TRANSPORTATION TO HOTELS
Ground transportation is available to the San Francisco Hilton and Renaissance Parc 55 hotels through Super Shuttle. The discounted rate is $13 from San Francisco International (no reservation required). Shuttles also run from the Oakland airport ($22 discounted rate, reservation required). Reservations are required for returns; call 1-800-BLUE-VAN.
Taxis are available for approximately $37 (from San Francisco International) or $42 (Oakland Airport)
REGISTRATION
Registration Hours
To register before the meeting, go to the registration page. In San Francisco, you can pick up your printed program and other registration materials at the following times: Saturday, November 12, 3:00-7:00pm; Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, 7:00am-5:00pm; Wednesday, 7:30am-5:00pm. These are also the on-site registration hours.
Badge Required for Technical Sessions
Your San Francisco 2005 registration badge must be worn to all meeting events. Badges will be checked at the entrance to technical session areas, as well as the exhibit hall. Attendees without badges will be directed to the registration desk to pick up their badges and register. All attendees, including cluster chairs, session chairs and speakers must register and pay the registration fee.
ROOM LOCATIONS
The printed program you receive in San Francisco will list room locations for all sessions and events, as well as provide floor plans. Technical sessions and subdivision meetings will be held at both the Hilton and Renaissance. Registration, exhibits, plenaries and keynotes, the Sunday and Monday evening receptions, and most tracks will be held at the Hilton. About 16 tracks will be held at the Renaissance.
AUDIO-VISUAL SERVICES
Both LCD (computer) projectors and overheads will be available in all technical session rooms. Before you depart for San Francisco, please review these instructions:
- Bring your laptop to your session. We supply the projector; we do not supply the computer.
- Get comfortable with connecting your laptop to an LCD projector-practice using the laptop you'll bring to the meeting and a version of the file you'll be showing.
- Arrive at your session at least ½ hour early.
- Do NOT attempt to run your presentation off the laptop battery, no matter how trustworthy.
- Bring your AC power adaptor with you. There will be convenient AC power in every session room.
- Produce and bring overhead transparencies as a backup.
- All presenters in a session will set up and test the connection to the projector before the session begins.
There will be a Speaker Ready Room available during the meeting. You can stop by and practice connecting your laptop to the projector. We'll also have quick instructions in each session room, and technical assistance available. But there's no substitute for practice before you get to the meeting and transparency backups for those occasions when even the best-laid plans go awry!
PRESENTATION GUIDELINES
Online Program
The online program is considered to be the final version of the preliminary program. This means that once the program appears online, we are not able to move either single presentations or full sessions to other time slots. Speakers go to the online program for the date and time of their presentations and then make travel and hotel arrangements based on this information. We can add to existing sessions or add new sessions as time and space permit. You can also make changes to your abstract title, abstract or list of authors.
Making Your Presentation
Go to the registration area and pick up your San Francisco Meeting Program, name badge and other registration materials. The room and location of your session will be listed in the Technical Sessions section of the meeting program and in the Master Track Schedule.
- Arrive at your session at least ½ hour early for A/V set-up.
- Limit your presentation to key issues with a brief summary.
- Time your presentation to fit within your designated time span, leaving time for audience questions.
- Bring copies of your paper or other handouts to distribute to the audience.
LATE CANCELLATIONS (after September 23) AND NO-SHOWS
Please don't be a "no-show." While we understand that last-minute circumstances may prevent speakers from attending, we urge you to inform us so we can alert attendees. Speakers who fail to notify us that they are not attending are being unfair to their colleagues and the Organizing Committee.
In an effort to improve the quality of the meeting, we maintain records of individuals who are late cancellations (cancel after September 23) and “no-shows.” These people may be required to register in advance for future meetings in order for their papers to be scheduled.
- Send cancellation in writing to abstractcentral@informs.org with the reason for canceling. Cancellations will be listed in the Program Addendum and deleted from the online program.
- Invited and Sponsored speakers should also inform their session chair if they are not able to attend the meeting to make their presentation(s).
- If a paper is withdrawn from a session before the meeting, the session chair may add a new speaker or extra time may be allowed for the remaining speakers.
- Invited and Sponsored session chairs should find a substitute to act as chair in their place.
- If a speaker is a "no-show," the original time schedule should be adhered to rather than sliding every talk forward. This allows for effective session jumping.
SESSION CHAIR GUIDELINES
The role of the Chair is to coordinate the smooth running of the session. The Chair:
- Begins and ends each session on time. Each session lasts 90 minutes, with the time per presentation determined by the number of papers in the session. Equal time should be given to each paper.
- Introduces each presentation (just the title of the paper and the name of the presenting author).
- Ensures that presentations are made in the order shown in the program. This allows for "session jumping." If a speaker cancels or does not attend, the original time schedule should be adhered to rather than sliding every talk forward
- Completes the session attendance forms (forms will be in the room).
HOW TO NAVIGATE THE MEETING
With more than 750 sessions and 2,600 presentations, the INFORMS Annual Meeting can be a challenge to navigate. Here are some tips that should be helpful.
Printed Program
When you pick up your registration materials in San Francisco, you'll receive the printed program with four resources:
- The technical session listing, which provides the most detailed information. The listing is presented chronologically by day/time, showing each session and the papers/abstracts/authors within each session.
- The Master Track Schedule. This is an overview of the tracks (general topic areas) and their time/locations.
- Floor plans that show you where technical session tracks are located.
- Three cross-references indices: authors, session chairs and sessions.
The Session Code
Each session is identified with a code - for example, MB25.
- The first letter is the day of the week.
- The second letter is the time block (A = 8:00-9:30am; B = 10:00-11:30am; C = 1:30-3:00pm; D = 4:30-6:00pm). Note: Wed. D = 3:30-5:00pm.
- The number is the track, which correlates with room location.
To Find Your Own Session
Use the Author Index at the back of the printed program - the session code for your presentation(s) will be shown. Then refer to the full session listing for the location of your session(s).
To Find Sessions of Interest
Before you arrive in San Francisco, use the online Program Search to identify sessions you want to attend. Search by CLUSTER to see what's available in broad topic areas. Search by KEY WORD for particular interests. Search by SESSION for a chronological look at sessions available each day. Or search by AUTHOR. You can also create your own itinerary.
Once you arrive in San Francisco, the best method for finding sessions of interest is to use the Master Track Schedule. It provides an overview of the general topic areas for all sessions during the week.
Program Information Booth
In San Francisco, there will be Program Information booths located in both hotels. If you have any questions or comments about the program, we encourage you to stop by.
WEATHER: WHAT TO EXPECT
San Francisco is fortunate to have a temperate marine climate and enjoys mild weather year-round. Temperatures seldom rise above 70° F (21° C) or fall below 40° F (5° C) Visitors are most comfortable with a light jacket or coat handy for cool evening wear.
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