INFORMS News: Charlotte to host 2011 INFORMS Annual Meeting
By Cem Saydam
Charlotte, N.C., the “Queen City of the South,” will host the 2011 INFORMS Annual Meeting, Nov. 13-16. The meeting will be held in the downtown Charlotte Convention Center located between two major conference hotels, the Westin and the Hilton. Numerous restaurants and attractions are within walking distance, including the NFL’s Charlotte Panthers’ stadium (where the Panthers will host the Tennessee Titans on the Sunday of the conference), the NBA’s Bobcats’ arena and numerous museums. Also within walking distance is the NASCAR Hall of Fame where the general reception will be held. During the reception, attendees will have the opportunity to test their racing and pit crew skills. Serious competitors are welcome to frequent the NASCAR Hall of Fame to practice before the reception.
Several exciting tours and excursions are scheduled. The Siemens Charlotte Turbine-Generator Center includes state-of-the-art new-unit generator manufacturing, as well as service repairs for steam turbines and generators. The Duke Energy Downtown building has achieved Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum status by including water-saving plumbing devices, a water storage system that will treat rainwater to be used for cooling tower make-up water and a green roof. Nature lovers and history buffs will enjoy tours to the Carolina Raptor Center and Latta Plantation, which is a circa-1800 cotton plantation and living history farm located within the Latta Plantation Nature Preserve.
The meeting will offer plenty of networking opportunities, with the INFORMS membership meeting on Saturday, the welcome reception on Sunday, the general reception on Tuesday and subdivision meetings on Monday and Tuesday. A partial list of plenary and keynote speakers includes Jim Rogers, president and CEO of Duke Energy; Susan D. DeVore, president and CEO of Premier Healthcare Alliance; Keith Collins, senior vice president and chief technology officer, SAS; the 2011 Daniel H. Wagner Prize Winner, to be announced at the conference; and the Franz Edelman Award finalists from the 2011 INFORMS Conference on Business Analytics and Operations Research. More than 20 tutorials are also planned, and there will be dozens of clusters covering virtually every area of operations research.
GAMS Development Corp., AIMMS (Paragon Decision Technology), Belk College of Business, UNC Charlotte, North Carolina State University’s Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and UT Dallas head the list of sponsors who have stepped up to help make this a memorable conference. Other organizations who would similarly like to gain visibility before the expected 4,500 attendees and show their support for the INFORMS community should get in touch with General Chair Cem Saydam (saydam@uncc.edu) or Terry Cryan (terry.cryan@informs.org). Sponsoring opportunities can be found on the conference Web site (see “Sponsors” link).
For the most up-to-date information, go to http://meetings2.informs.org/charlotte2011/. For more information about Charlotte and area attractions, visit http://www.charlottesgotalot.com/.
The organizing committee is truly excited about the INFORMS Annual Meeting in Charlotte and eagerly anticipates showing Southern hospitality and showing off Charlotte. On behalf of the organizing committee, we all look forward to seeing you in November!
Cem Saydam (saydam@uncc.edu) is the general chair of the 2011 INFORMS Annual Meeting.
