CATS 2009
Computing: The Australasian Theory Symposium

Hence by the time of the conference itself, there has already been an opportunity for a significant amount of discussion of the paper, which may including its strengths, weaknesses and significance, or simply some familiarity with its contents, so that the audience does not come in "cold" at the conference.  This means that the presentation at the conference can concentrate more on points of interest, and less on giving background and technical details. This also means a greater emphasis at the conference on discussion and interaction, than on listening to prepared lectures, a process which could be assisted by the session chairs giving a summary of the discussion as part of the introduction to each paper

Whilst interest in the discussion track will presumably be centred on CATS attendees, it will be open to anyone interested, meaning a potentially larger audience for the discussion.  It also provides an opportunity for consultation with the large number of experts outside the CATS community.  For example, someone (perhaps one of the PC chairs) could approach an outside expert and ask their opinion on the discussion of the papers.  Alternatively, an author of a paper could ask colleagues (in their own institution or elsewhere) for their reaction to the discussion on their paper.

Participation in the discussion track is entirely voluntary; in particular, authors are free to submit papers to the "normal" track, in which case the papers would be processed in the standard way.