Sponsored Satellite Session Opportunities

The Canadian Nutrition Society (CNS) delivers nutrition science and education through a variety of initiatives, including its Annual Conference.  All CNS education programming is reviewed and approved by respective CNS committees. As with all sector stakeholders, CNS considers and values industry partner engagement, including during its Annual Conference, while being committed to maintaining responsible and transparent processes with respect to support received from partners/sponsors.

CNS Sponsored Conference Satellite Sessions provide education opportunities for external groups, such as industry, commodity groups, or other relevant stakeholders, to showcase research findings and engage in dialogue with a dedicated nutrition science and practice community, including scientists, healthcare professionals, policy makers, other National Governing Organizations (NGOs), industry and trainees. 

Sponsored Satellite Sessions are considered part of the official CNS Annual Conference program but clearly labelled as organized with sponsors. CNS does not endorse the content presented or their proceedings, publications, etc. CNS also clearly states during all education sessions that the views expressed by speakers are those of the speaker or third-party and not necessarily of CNS. 

All conference session proposals, including proposals for Sponsored Satellite Sessions, are reviewed by CNS based on the following criteria:

• Proposed sessions will be objective and balanced.
• Content will contribute to the field of nutrition science.
• Applicability of knowledge translation.
• Sessions will meet the educational needs of conference attendees and complement the overall conference program.
• Session descriptions and accompanying materials will be science-based and not promotional in nature.

CNS reserves the right to accept, reject or conditionally accept proposals based on CNS’s sole discretion, for any reason, which need not be disclosed to the applicant(s).

All sessions must comply with the guidelines for Conference Sponsored Satellite Sessions outlined on this page, including those provided above and below, as well as the CNS Commitment to working with industry partners and sponsors.

Once the application for a Sponsored Satellite Session has been approved by CNS, the event title, speakers and content may not change without CNS approval. Sponsors are responsible for the full coordination of their satellite symposia, with support from the approved Moderator/Chair.

Note that submission of a session proposal does not constitute approval/acceptance of your Sponsored Satellite Sessions. Individuals will be notified of the outcome of their proposal by approximately December 16, 2024. Note that CNS may reach out with questions during the review period.

Sponsored Satellite Session Application

Submitting a Satellite Session Proposal: Individuals interested in submitting a proposal for a Sponsored Satellite Session must do so via the online CNS Conference Proposal submission portal. Each proposal will require:

• Draft session title 
• Session description
• Learning objectives
• Recommended speakers (a minimum of two but not more than three speakers). Speakers should be contacted in advance to confirm interest and availability to participate if the session is accepted.
• Suggested session chair (should be a CNS member in good standing)*

Session proposals should be fully developed when submitted (not rough concepts) to allow for accurate review and to ease coordination if accepted.

* The CNS Conference Organizing Committee and/or CNS Ethics/Sponsor Committee will review each proposal and assign a Session Chair. The Session Chair will play an important role in supporting the planning and delivery of the Sponsored Satellite Session.

Other Guidelines for Sponsored Satellite Sessions 

• Each speaker will be required to include a "Disclosures" slide in the presentation deck; each speaker must verbally mention these disclosures at the opening of the talk in a meaningful way.
• Research findings must not be shared for the purpose of promoting a specific brand/product. Any mention of specific brands/products must be discussed and approved by CNS in advance.
• Speakers/moderators must refrain from mentioning specific company names during a talk, panel discussion or Q & A period. Should a question be submitted that names a company or product, the question should be paraphrased or dismissed.
• Any materials developed by the sponsor to promote the conference session must be approved by CNS.
• Research being presented should be primarily from published research. If the research is not yet peer-reviewed it should be indicated as such and pre-approved by CNS.
• CNS will disseminate evaluations electronically following each conference. The evaluation will include the question “Did you perceive, or were you affected by, any commercial bias during the webinar.”
• CNS webinars, conference sessions, podcasts or other educational events will include the following disclaimer: The views expressed by speakers or other third parties in CNS webinars, events and/or conferences are those of the speaker or third-party and not necessarily of CNS.

CNS Commitment to working with industry partners and sponsors

CNS is committed to maintaining responsible and transparent processes in all its activities.  As with all our sector stakeholders, CNS considers and values industry partner and sponsor input, but retains all programmatic and editorial control.  All CNS conference and webinar programming, educational initiatives and award recipients are reviewed and approved by respective CNS committees. To view our Prerequisite, Governance and Operational Principles  – CLICK HERE.

Scientific Integrity Principles and Best Practices

CNS participated as a member of the Scientific Integrity Consortium, a group of approximately 30 organizations that came together across scientific disciplines with diverse backgrounds, perspectives and differences in approaches to scientific integrity strategies. The Consortium agreed on the importance of a community consensus and alignment around the necessity for scientific integrity standards and their content. The CNS has officially endorsed the Scientific Integrity Principles and Best Practices and uses them to guide and manage our collaboration with relevant stakeholders.

For questions or discussion, please contact:

Andrea Grantham
CNS Executive Director
andrea@cns-scn.ca
613-482-8020 ext. 1