CS5 Agenda Committee

The CS5 Agenda Committee exists to strengthen and grow the CMMC Compliance Community by designing agendas for CS5 that matter. The goal is not simply to stack sessions into a schedule, but to build CS5 conferences as part of a larger ecosystem of collaboration, skills transfer, and measurable progress. Agenda and session decisions are developed with the community and for the community, ensuring the CS5 program reflects shared expertise, real challenges, and practical advances in the compliance landscape.

Important: The CS5 Agenda Committee is a separate body from the Speaker Committee and does not control speaker selection. The CS5 Agenda Committee has no authority or decision-making role in speaker selection. It may provide advisory recommendations (including tagging a submission "Unique" and recommending a presenter), but all final authority over the CS5 program and all CS5 speaker appointments rests with Forum Makers and the Speaker Committee.

1. Committee Composition

• The CS5 Agenda Committee shall consist of five (5) industry experts drawn from diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
• Membership requirements:
  • Each member must represent a unique organization.
  • Members shall serve a one-year term, which covers two CS5 conferences.
  • Following their term, members must rotate off for at least one year before becoming eligible again.
• Leadership:
  • The CS5 Agenda Committee Chair shall select their successor from among the then-current committee members.

2. Recognition

• Website: The names of the CS5 Agenda Committee Chair and all members shall be published on the CS5 conference website during their term.
• CS5 Conference: The service of the Chair and all members shall be acknowledged at CS5 conferences during their term.

3. Chair Responsibilities

The CS5 Agenda Committee Chair is responsible for:

• Assembling and confirming the CS5 Agenda Committee membership.
• Overseeing the Committee's work to ensure fair, timely, and practical execution of responsibilities for CS5.
• Acting as the primary point of contact for the CS5 conference organizers and production teams.
• Ensuring alignment with CS5 goals and published timelines.

4. Relationship to the Speaker Committee & Final Authority

• The CS5 Agenda Committee is operationally and procedurally separate from the Speaker Committee. It has no authority to select or appoint speakers for CS5 and does not participate in the Speaker Committee's speaker selection deliberations.
• The CS5 Agenda Committee may recommend speakers, identify ideal presenters, and propose panel compositions as advice only; such recommendations carry no decision-making power.
• All agenda selections and speaker recommendations produced by the CS5 Agenda Committee are recommendations only. Forum Makers retains final authority over the CS5 program and all CS5 speaker appointments.

5. Committee Responsibilities

Under the guidance of the Chair, the CS5 Agenda Committee shall:

• Review community submissions (call-for-proposals) and evaluate them against the Committee's selection criteria for CS5.
• Create its own CS5 topics and session concepts as the Committee sees fit — defining track placement, learning objectives, format, and recommended duration. Committee-created topics follow the same workflow as community submissions.
• Define CS5 program structure (tracks, session types, session lengths, learning objectives).
• Establish track definitions and themes reflecting current priorities of the CMMC community and CS5.
• Recommend session formats and expected attendee outcomes for CS5 sessions.
• Prioritize sessions that deliver practical takeaways, technical accuracy, cross-sector collaboration, and a range of perspectives for CS5 attendees.
• Recommend moderators and, when appropriate, recommend presenters to the Speaker Committee — including naming the submitter when the CS5 Agenda Committee believes the submitter is ideally qualified. All such recommendations are advisory to the Speaker Committee and Forum Makers and do not confer selection authority.
• Coordinate CS5 scheduling details (avoid topic conflicts, pair related sessions, build transition buffers, plan for recordings and hybrid delivery).
• Ensure interactivity across the CS5 program.
• Address scheduling or content conflicts and recommend resolutions.
• Maintain clear documentation of decisions, rationale, and program changes specific to CS5.

6. "Unique" Tagging & Recommendation Process

• Definition: A submission deemed to have exceptional, novel, or one-of-a-kind value to CS5 may be tagged "Unique" by the CS5 Agenda Committee.
• When used: Appropriate when the idea or content is uniquely important to CS5 goals and the submitter is demonstrably the best person to present it.
• How it's applied: The CS5 Agenda Committee must document the rationale for a "Unique" tag. The tag is applied by Committee majority vote and recorded in internal minutes.
• Notification & recommendation: The Chair (or designee) will submit a formal recommendation package to the Speaker Committee that includes the submission, rationale, supporting materials, and a recommended presenter for CS5.
• Authority: The "Unique" tag and any speaker recommendation are advisory only. The CS5 Agenda Committee has no authority over speaker appointments — the Speaker Committee will consider the recommendation, and Forum Makers retains final authority over whether to accept the recommendation and finalize the CS5 speaker appointment.
• Timing: Recommendations shall be delivered within published deadlines so they can be considered without delaying overall CS5 selection processes.

7. Selection Criteria (Agenda-Driven)

• Authority: The CS5 Agenda Committee shall make program and topic recommendations for CS5 to the conference organizers. Final CS5 program approval and all CS5 speaker appointments rest with Forum Makers.
• Basis of selection: CS5 sessions and Committee-created topics shall be chosen based on relevance, actionable outcomes, technical/policy accuracy, engagement potential, and presenter quality.
• Prohibitions: Sponsorship, monetary considerations, or promises of promotional advantage shall not influence CS5 agenda decisions.

8. Conflict of Interest

• CS5 Agenda Committee members shall recuse themselves from deliberations or votes on proposals that involve:
  • Their own application or proposal.
  • Their own organization or direct financial interest.
  • Any circumstance that could reasonably be perceived as a conflict.
• Any potential conflict must be disclosed to the Chair and to Forum Makers prior to deliberation.

9. Term Limits and Vacancies

• If a CS5 Agenda Committee member cannot complete their one-year term:
  • The Chair may recommend a replacement, subject to approval by Forum Makers.
  • Replacement members will serve the remainder of the term and must satisfy membership requirements.

10. Confidentiality

• Deliberations, proposal evaluations, scoring, and internal CS5 Agenda Committee discussions shall be treated as confidential.
• Only final CS5 program decisions and approved public acknowledgements may be shared externally.

11. Code of Conduct & Agenda Expectations

CS5 Agenda Committee members shall maintain professionalism and impartiality in all interactions. Harassment, bias, or inappropriate conduct is grounds for removal from the Committee at the discretion of Forum Makers.

Agenda Expectations — Standards (for CS5 proposed sessions and Committee-created topics)

• Educational & non-promotional: Every agenda item must be educational, outcome-driven, and clearly state learning objectives. Product or service pitches are not allowed; commercial content must be disclosed and routed to sponsor/showcase tracks.
• Practical & measurable: Preference for sessions that deliver concrete, actionable guidance (templates, checklists, case studies, demos). Proposals should indicate how learning or success will be measured.
• Accuracy & confidentiality: Content must be factual or clearly labeled as opinion/speculation, cite sources where appropriate, and must not disclose classified or otherwise restricted information. Submitters must have rights to any materials or data they share.
• Format & materials: Each proposal must specify format, duration, target audience level, prerequisites (if any), and any required materials or handouts. Production timelines and final delivery are governed by Forum Makers' schedules.
• Engagement: Where format permits, proposals should include planned audience interaction (Q&A, polls, exercises).
• Integrity: Agenda decisions must be free of sponsorship or monetary influence.

Complaints & enforcement: Report agenda-related issues or policy violations to Forum Makers staff. Forum Makers reserves the right to remove or modify agenda items or take other remedial action where necessary.

12. Confidentiality of Community Input

• Community-submitted ideas, feedback, and proposal content that are not selected for CS5 remain the intellectual property of the submitters and shall be handled according to Forum Makers' policies. Internal evaluations and scoring remain confidential.

Version History

• Version 1.0 — Initial version.