David Banks, 2020 JSM Program Chair
Each JSM session needs a chair. The job includes contacting speakers with session information before JSM and introducing speakers and managing time during the session. The session chair position is a great way for new researchers to build a professional network and get involved with JSM (and one can mention this service on one’s CV). To volunteer, identify a section or society of interest and contact the program committee member.
I look forward to seeing all the statisticians and data scientists in Philadelphia next year at the 2020 Joint Statistical Meetings. The meeting theme, “Everyone Counts: Data for the Public Good,” underscores the positive and essential role of good data and good analysis in policymaking. Our profession’s leadership and participation are critical for our future, be it in business, government, or education. Statisticians have a direct responsibility to help make the world better.
The JSM 2020 Program Committee has finished with the hard task of selecting the invited sessions; we shall have nearly 200 of these. There is something there for everyone, and we had more highly qualified submissions than we could allocate. Some excellent proposals were not selected, but that is a much better problem than the converse. Some of the key themes include data science, big data, and ethical use of data. And the application areas are wonderfully broad, from astrostatistics to cybersecurity to genomics to forensic science to extreme weather events.
There are still opportunities to have stunningly good contributed sessions, as well as other opportunities to share your work. Contributed sessions, speed sessions, and poster sessions are all excellent ways to participate and let your teachers, students, and friends learn about your most recent achievements.
For years, JSM has been perfecting its culture of poster presentations. The 2019 meetings in Denver, with posters collocated with the EXPO, was outstanding. It created a busy and enticing atmosphere and drew larger crowds than I have seen at any previous JSM, so I strongly encourage everyone to consider presenting in a speed or poster session.
Three avenues for contributing to the JSM 2020 program are the following:
Contributed Sessions
The most common JSM session is a contributed session, which typically consists of seven participants, each speaking for 15 minutes. The brevity of these talks can create a high-energy experience, which is even more exciting when all the talks address features of the same application area or methodology.
Speed Sessions
Speed sessions are even more intense. They allow one to give an electronic poster (e-poster) presentation, which enables video and other special effects. Speed session presenters give a four-minute oral advertisement for a later poster presentation (think of it as a slow elevator pitch). These oral presentations are bundled in sets of 20, with a five-minute break in the middle. This is followed later by the e-poster phase, which lasts 45 minutes. We try hard to cluster speed session posters by topic to muster a large and focused audience.
Here are some tips, based on experience with previous speed sessions:
- The oral component should lure people. Don’t try to be too detailed. A touch of mystery can be attractive. Give the big picture view. And a little humor helps.
- E-posters can include software demonstrations, analysis animations, videos, and interactive statistical graphics or dashboards. Take advantage of the versatility of the medium. Don’t think in terms of a static poster. Be modern and daring.
- Note that you don’t need to pay for poster printing, nor do you have the hassle of transporting a poster in the overhead compartment of an airplane, when you participate in an e-poster session.
Poster Sessions
And we still have the traditional poster sessions, which display printed posters attached to backing boards at the designated site.
Elizabeth Mannshardt and Emily Griffith got the North Carolina Chapter to hold “recycled poster” sessions at various venues (mostly bars) in and around the Research Triangle. I mention this because everyone should have a poster ready to go; you never know when it will be handy. And it is a useful exercise to think about how best to frame one’s work within the constraints of a poster board.
Abstract Submission
To contribute to the JSM 2020 program in any of these three ways, submit an abstract and title online by February 4, 2020. For organizational reasons, speakers are required to register for JSM when they submit their abstracts. As part of that submission, speakers must also indicate the ASA section or JSM partner society most closely associated with the topic of their presentation. The system will be reopened for abstract editing from April 1–18, 2020.
JSM 2020 is a great opportunity to grow your career, meet leaders in the field, and find out where the profession is going. JSM’s success depends upon its participants. I am open to any feedback through email at dlbanks@duke.edu.
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