David Banks, JSM 2020 Program Chair
As Futurama’s Professor Hubert Farnsworth says in his catchphrase announcement of potential disaster, “Good news, everyone! The JSM is going virtual.” But I think we can make it work.
I write this at the end of May to make the June 1 submission deadline for the July issue of Amstat News, so there are still details being sorted out by the amazing ASA staff. But there is no question this will be a different JSM experience than we have ever had, and all the program chairs are determined to make this the best experience we can possibly manage.
First, I am delighted to report that Nick Jewell of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the University of California, Berkeley and Britta Jewell of Imperial College have agreed to give a father-daughter public lecture that will be open to the world. Their topic is the epidemiology of the coronavirus outbreak and its likely social and economic impacts.
Second, we shall have an invited session that honors the 100th birthday of C. R. Rao. The speakers are Sir David Cox (Oxford), Brad Efron (Stanford), and Don Rubin (Harvard, Temple University, and Tsinghua University). There is a possibility Rao will participate, as well.
Third, I am pleased to announce there will be three late-breaking sessions. One will be a panel discussion on COVID-19 by Susan Ellenberg (University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine), Tom Fleming (University of Washington), Dean Follman (National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Disease), Elizabeth Halloran (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington), Andrew Lawson (Medical University of South Carolina), Dionne Price (US Food and Drug Administration), and Lance Waller (Emory University Rollins School of Public Health).
Another late-breaking session was organized by Sir Bernard Silverman (Oxford University) regarding a National Academies panel report that appeared this year on statistical methods to estimate the amount, kind, and location of human trafficking. The third late-breaking session was organized by Eric Kolaczyk (Boston University) to showcase a recently completed National Academies report on data science education.
Normally, JSM has only two late-breaking sessions, but the Committee on Meetings was comfortable approving three given the strength of the three proposals and going virtual this year.
Sadly, we shall have three memorial sessions for four distinguished statisticians. One is for David Wallace (The University of Chicago); one is for Cliff Spiegelman (Texas A&M); and one is a shared session for two eminent British researchers in survey methodology, Chris Skinner (London School of Economics) and Fred T. M. F. Smith (University of Southampton).
Now, let me provide a brief layout of the current thinking about the mechanics of a virtual JSM. The meeting will be held Sunday through Thursday, August 2–6. Sunday will start with an orientation to the virtual meeting platform, an orientation for first-time attendees, and invited posters. Monday through Thursday will begin at 9:45 a.m. EDT, and there will be program bands with parallel or plenary sessions from 10:00 a.m. to noon, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., and 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Bear in mind that details may change as planning evolves, but the present plan is invited and topic-contributed sessions will be live and recorded. Registrants will have access to all recorded sessions until the end of August, so one benefit of this crisis is people will be able to hear more talks and there will be no “conflicts of interest” when sessions on similar topics are scheduled for the same time band.
Speakers in contributed sessions will prerecord their talks using the communications platform the ASA used for the Symposium on Data Science and Statistics in June and their talks will be posted and available until August 31, as well.
Poster presenters will also upload presentations in advance with the option to include an oral component walking people through the details. These recordings will be available through August 31.
For both contributed papers and posters, attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions for discussion throughout JSM, and presenters will be assigned specific times to be available to respond.
We are also working to craft activities that will mimic some of the JSM social experience. I don’t think we can replicate it perfectly. For me, it feels as though I take 10 steps at JSM, see someone I taught, who taught me, with whom I worked, with whom I co-authored, or whose wedding I attended and we have a sincerely meaningful and heartfelt conversation that lasts about two minutes. Then, I take 10 more steps and repeat. It is exhausting and exhilarating, but it is probably not the most rewarding kind of socialization. So, I strongly encourage everyone to start thinking about making personal, prearranged Zoom or Skype meetings with friends to catch up. And I hope the officers of ASA sections who want to hold receptions will make similar arrangements (officers should contact the ASA Meetings Department if they don’t have convenient access or home bandwidth to set that up).
The ASA staff plans to hold JSM functions such as the First-Time Attendee Orientation, the Student Mixer, and the Opening Mixer. I don’t think we can do the JSM Dance Party, but since people laugh when I dance, I’m more relieved than regretful.
The JSM EXPO will also be available virtually, with familiar companies and new vendors all supporting the meeting and available each day for your questions. The Career Service will be entirely online and run concurrently with JSM. It is a launching point for employers and applicants to connect. Registered employers have access to an online search and all candidate information. Most regularly held committee meetings or section business meetings will be scheduled outside of JSM.
Chef Paul Prudhomme was once asked by a dieter about low-fat replacements for butter. He scoffed at the idea and said something like, “There is no replacement for butter. Do something different!” In that spirit, don’t expect this JSM to simulate the in-person experience. It will be different, and some of it can be much better. Without hotels and airfare and with a reduced registration fee, this will be much less expensive in terms of both money and time. Without travel, it will be much kinder to the environment.
Looking ahead, I predict nearly all large scientific conferences will offer the option of virtual participation. Aging academics like to sleep in their own beds and avoid the exigencies of travel. Statisticians from smaller companies, agencies, and colleges will appreciate the affordability. And everyone will be glad to recover more personal time and have a lighter carbon footprint. If we learn to do this well, there will be many upsides.
Resources:
- Online Program
- Schedule at a Glance
- Follow #JSM2020 on Twitter for updates and announcements.
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