Can attendees at your conferences tell from a quick glance at their program guide what meeting room to go to? Those guides may be a small part of your budget--and are often a last-minute task--but attendees rely on them for a smooth conference experience. If you have a user-friendly booklet you are particularly proud of, enter it in our TOP GUIDES contest. Winners will be displayed in the August issue of Association Meetings. Based on budget categories, entries will be judged by the editors on:

* Ease of use

* Comprehensiveness: Does the guide include all the basic information attendees need?

* Innovative graphics and text design

* Effective presentation: Does the design work to create a clear, attractive guide?

Send a program guide from any meeting held after September 1996 (along with any inserts, pullout maps, or other enclosures), the booklet budget (excluding postage), and a blurb of 100 words or fewer, explaining why you think it's great. We will judge booklets used by attendees on site, not your promotional materials.

Mail materials to Tamar Hosansky, senior editor, Association Meetings, 60 Main Street, Maynard, MA 01754. If you have any questions, call (978) 466-6358. Or you can send an e-mail to thosansky@mail.aip.com. Entries must be postmarked by May 15, 1998.