Philadelphia meeting offers analytics, education & networking

The 2015 INFORMS Annual Meeting will be held Nov. 1-4 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center and Philadelphia Marriott Downtown hotel. The conference will include an “Analytics Practice Meeting Within a Meeting,” featuring industry-oriented sessions, many of them organized by the Analytics Section of INFORMS. Other highlights include presentations by finalists for the Daniel H. Wagner Prize for Excellence in O.R. Practice and the INFORMS Prize for Effective Integration in Organizations, as well as a panel discussion on the industry job search.

In addition, the Analytics Section of INFORMS will hold a “Meet and Greet” reception on Monday, Nov. 2, from 6:15-7:15 p.m., and Analytics magazine readers are invited to meet with Analytics Section officers at the conference to receive one-on-one or small-group consulting. For details, email [email protected].

Throughout the conference, an impressive list of plenary and keynote speakers will deliver talks from a wide variety of application areas, including data sciences, healthcare, energy, security, service systems, logistics, the environment and more. Margaret Brandeau of Stanford University, Michael Jordan of U.C. Berkeley, Bill Rouse of Stevens Institute of Technology and Alfred Spector of Google will deliver plenary presentations.

The meeting will offer not only educational opportunities but also several networking opportunities. The Welcome Reception will be held on Sunday evening (Nov. 1), subdivision meetings will be held predominantly on Monday evening (Nov. 2) and the General Reception will be held Tuesday evening (Nov. 3). The Career Fair will provide an opportunity to meet and collect resumes from many job seekers and the ability to set up private interviews.

The city of Philadelphia is known for its arts, culture and history. It has more outdoor sculptures and murals than any other American city and is home to one of the largest art museums in the United States, the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia is also the home to 67 National Historic Landmarks, including Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.

The Reading Terminal Market, a historic public market that offers everything from locally grown produce to table linens, occupies the ground floor of the center. There are a wide variety of restaurants in the area surrounding the Convention Center and conference hotels. A tour of Boathouse Sports will highlight the diversity, creativity and productivity that this leader in customer performance apparel is known for.

The convention center and conference hotel are located just 10 miles from Philadelphia International Airport and easily accessible by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.

For more information regarding the 2015 INFORMS Annual Meeting, visit http://meetings2.informs.org/philadelphia/.