an abstract, authors should be reasonably confident that they will attend the meeting and make the presentation as scheduled. If there is uncertainty then please confirm your plans or cancel before May 1.
• A replacement speaker is allowed if your plans change close to the conference dates. If circumstances prevent attendance for a scheduled presentation, the presenting author should attempt to find another person to make the presentation on their behalf. A coauthor is ideal, but the substitute speaker does not necessarily need to be a coauthor. If you have arranged for a replacement speaker after May 15, you do not need to notify ESA because we cannot update the program. However, please notify session organizers if applicable.
• If cancellation is unavoidable, the author should notify ESA as soon as possible. Please let us know if you will not be able to present, even if you are cancelling on a date close to or during the Annual Meeting.
• ESA is willing to consider waiving the penalty for a presenter who has a compelling reason to cancel late. If you are cancelling after May 1 and would like us to consider waiving the applicable penalties, please include a brief reason for the cancellation when you contact us.

No Shows

• What is a no show? A no show is when a presentation was not made as scheduled and the presenter did not notify ESA of their inability to present.
• We realize that sometimes events outside of a presenter’s control prevent them from presenting as scheduled. For example, a flight cancellation or an unforeseen medical condition or family emergency. And sometimes these problems cannot be communicated to ESA staff until after the scheduled presentation time has passed. We will be lenient for such situations if we receive some sort of explanation from the presenter, even if the message is sent after the presentation would have occurred.
• A presenter in such a situation should reply to any of the notification emails sent to presenters. Messages and notes passed in person on the meeting site are highly unreliable! Email is by far the best method for letting us know what has happened. We may not be able to respond during the conference but we will save all such messages for processing after the conference.
• For other cases, where there is not a compelling reason and no notice was received, the no show penalty will be enforced.
• The no show penalty is a one year presentation ban, regardless of presentation type (posters and talks). Any abstract with the penalized author listed as the presenting author will not be accepted for the following year’s conference. This penalty applies only to the presenting author, not to any coauthors. The presenting author can still organize a session, be listed as a coauthor, and attend the conference. The ban is for presenting a formal talk or poster only.