INFORMS Annual Meeting | San Francisco 2014

Registration

Registration now open - click here
Badge Required for Technical Sessions
Your INFORMS San Francisco 2014 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.

Visa Information

These sites provide helpful information on visas and travel to the U.S.
http://travel.state.gov
http://usembassy.state.gov
http://www.dhs.gov/us-visit
http://www7.nationalacademies.org/visas/

Audio-Visual Services

All session rooms will be equipped with a computer projector, but please note that you must provide your own laptop or pre-arrange to share with others in your session. Please follow these guidelines to ensure a successful presentation:

Bring your laptop to your session. We strongly recommend that you pre-arrange with other speakers in your session to ensure that at least one of you brings a laptop from which you can project your talks.
Bring a power adaptor with you. We recommend that you do not attempt to run your presentation off the laptop battery.
If your laptop is not compatible with AC power, please bring an electrical adaptor so that you can connect to U.S. electricity.
If you use an Apple product, you will need the appropriate adapter for the external video output.
Arrive at your session at least 15 minutes before it begins. All presenters in a session should set up and test the connection to the projector before the session begins.
We encourage speakers to put their presentations on a USB flash drive as a backup

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.

Making Your Presentation
Go to the registration area and pick up your name badge and other registration materials.
Arrive at your session at least 15 minutes early for A/V set-up and to check in with the session chair.

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. Time per speaker is determined by the number of papers in the session, with equal time given to each paper.
Bring copies of your paper or other handouts to distribute to the audience.

Courtesy to Fellow Speakers
Attendees are asked to be respectful of their colleagues by turning off cell phones and mobile devices before the presentations begin. In addition, please note that use of cameras and all recording devices is prohibited during sessions unless you have received prior permission from the speaker.

Session Chair Guidelines

The role of the Chair is to coordinate the smooth running of the session. The Chair:

Begins and ends the 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).

Reminds the audience to (a) turn off all mobile devices and (b) that photography is not allowed without the prior permission of the speaker.

Late Cancellations & No-Shows

Please don't be a "no-show." While we understand that last-minute emergencies 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 3) 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 [email protected] 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.

How to Navigate the Meeting

Printed Program
The printed program provides four primary resources to help you understand and navigate the INFORMS technical sessions. If you have chosen to “go green” and not receive a hard-copy program, sections of the program will be available on the San Francisco web page one week before the meeting.

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 Author, Session Chair and Session indices provide cross-reference assistance.
Floor plans that show you where technical session tracks are located.
The Master Track Schedule - an overview of the tracks (general topic areas) and when/where they are scheduled.

PDF Program – Going Green
If you told us you want to “go green” and not receive a printed program in San Francisco, you can print out sections of the printed program before you travel. One week before the meeting, check back to the San Francisco web page for the full program in PDF format. You will be able to print out sections easily. You can also use the “ITINERARY” function in the program search to select your sessions and print out a customized itinerary. Room locations for all technical sessions will be indicated in the program PDFs.

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 = 11:00am-12:30pm; C = 1:30-3:00pm;
D = 4:30-6:00pm).
The number is the track, which correlates with room location.

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 a Program Information booth at the Hilton. If you have any questions or comments about the program, we encourage you to stop by.

Weather: What to Expect

San Francisco has beautiful clear skies and cool temperatures in early November (60s during the day, low 50s at night). Bring a jacket for outdoors and sweater for indoors. Click here for weather updates as the time of the meeting comes closer.

Speaker Information