The National Conference in Sales Management (NCSM) exists to create a premier conference and disseminate knowledge in the areas of sales management and personal selling.

The NCSM meeting is held each year in conjunction with the national convention of Pi Sigma Epsilon, and many PSE faculty advisors find it possible to participate in both meetings. The NCSM program normally begins with a welcoming reception on Wednesday and continues through Saturday afternoon. Registration includes admittance to the awards brunch where the award for best paper at the conference is announced.

The NCSM is a collegial gathering. Starting with the 1998 conference, “corporate casual” attire has been the norm for all sessions, although those wishing to wear a tie are welcome to do so. The emphasis during paper presentations is on helping the presenter improve their concepts. Papers normally include a mixture of conceptual, empirical, and education-oriented pieces. Because the number of papers accepted is limited, there are no concurrent sessions at NCSM, meaning that there are always many people in the audience for every session. In addition to paper presentations, NCSM normally includes a session devoted to hearing from industry executives. In this way, academic attendees have an opportunity to learn about new directions in personal selling and sales management directly from those involved.

NCSM in recent years has become an important place to learn about future directions in sales. The awards for best JPSSM article and best JPSSM reviewers during the previous year are announced annually at NCSM. In 1994, Dr. Tom Ingram presented the salesperson certification process adopted by the Sales and Management Executives International organization. This was the first public exposure of the ADAPT process as an extension of the SPIN selling process. In 1998, Dr. Terry Loe presented plans for a national student sales role-play competition. In 2005, Gerard Edwards, SMEI Director of Education, presented an update on the SMEI certification process, and Adam Rapp presented details of the use of HLM in a sales context.

NCSM has become an important venue to support doctoral students in the early and late stages of their programs. In 2004 Adam Rapp and Keith Richards met each other at NCSM, and returned in 2005 to present a paper they had worked on together. The format of NCSM, where a lot of time is available for networking, is particularly valuable to doctoral students with interests in the sales area. Up to three one-thousand dollar Doctoral Research Grants are available to support doctoral student research.

We hope you’ll make plans to attend the next National Conference in Sales Management. Be sure to read the Call for Papers and fill out the Conference Registration. We look forward to seeing you there!

The National Conference Executive Director, hereafter referred to as the Executive Director, shall serve a two-year term and will assume this role immediately after completing his/her two-year term as National Conference Chair. Attendance at the annual Conference is strongly encouraged. The Executive Director is responsible for:

• Providing guidance and support to the National Conference Program Chair
• Maintaining NCSM financial records and providing the appropriate related reports to PSE headquarters
• Issuing payment checks for NCSM related expenses
• Coordinating with the Program Chair the acquisition and presentation of all awards presented at the Conference
• Serving as the Chair of the NCSM Board of Directors with voting privileges
• Planning and, when attending the NCSM, chairing the annual NCSM Board of Directors meeting
• Recording and disseminating minutes from the NCSM Board of Directors meeting
• Ensuring that vacant board positions are filled for the upcoming year(s)
• Administering post conference survey and sharing results with Board

The National Conference Program Chair, hereafter referred to as the Program Chair, shall serve a two-year term and will assume this role immediately after completing his/her two year term as National Conference Proceedings Editor. The Program Chair is responsible for overseeing and ensuring the overall planning and execution of all aspects of the conference. Thus, the Program Chair must lead the coordination efforts of all the session chairs. The Program Chair must attend the Conference and is responsible for:

• Overall planning, coordination, and execution of the NCSM
• Coordinating and administrating the Call for Papers & conference announcements (various outlets; JPSSM; Elmar; etc.)
• Managing and maintaining the NCSM database of contacts and other related NCSM program material, including letters, call for papers, advertisements, and so forth
• Providing guidance and support to the National Conference Proceedings Editor
• Establishing the conference agenda, including scheduling all sessions, breaks, other activities
• Arranging food and beverage accommodations for the annual conference
• Working with PSE Executive Director, meeting coordinators, and staff to arrange for appropriate meeting areas for all sessions, receptions, etc.
• Ensuring appropriate technology (e.g., computer, LCD projector, and so forth) is available during the conference sessions Ensuring conference sessions stay on schedule
• Making any announcements regarding schedule/agenda changes during the conference
• Serving on the NCSM Board of Directors with voting privileges
• In the absence of the NCSM Executive Director chairing the NCSM Board of Directors meeting.

The National Conference Proceedings Editor, hereafter referred to as the Proceedings Editor, shall serve a two-year term. The Proceedings Editor will assume the role as National Conference Program Chair once the current chair’s term ends. The Proceedings Editor is expected to attend the Conference and is responsible for:

• Securing copies of the revised papers from the authors
• Coordinating the layout and publication of the Proceedings (online as of 2012)
• Coordinating the layout and update of the NCSM website
• Facilitating the accommodation of individuals who require conference proceedings in an alternative format than delivered via the online proceedings
• Unless otherwise covered, the Proceedings Editor is responsible for finding an organization (usually the Proceeding Editor’s school) willing to pay for any costs associated with creating and publishing the Proceedings
• Ensure the Abstracts for papers are sent in the proper format to the Editor of Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management for publication in the journal
• Serving on the NCSM Board of Directors with voting privileges.

The National Conference Competitive Paper Track Chair, hereafter referred to as the Competitive Paper Track Chair, shall serve a two-year term. This position requires the AACSB designation (or equivalent) of Scholarly Academic, meaning that the chair is research active in scholarly publication activity. The Competitive Paper Track Chair must attend the Conference and is responsible for:

• Coordinating the acquisition and distribution of all paper submission
• Securing and managing reviewers, discussants, and session chairs
• Managing the paper review process, including notifying the authors of all submitted papers the status of their work (i.e., whether it has been accepted for the Conference or not)
• Selecting which submitted papers are accepted, based on reviewer feedback
• Coordinating the Best Paper review and award process based on reviewer feedback
• Ensuring that accepted papers are delivered to the National Conference Proceedings Editor in a timely fashion.
• Serving on the NCSM Board of Directors with voting privileges

The National Conference Doctoral Track Chair, hereafter referred to as the Doctoral Track Chair, shall serve a minimum one-year term. The Doctoral Track Chair is expected to attend the Conference and is responsible for:

• Preparing and releasing a Call For Papers announcing the doctoral track and any available doctoral fellowships
• Coordinating the acquisition and distribution of all paper submission
• Securing and managing reviewers, discussants, and session chairs
• Managing the paper review process, including notifying the authors of all submitted papers the status of their work (i.e., whether it has been accepted for the Conference or not)
• Selecting which submitted papers are accepted
• Ensuring that revised versions of all accepted papers are delivered to the National Conference Proceedings Editor
• Serving as Chair of all Conference sessions devoted to doctoral student research
• Serving on the NCSM Board of Directors with voting privileges.

The National Conference Special Sessions Coordinator, hereafter referred to as the Special Sessions Coordinator, shall serve a minimum one-year term. The Special Sessions Coordinator is expected to attend the Conference and is responsible for:

• Fostering the submission of special sessions proposals
• Seeking special session opportunities available at the conference location
• Evaluating all session proposals and working with the Program Chair to select the appropriate number of sessions
• Selecting which submitted proposals are accepted
• Providing the Program Chair with a description of all accepted special sessions as well as a roster of all participants and their affiliations
• Making all necessary arrangements to successfully complete all special sessions (e.g., travel, transportation, special equipment, etc.)
• Serving on the NCSM Board of Directors with voting privileges.

The National Conference Teaching Session Coordinator, hereafter referred to as the Teaching Session Coordinator, shall serve a minimum one-year term. The Teaching Session Coordinator is expected to attend the Conference and is responsible for:

• Determining the format of the teaching session(s) for the conference
• Fostering the submission of teaching sessions proposals
• Notifying the authors of all submitted proposals the status of their work (i.e., whether it has been accepted for the Conference or not)
• Providing the Program Chair with a list of all accepted papers as well as their author(s) and affiliations
• Ensuring that accepted papers are delivered to the National Conference Proceedings Editor in a timely fashion
• Serving on the NCSM Board of Directors with voting privileges.

Two At-Large Board Members, hereafter referred to as At-Large Members, shall each serve a two-year term, at the end of which each may ask the Board to consider him/her for a second, and final, two-year term. The terms of the At-Large Members will be staggered so that each year only one At-Large Member will rotate off the Board to be replaced by a new At-Large Member. After completing their term(s) as At-Large Members they are eligible to be considered for other Board positions.

Any member of the NCSM Board of Directors can nominate an At-Large Board Member or individuals may ask the Board to consider them for the position. At-Large Members are chosen during the NCSM Board’s annual meeting by majority vote of the quorum of Board members present. At-Large Members are expected to attend the Conference and are responsible for:

• Representing the broad interests of sales academics and professionals, particularly those who actively participate in the NCSM, towards managing and improving the Conference
• Any specific projects assigned to them by the Board
• Serving on the NCSM Board of Directors with voting privileges.