JSM 2012 Call for Contributed Abstracts


Posted: 1/17/2012
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JSM 2012: Call for Contributed Abstracts

1 December 2011
AMSTATNews

Steve MacEachern, 2012 JSM Program Chair

To provide the best and most cohesive program possible, speakers must register for JSM when they submit an abstract.

The 2012 Joint Statistical Meetings will take place at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California, from July 28 through August 2. A large crowd is expected, so make your flight and hotel reservations early. I encourage you to participate fully in the meetings, not only by attending talks, visiting the poster presentations, and joining continuing education courses and mixers, but also by presenting your own work.

The theme for the meeting, laid out by ASA President-elect Bob Rodriguez, is “Statistics: Growing to Serve a Data-Dependent Society.” The theme covers the myriad ways in which our discipline is contributing to society, be it the growth of interdisciplinary work, the growth in statistics (powered by advances in computing technology) as a problemsolving technology, the growth in the profession through the activities of our societies, or our own growth as individuals. Members of the program committee have put together an invited program consisting of 157 sessions. You will be sure to find many fun and interesting activities at JSM, no matter what your interests are and whether your home is in industry, government, or academia.

The next stage of preparation for JSM involves building the contributed program. One particularly delightful aspect of statistics is the egalitarian nature of the field, reflected at JSM in the right of every participant to present their work. There are many ways to convey your effort, ranging from the traditional talk to presentation of a poster.

Poster Sessions

Presentation of a poster is a terrific way to participate in the meeting, and I encourage you to consider this format. A poster affords you and your audience the chance to have a conversation about the work, making for a much more personal experience. In San Diego, the posters will be located near the exhibits, so there should be a lot of walk-by traffic in addition to those stopping by just to see your poster.

Topic-Contributed Sessions

I especially encourage you to consider organizing or presenting in a topic-contributed paper session. Such a session is organized around a common theme and includes five participants. The session can entail five papers, four papers with discussant, or three papers with two discussants. Topic-contributed sessions have several advantages over (regular) contributed sessions:

  • They provide a more cohesive set of papers with a common theme
  • They are limited to five participants, rather than seven
  • They allow more time for each speaker to present, up to 20 minutes each
  • They are labeled as topic-contributed in the program, providing more visibility and attracting larger audiences

Topic-contributed sessions require more work up front, because the organizer has to select a theme, invite speakers, and secure commitments prior to February 1, 2012. But this up-front work is worth the effort, because it typically results in a high-quality session that is informative and enjoyable for presenters and attendees alike. If you have an idea for a topic-contributed session, contact a member of the program committee to discuss it. A listing of committee members and their contact information can be found on the JSM website.

Contributed Sessions

An alternative to topic-contributed sessions are contributed sessions. These do not involve the up-front planning that characterizes topic-contributed sessions. To present a contributed paper, you simply have to submit a title and abstract, along with an indication of which ASA section is most closely associated with the topic of your paper. These sessions consist of seven papers, each presented in 15 minutes.

Abstract Submission

The online abstract submission system will close on February 1, 2012. The closing deadline is firm, so please submit you abstract early. The system will reopen for editing your abstract from March 29 to April 18, 2012.

Session Chairs

One final request: All JSM sessions need a chair to ensure speakers are well-informed about the session ahead of time and to manage the session by introducing speakers, holding them to their time limits, and taking questions from the audience. Chairing a session is a great way to get involved with JSM, especially for those of you new to the profession and JSM. Please consider volunteering to chair a session by contacting a member of the program committee.