Call for presentations

Submission deadline: December 15, 2007
Selection notification: February 8, 2008

You are invited to submit a proposal to present at the 2008 INFORMS Conference on O.R. Practice. Speakers selected through this process will receive a discounted registration fee of $495.

This prestigious INFORMS conference has earned a reputation for high-quality, invited presentations directed to a “listener” audience. For the 2008 conference, we are expanding the reach of speaker invitations to a broad spectrum of practitioners and academics. Accepted submissions will be incorporated into the program in a special track.

We encourage you to submit a proposal for review by the Selection Committee. Both presentation content and speaking expertise will be considered in selection, with priority given to real-world business topics and high-quality academic work geared to real situations.

• A discounted registration rate of $495 (regular conference rate is $870). Registration covers the conference program, plus evening receptions, continental breakfast, lunch and breaks for two days.
• The prestige of being selected to present at an INFORMS top-quality conference.
• An opportunity to participate fully in the conference, networking with industry practitioners, academics and consultants.
  
  

• A 50-minute presentation by one speaker (multiple presenters and panels not accepted).
• Final presentation slides submitted by March 3, 2008 (six weeks before the conference).
• Willingness to tailor a presentation for a listener audience and to accept direction from the selection committee in doing this.
• Willingness to serve as a discussion leader for small group roundtables, if requested.
• Full participation in the conference (both the education and social program), for at least the day of the presentation and preferably the entire conference.

SELECTION GUIDELINES AND CRITERIA
The review and acceptance process will be highly selective, with two primary criteria.

• Real-world business topics, with technical content included.
• High quality academic work geared to real situations.
• Applications reports, case studies, best practice examples, emerging topics and tutorials with a practice-orientation.
• All application areas of OR/MS considered.
• Presentations directed to a “listener” audience (most members of the audience attend the conference to listen to high quality presentations, not to present), of which a large percentage are practitioners.

• Presenters must have demonstrated speaking experience.
• Speaking references will be requested.
• Potential speakers will be interviewed by phone.

SUBMISSION PROCESS
Please provide the following information in a Word attachment and send to practice@informs.org:

• Contact information: name, academic degree, position title, organization, address, telephone, fax, email.
• Your CV, resume or other biographical information.
• Presentation title.
• Abstract: a 500-word extended abstract written with the listener’s perspective in mind. Your abstract should answer the listener’s basic question: “What will I learn from this session? What information/knowledge/ideas will I come away with?” It’s important that you describe in as much detail as possible what you will cover in your presentation. A bulleted list of topics, points, examples and issues can be an effective technique for doing this.
• Speaking experience: please list your relevant speaking experience, and provide the name, email and phone number for at least one individual who can comment on your speaking expertise.
• Available dates for presentation: Monday, April 14, and/or Tuesday, April 15. Preference will be given to speakers who are available both days.
• Send submission to: practice@informs.org.