PRESIDENT'S DESK

INFORMS President

Terry Harrison

tharrison@psu.edu

In my two prior columns, I highlighted INFORMS publications and communities. Here I discuss INFORMS meetings, which form the third major segment of INFORMS activities. An essential and unique complement to other INFORMS activities, meetings are the means by which we share new ideas to large groups and individuals. Meetings are the place where we recognize accomplishments and make awards, and they provide an important way to develop personal connections between individuals and groups. In two words, the themes of our current meeting efforts are innovative and dynamic.

We have five kinds of meetings: 1) the annual meeting in the fall, 2) the practice-oriented meeting in the spring, 3) topical meetings, 4) INFORMS community meetings, and 5) international meetings, such as the one held in Beijing in June. All are constantly changing and improving to provide new opportunities in response to member needs.

Our fall meeting is the largest event of the year and has shown steady growth over the recent past. In 2004, total attendance was 2,991 while the 2011 meeting last fall drew 4,467 total attendees. Based on abstracts and scheduled presentations, we are on target to have another large turnout for the upcoming fall meeting at Phoenix. Even though the annual meeting has grown to a large size, it provides an opportunity for personal connections by using a “meeting within a meeting” approach.

The spring meeting is smaller, more focused event aligned to the practice of operations research. It, too, has grown steadily, especially in the past two years. In 2004, we had a total attendance of 405, while the last three years attendance has been 513, 758 and 797, respectively. It appears that the recent growth has been in response to an emphasis on an analytics theme.

The fall and spring meetings both have job placement services and a career fair. Additionally, the conferences feature large vendor display areas that reflect the theme of each type of meeting.

Topical conferences are a recent addition to the meetings offerings. The first offering was last year with a conference on healthcare. It was an experiment that debuted as a success both in terms of attendance (about 500) and quality. A second meeting on healthcare is scheduled for late next spring and a third topical conference on “big data” is planned for 2014. There are clearly opportunities for further growth in response to member interests.

INFORMS communities (see the President’s Desk column in the June issue of OR/MS Today) have been regularly offering meetings for many years. In addition to a variety of regional chapter meetings, conferences in 2012 include Organization Science, the Optimization Society, Telecommunications, the Military Applications Society, Group Decision and Negotiation, Marketing Science, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, and Revenue Management and Pricing. In 2013, the INFORMS Computing Society along with the Applied Probability will host conferences.

Over the recent past, INFORMS has introduced poster sessions at both the fall and spring meetings. These have proved to be highly popular and a great way to foster a new kind of interaction and exchange of ideas. Conference organizers will continue to build on this theme.

INFORMS has been adopting technology to enhance the meeting experience. For example, we have been using real time blogs that provide daily previews and reviews of meeting events. For the upcoming fall meeting, INFORMS will introduce the use of a mobile app with a searchable program, a “way-finder,” an agenda builder, social networking, podcasts feeds and upcoming events.

At the upcoming fall annual meeting, INFORMS will introduce “INFORMS TV” featuring a variety of segments on conference news and short videos sponsored by universities, research organizations and companies to highlight their programs. Collectively, technology features will greatly enhance the meeting experience. Be sure to explore the options.

On a personal note, I always leave our meetings energized with a number of new ideas for research directions, and over the years I have developed strong personal connections that have led to lifelong friendships. INFORMS meetings have played a critical role in my professional development. For every INFORMS member, meetings are an essential part of one’s professional life.

For a look at the full set of future and recent past meetings, see www.informs.org/Attend-a-Conference. I look forward to seeing you at the upcoming fall meeting in Phoenix! Contact me at president@mail.informs.org.