(Cross-posted from Hyndsight)
We are currently calling for invited session proposals for the ISF to be held in Cairns, Australia, in June 2017.
An invited session consists of 3 or 4 talks around a specific forecasting theme. You are allowed to be one of the speakers in a session you organize (although it is not necessary). So if you know what you are planning to speak about, all you need to do is find 2 or 3 other speakers who will speak on something related, and invite them to join you. The length of all such invited talks will be about 20 minutes.
Invited sessions will be marked as such on the program and carry a slightly higher status than a contributed session. Unfortunately, we can’t offer any financial support for these invited speakers or session organizers.
If you are interested in organizing an invited session, please contact us with your topic. The deadline for proposals is 28 February 2017. We don’t need to know who will speak at it — you have a few months to find willing participants after you agree to organize a session.
The ISF is a little different from most academic conferences in that about 1/3 of the attendees are practitioners, and 2/3 are academics. Consequently, we are not only interested in traditional academic sessions, but also in talks from company-based forecasters describing the forecasting challenges they face, and hopefully some of the solutions.
See https://isf.forecasters.org for more information about the conference, and the location. Cairns is one of the most beautiful places in Australia, and very close to the Great Barrier Reef. June is also the best time to visit the area, as it is during the dry season with moderate temperatures and lots of sunshine. We are hoping that people attending the conference will choose to have a holiday in the region as well.