ACTION ITEMS: During this early planning stage, network leaders should: 

1. Solicit ideas from your network's members​.
2. Review your network's Data Memo to understand what worked and what didn't.
3. Evaluate potential program ideas to determine the highest priority topics for this year.
4. Discuss these topics with your sponsor — What experts and in-house clients do they have who can speak on these topics?

Remember: Attendees clamor for deeper dives and engaging sessions. For help elevating your topic or inspiration to transcend the "talking heads" panel format, check out the "Helpful Resources" section below.  

Pro Tip: Any ideas you don't submit for Annual Meeting can be easily repurposed as your monthly Legal Updates!

ACTION ITEMS: As soon as you begin fleshing out ideas: 

1. Enter your drafts' details to the Network Collaboration Workspace. Your ideas can and should evolve. Sharing your ideas early on signals to ACC HQ their importance and to other networks that the topic is already in the works.  
2. Review other networks' ideas in the Workspace and consider how yours fit into the overall curriculum. Notice some overlap? Tweak your draft to introduce a unique angle or pivot to one of your other high-ranking ideas. Proactively addressing overlap will help us create a well-rounded curriculum for AM26.  

Armed with your refined list of topics from December, enter your 1-2 highest priority ideas on the Network Collaboration Workspace. This is a wiki-esque space to collaborate and stake your claim on the topics most important to your network's members. 

As the Workspace begins to fill, ACC HQ will initiate early conversations about the content to help connect the dots between networks with similar ideas and piece together the conference agenda. 

The Workspace is a Microsoft List -- it functions the same as Excel spreadsheet, but is easier to digest. In addition to the illustrative *ACC HQ Examples, we have pre-populated entries for each network to make it easy to fill in details on the 1-2 sessions you wish to present. 

For each idea, we ask that you enter. 

• Point of Contact
• Title or Topic
• Date Added
• Key Issues or Learning Objectives
• Priority
• Format
• Duration (default: 75 minutes)
• Anticipated Program Organizer
• Notes
• Questions for ACC HQ**

**Please don't hesitate to ask questions — ACC staff is happy to help flesh out ideas with regard to substance, audience engagement, logistics, or anything else you may need.

Have you identified additional topics your network would like to see hosted at AM26?

Great! Click "+Add new item" button on the top left and share your idea(s). 

In the "Priority" field, select "Idea for Sponsors" to let us know that it's an important topic for your members, but will not included in the 1-2 you plan to organize for the conference. 

ACC HQ will share all of these ideas with sponsors (and other partners) to solicit their best on-point proposals for consideration. 

Want to add a comment on another network's idea? 

Have you been considering a similar idea? Have feedback from your own members that you'd like to share? Chiming in is easy! Just hover over the topic entry and click the "Add comment" button that appears between the "Title or Topic" and "Date Added"columns.  

Since ACC HQ is actively monitoring the Workspace, we will make sure that comments are drawn to the appropriate parties' attention as every continues to develop their program submissions. 

ACTION ITEMS: By or before February 13: 

1. Take one last look at the Network Collaboration Workspace to consider how your programs will fit into the big-picture curriculum.  
2. Add any bonus topic ideas to the Workspace that you'd like ACC HQ to seek from sponsors. 
3. Submit your Network's finalized program details through the portal. (Details coming in late January) 

By February, networks should be putting finishing touches on the 1-2 programs they wish to organize for AM26. 

If you've actively engaged in Network Collaboration Workspace can rest assured that the programs you've been communicating about will be the ones your network will present on stage in Boston.

Networks that did not participate in the Network Collaboration Workspace may be asked to submit alternative ideas if their content overlaps with other networks' submissions.

Our ideas are final — where do I submit them?

Submission portal link and detailed instructions will be posted on these Guidlines and distributed to each network's leaders in late January.