CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Oral Presentations

Oral presentation proposals should be based on scholarly research and are intended for conventional 15-minute academic presentations on stage. Submitters seeking consideration for an oral presentation must submit an extended abstract with a main body of at least 1,000 words, not including a brief abstract of up to 200 words and any figures, tables, or references.

High-quality oral presentation proposals that cannot be scheduled on the stage program due to time constraints may be invited for poster presentation, with scheduled time for interaction between poster presenters and the audience.

Poster Presentations

Poster presentations should feature research in progress or recently completed research. Submitters seeking consideration for a poster presentation must submit an abstract with a main body of at least 500 words, not including a brief abstract of up to 200 words and any figures, tables, or references. For display, posters should be 48 inches by 36 inches. Additional poster parameters will be distributed closer to the Symposium.

Faculty and students are invited to submit poster proposals. Poster proposals submitted by degree-pursuing students should be based on a thesis or a major research project completed within the past two years and ideally should be faculty-supervised or co-authored.

Alternative Formats

Alternative presentation and poster formats may be considered, provided that the purpose is to share scholarship and research rather than to exhibit creative work. The technology setup available to the Symposium through IAAPA’s generosity is standard: screens, projectors, audio for PowerPoint presentations, and wallboards for posters. New, unusual, or non-standard technology will be the responsibility of the presenter. Submitters proposing alternative formats should contact the Symposium Chair, Dr. Martin Lewison, at lewisom@farmingdale.edu before submitting.

TEAAS will publish a TEAAS 2026 Symposium Proceedings for accepted Symposium submissions whose authors wish to have their accepted work included. Proceedings inclusion is optional. After acceptance, authors who wish to participate in the Proceedings will be asked to submit a final proceedings paper using a TEAAS 2026 Proceedings template and any final instructions supplied by the Program Committee. The initial proposal template appears as Appendix A to this CFP; the final proceedings template is based on the same formatting and will be supplied after acceptance.

The Proceedings will be published electronically and made available through TEAAS. Accepted authors who do not wish to submit a final proceedings paper may still present their work at the Symposium, provided they complete any required registration and presenter requirements.

Short versions of accepted abstracts for oral presentations may be printed in the Symposium program, distributed at the Symposium, and archived on the Society’s website.

Those who submit and those who present are also strongly encouraged to submit full papers to the Journal of Themed Experience and Attractions Studies, a peer-reviewed open-access journal. Work submitted to the Journal may also be submitted and presented to the Symposium, subject to the Journal’s policies and the Symposium review process.

All proposals will be double-blind reviewed. The Symposium uses the Microsoft Conference Management Toolkit (CMT) to manage submissions and peer review.

The uploaded proposal document must be anonymized for blind review. Do not include author names, affiliations, acknowledgements, funding details, institutional identifiers, academic standing, or other information that would identify the author(s). Author names, affiliations, academic standing, and contact information will be entered separately in CMT.

Oral presentation slots will be allocated based on quality of scholarship, impact and contribution, originality and innovation, presentation readiness, clarity and organization, diversity of discipline, adherence to the submission guidelines, and connection to the Symposium’s scholarly scope.

Proposals are due by 10:00 PM Eastern Time on Sunday, September 27, 2026. Notification timing will be posted with the final CMT submission link. Acceptance notifications will be rolling, but all notifications are anticipated by Friday, October 16, 2026 at the latest.

Submissions will be made through Microsoft CMT. The CMT submission link will be posted shortly. Submitters will need to register for or use an existing Microsoft CMT account to submit.

Each submission should include one anonymized Microsoft Word document containing the title, brief abstract, main body, optional figures and tables, and references. The document must not include author names, affiliations, academic standing, or contact information.

Each submission should include:

• Title of the proposal
• Brief abstract of up to 200 words
• Main body abstract: at least 1,000 words for oral presentation consideration, or at least 500 words for poster presentation consideration
• Up to five keywords
• Figures and tables, if appropriate
• References in APA 7 format

The main body word count does not include the brief abstract, figures, tables, or references. Failure to meet the required minimum word count for the selected presentation format may result in rejection.

Please clearly designate in CMT whether the submission should be considered for an oral presentation, a poster presentation, or either format. Please also provide the author academic title or standing in CMT, not in the anonymized submission document.

Proposal documents should follow the TEAAS 2026 initial proposal submission template provided in Appendix A and use the following formatting standards:

• Use US Letter page size with 0.8-inch margins on all sides.
• Use Times New Roman, 11-point font for the main text.
• Use single spacing. Do not add extra spaces between paragraphs.
• Indent the first line of body paragraphs by 0.5 inches, except in the brief abstract.
• Use the template heading and subheading styles consistently.
• Use Times New Roman, 18-point bold font for the paper title.
• Do not change the page, paragraph, or font settings in the template.
• Tables and figures should be placed near their first reference in the text, numbered with Arabic numerals, and cited in the text.
• Table headings should appear above tables. Figure captions should appear centered below figures.
• Figure resolution should be at least 150 dpi.
• References and in-text citations should follow APA 7 style. Every reference-list entry should have a corresponding in-text citation.

Although particular subheadings are not required, the main body should address the elements normally expected in academic work, as appropriate to the submission:

• Background and research context
• Prior knowledge or literature
• Methodology, theoretical frame, or analytical approach
• Results, observations, or findings
• Implications for scholars, educators, designers, managers, industry, or practice

Plagiarism is a serious ethical violation and is not tolerated by TEAAS. Submissions to the TEAAS Symposium are expected to adhere to academic standards for authenticity of authorship and proper citation and referencing of outside sources. It is not permitted to present another person’s ideas, words, data, figures, tables, or work as one’s own without proper attribution. Proper citation is obligatory. Please use APA 7 style.

For inquiries regarding Symposium submission requirements or submission mechanics, please contact the Program Chair: Dr. Martin Lewison, lewisom@farmingdale.edu.

For general inquiries about the Themed Experience & Attractions Academic Society, please contact teaasmail@gmail.com.

We look forward to seeing you in Orlando at the TEAAS 2026 Symposium.

• Dr. Benjamin George, Utah State University
• Dr. Moniek Hover, Breda University of Applied Sciences
• Dr. Martin Lewison, Chair, Farmingdale State College
• Dr. Arielle Spencer
• Dr. Jennifer Terrell, Indiana University