Nicole Lazar, JSM 2021 Program Chair

Nicole Lazar

With this year’s JSM just around the (virtual) corner, it’s already time to start thinking about and planning for JSM 2021, which will be held August 7–12 in Seattle, Washington. If you were at JSM in 2015, which was also held in Seattle, you will remember the beauty of the location, the fine dining, the Pike Place Market, and—of course—the coffee!

ASA President-elect Rob Santos has chosen the theme “Statistics, Data, and the Stories They Tell” for the 2021 meeting. This theme emphasizes the importance of our field in understanding the world around us. Sessions relating to the theme are especially welcome.

The program committee is soliciting proposals for invited sessions to showcase some of the most innovative, impactful, and cutting-edge work in our profession. Invited sessions include invited papers, panels, and posters. Invited paper sessions consist of 2–6 speakers and discussants reporting new discoveries or advances in a common topic; invited panels include 3–6 panelists providing commentary, discussion, and engaging debate on a particular topic of contemporary interest; and invited posters consist of up to 40 electronic posters presented during the Opening Mixer.

As JSM continues to increase in size, the number of invited sessions is limited, meaning competition is strong. The ideal session involves fresh, important work that many JSM attendees will find interesting. Many of the most stimulating sessions present diverse viewpoints and strategies on a common topic or problem, with speakers coming from different institutions or practices. Take the time to identify an appealing topic and provide a stimulating session description; if your proposal enters the selection competition, you want it to be interesting to the program committee members who will be making the final decisions.

An invited session proposal should include a session title, general description of the session, list of participants, and tentative presentation titles (these can be modified later). The invited session submission period is July 16 to September 8, 2020. When planning an invited session, note that JSM has strict guidelines for participation. In particular, make sure none of your potential speakers is committed to multiple invited proposals.

Session proposals must be submitted via the JSM online system, indicating type of session and proposed sponsor. Even if you have communicated with a session or society representative on the program committee, you need to submit via the online system, as that is the only way to guarantee your proposal is considered. The invited session proposal form allows each proposal to select up to three sponsors in ranked order.

Choosing more than one sponsor ensures a worthy proposal is considered by other sponsors if it is not selected by its designated primary sponsor. Before submitting your proposal, you are encouraged to contact members of the program committee representing your chosen sponsors to see if they are willing to sponsor your proposal (see the program committee listing). If you are a member of an ASA section or another sponsoring society, going through the corresponding representative is often a good way to proceed. They may accept the session outright for one of their allocated spots, or they may enter it into the general competition in which selection is decided by a consensus vote of the entire program committee. In either case, only sessions submitted via the online system will be considered. Decisions about the invited program will be made by the end of September. It is helpful to contact program committee members well ahead of the September 8 deadline.

If you have ideas for invited papers or panels, but are unsure which sponsor to choose, you may contact me. I am happy to help steer your proposal to appropriate program committee members for consideration.

An invited poster session consisting of up to 40 electronic posters will take place during the Opening Mixer on Sunday night of JSM. Presenters in this session have access to a monitor, rather than a traditional poster board, that provides a unique opportunity to interact one-on-one with other researchers. Ideas for invited posters should be sent to Ana-Maria Staicu of North Carolina State University, who is associate chair for invited and contributed posters.

I would also appreciate receiving suggestions for topics or speakers for introductory overview lectures (IOLs), which are high-quality introductions to timely and important statistical topics of interest to a wide range of JSM attendees. In some cases, IOLs present material from rapidly developing areas of methodology or applications. In other cases, IOLs introduce important and challenging statistical topics that are relatively mature, but may not be well-known outside of a specialist group. In all cases, IOL topics are selected because of their potential to enrich the future directions of statistical theory and practice through broader dissemination. Note that IOL speakers can also present an invited or contributed paper, panel, or poster.

Finally, there is a limited number of memorial sessions planned at each JSM. For 2021, there are five allocated slots for memorial sessions. Proposals should be submitted through the online invited session system (choose memorial session as sponsor). By doing so by the September 8 deadline, you can select other potential sponsors in case they would want to choose that session. In any case, I invite you to contact me if you are planning to submit a memorial session. Unless the session is selected by an organization or ASA section in September, decisions about memorial sessions will be made in the fall.

On behalf of all program committee members, I thank you in advance for your participation and efforts in making JSM 2021 a great success. I look forward to seeing you next summer in Seattle!