INFORMS

 eNews
 August 2009 :: Volume 11 :: Issue 16
INFORMS Members learning in workshopINFORMS Members at the Annual MeetingKathy Chou and Don KleinmuntzSpirited discussion at an INFORMS meetingJohn Milne and Jeff AldenINFORMS Members enjoy the Annual Meeting
In This Issue
INFORMS 2010 Election Open - Please Vote
Coming Soon to a Computer Near You: New INFORMS Website
Science of Better Podcast: Using O.R. in School Planning
Findings from the 2009 Member Survey
Blog On: Laura McLay Writes About More Women in O.R. and Michael Trick Writes About "Bluewashing"
INFORMS Meetings
Levinthal Named Organization Science EIC
Call for Papers, Management Science Special Issue -- Marketing Within the Enterprise and Beyond
INFORMS Journals Continue to Influence
O.R. in the News: IBM Video on Analytics
Submit a Proposal for NSF Funding
You Can Win a Key Practice Prize (But You Have to Enter Soon)
Register for the MORS/DRDC Conference on Piracy
Register for the INFORMS Data Mining Contest
Latest IFORS Newsletter Available Now
WORMS Luncheon at San Diego Meeting
August Issue of OR/MS Today Available Now
Quick Poll
Hidden INFORMS Benefit
FEATURED
 
 
Summer Issue of Analytics now available for viewing
 
Join INFORMS on Facebook
 
Join the INFORMS Group on LinkedIn
 
2009 INFORMS Annual Meeting
 
Job Placement Service
   
INFORMS Meeting Calendar
 
Quick Links


Join Our Mailing List
INFORMS
INFORMS 2010 Election Open - Please Vote

Get ready to vote in the 2010 INFORMS election!
INFORMS is your organization, and you decide who leads. That's why it's critical that you vote online now for your candidates. Voting ends on September 30, 2009. You should have received an e-mail from our election vendor Survey and Ballot Systems, via [email protected], containing your member number and e-signature (election passcode). The quickest way to vote is to click on this link: https://www.directvote.net/INFORMS/, which will take you directly to the login page of the election website. If you need help, click on the "Need help logging in?" link, or you may contact [email protected] or call 952-974-2339. For non-technical support, or to request a paper ballot, contact [email protected] or call 800-446-3676 (inside the United States & Canada, call 443-757-3500, ext.525).
Coming Soon to a Computer Near You: New INFORMS Website
 
For the past year and a half, a core team of INFORMS volunteers and staff led by Mohan Sodhi and assisted by Web consulting firm Beaconfire have been working on a complete redesign of the INFORMS website. Work is now nearly complete. The new website will be beta-tested at the INFORMS Annual Meeting with rollout to members (and the world) scheduled for November 30, 2009. Watch out for the next several issues of eNews for sneak peeks of different pages of the new website. In the meantime, see a mock-up of the redesigned home page.
Science of Better Podcast: Using O.R. in School Planning

Listen to INFORMS podcastsAmericans often read headlines about failing schools. But what happens when a school district is enjoying success and has trouble handling growth? That was the case with the Wake County Public School System in North Carolina, which was increasingly overwhelmed as its student population grew year after year. When they partnered with operations researchers at the nearby SAS headquarters, an elegant analytics solution emerged. Hear the podcast with SAS's Rob Pratt and Ivan Oliveira and Wake County's Chuck Dulaney at www.scienceofbetter.org/podcast.
Findings from the 2009 Member Survey

2009 INFORMS Member SurveyThe 2009 Member Survey closed on June 24, 2009; 1,530 members participated for a 17% response rate. The Board of Directors thanks all members who took the time to complete the survey. The survey measured members' primary goal for joining INFORMS, the products and services used to achieve this goal, and the overall satisfaction with the products and services used. Over the next several issues of eNews, we will provide key excerpts from the survey. Go here to view the overall findings. Findings from this survey will be used to ensure that INFORMS is providing the best membership experience possible.

Excerpt from 2009 Member Survey Results:
What statement below comes closest to expressing your primary goal for joining INFORMS? (Select one answer only.)
  • To keep up with the state of the art in a specific area - 30.7%
  • To be informed about a wide variety of subjects - 21.3%
  • To maintain my identity as an OR/MS individual - 20.3%
  • To gain visibility throughout my profession - 14.1%
  • To meet people with similar interests - 9.4%
  • To identify new job opportunities - 3.8%
  • To meet potential clients - 0.5%
Blog On: Laura McLay Writes About More Women in O.R. and Michael Trick Writes About "Bluewashing"

Laura McLay
The big news for women in mathematical sciences is that women now earn 30% of the PhDs in the mathematical sciences, up from 5% in the 1950s. (I actually tweeted this one, but it deserves more than 140 characters). This is great news, of course. Read More.

Michael Trick
Two things happened to me last week with regards to IBM/ILOG (a topic I have written about quite a bit):
  1. I was on a conference call with an ILOG person and I said, jokingly, "Is that XXX from ILOG, an IBM Company?" His reply: "Nope, just XXX from IBM". The "ILOG, an IBM Company" phrasing ended earlier this summer.
  2. I got an e-mail from the PR people at ILOG (IBM, damn it, IBM!) saying in, essence, "Bluewashing for ILOG is complete." "Bluewashing"? What the heck is that? Read More.
INFORMS Meetings
 
INFORMS Annual Meeting San Diego 2009
October 11-14, San Diego Convention Center & Hilton San Diego
http://meetings.informs.org/sandiego09

San Diego HiltonProgram - Last Day for Author Updates Is August 28
The program is now online in a searchable format - click here. August 28 is the last day for authors to submit changes or corrections to abstracts. The online program schedule is considered final: we are not able to move either single presentations or full sessions to other time slots.

Hotel and Registration Deadlines - September 6 and 7
Make your hotel reservations now, as the INFORMS hotel blocks may sell out before the cut-off date of September 6. Click here to reserve your room. You can also participate in a room-sharing list. The early registration deadline for the meeting is September 7. Click here to register now.

Submit an Interactive Presentation - Deadline Is August 28
These sessions provide excellent visibility for posters and laptop displays. A high-level panel of judges will review the presentations and award two prizes (first place: $1,000, second place: $500). Click here for more information and to submit your presentation.
 
ALIO-INFORMS Joint International Meeting 2010 - Abstract Submissions Now Open

June 6-9, Law School, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
Click here for more information and to submit your abstract.
 
INFORMS Practice Conference 2010 -
Save the Dates!

April 18-20, Hilton Bonnet Creek, Orlando, FL
Mark your calendar now and plan to attend!
 
Announcing INFORMS Telecommunications Conference

May 5-7, 2010, Concordia University, Montreal
The Chair for the conference is Brigitte Jaumard.
 
IFORS Triennial 2011

July 10-15, Melbourne Convention Center
http://www.ifors2011.org
 
INFORMS Meetings Calendar

Go to http://meetings.informs.org/ for a complete conference calendar.
Levinthal Named Organization Science EIC

Daniel LevinthalCongratulations to Daniel A. Levinthal of The Wharton School, who will succeed Linda Argote as Editor-in-Chief of the INFORMS journal Organization Science, now in its 20th year of publication. The INFORMS Board of Directors unanimously approved Dan's appointment at their recent meeting. Because of Dan's commitments at Wharton, his term as editor will begin on June 1, 2010, with Linda continuing her excellent leadership in the position until that date.
Call for Papers, Management Science Special Issue - Marketing Within the Enterprise and Beyond

Management ScienceManagement Science announces a special issue, sponsored by INFORMS Society for Marketing Science (ISMS), on marketing's various interfaces with other disciplines in management science. We invite manuscripts that examine important research issues at the interface between marketing and other functional areas, such as accounting, business strategy, finance, information systems, operations, and organizations, or address important public policy implications of marketing decisions. Manuscripts submitted for the special issue should address issues that truly span functional boundaries, i.e., are of interest to marketing and another discipline.

The deadline for submissions is February 26, 2010.
For the complete call for papers, go to http://mansci.pubs.informs.orgor contact the editors at
[email protected] (Pradeep Chintagunta) [email protected] (Preyas Desai).
INFORMS Journals Continue to Influence

INFORMS JournalsThomson recently released their 2008 article influence scores. Article influence score is a new metric designed to measure the impact of a given journal's articles within categories. In article influence, INFORMS has four of the top five journals in the OR/MS category: Management Science, Operations Research, Transportation Science, and Math of O.R. In the Management category, INFORMS holds four of the top nine spots: Organization Science, Information Systems Research, Management Science, and Marketing Science. Congratulations to all involved.
O.R. in the News: IBM Video on Analytics

IBM has introduced an engaging animated video introduction that explains analytics (and, indirectly, O.R.) to YouTube watchers and potential clients. View the IBM video and discover much more at O.R. in the News.
Submit a Proposal for NSF Funding

The Operations Research Program of the National Science Foundation supports fundamental research leading to the creation of innovative mathematical models, analysis, and algorithms for optimal or near-optimal decision making in the design and operation of manufacturing, service, and other complex systems. In addition to the traditional areas of operations research, which include discrete and continuous optimization and stochastic modeling and analysis, new research thrusts include Oracle-based optimization algorithms for simulation optimization and self-optimizing systems that can observe, learn, and adapt to changing environments.

For more information, go to this link.
You Can Win a Key Practice Prize (But You Have to Enter Soon)

Edelman Gala

Deadlines for two key INFORMS practice prizes are coming up soon. Applications to be considered for the Edelman Award for achievement in operations research are due by October 21, 2009. INFORMS PrizeApplications to be considered for the INFORMS Prize for effective integration of operations research into organizational decision making are due by December 1, 2009.
Register for the MORS/DRDC Conference on Piracy

MORS/DRDC Conference on PiracyThe Military Operations Research Society and Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) are hosting a conference on Analytic Support for Maritime Domain Awareness and Counter-Piracy in Ottawa the week of October 26. For details, go to http://www.mors.org/events/mdapiracy.aspx.
Register for the INFORMS Data Mining Contest

The 2009 INFORMS Data Mining Contest is the second installment of a contest that started last year in conjunction with the INFORMS Annual Meeting. This year's contest is co-organized by the Predictive Modeling Group at IBM Research and Health Care Intelligence (HCI-LLC).

Register for the contest and submit your predictions by September 25 by going to http://www.informsdmcontest2009.org.
Latest IFORS Newsletter Available Now

The latest edition of the IFORS newsletter is now online. Point your browser to http://www.ifors.org/contents/news.php and find news from operations research societies across the world.
WORMS Luncheon at San Diego Meeting

The Women in OR/MS luncheon will be held at the Hilton Bayfront Hotel on Tuesday, October 13, at 12:30 p.m. The forum's annual Award for the Advancement of Women in OR/MS will be presented and a three-course luncheon served. Tickets cost only $10, or $5 for students.

To register online, please visit: http://meetings.informs.org/SanDiego09/register.html or contact [email protected].
August Issue of OR/MS Today Available Now

August 2009 Issue of OR/MS Today
 
Be on the look out for the August issue of OR/MS Today. This special back-to-school issue shows you how to maximize your worth in tough economic times. The new digital edition is available now.
Quick Poll

How has the proliferation of personal computers changed the way that you teach mathematical programming?
Vote now.
 
Results from last issue's poll:
Results from last poll 
Hidden INFORMS Benefit

INFORMS BenefitOne of INFORMS hidden benefits is savings on auto and home insurance through Liberty Mutual's Group Savings Plus program. Program features include:
  • Discount off Liberty Mutual's standard rates
  • Convenient payment options including electronic funds transfer or direct bill at home
  • Individualized service from local representatives
  • Guaranteed rates for 12 months
  • Highly rated, 24-hour claims service
For a free, no-obligation quote, please call 1-800-524-9400 or visit . Please refer to client number 112606.

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