The INFORMS Service Science section and the American Marketing Association’s Service Special Interest Group (SERVSIG) welcome proposals to host the 28th Annual Frontiers in Service Conference in 2019. At this point we just need an initial expression of interest, including the proposed venue, proposed conference co-chairs, and a brief summary of the institution’s and chairs’ past experience in hosting conferences. A more detailed proposal will be solicited later from a select group of applicants. The conference will likely be held in late June or early July of 2019, although there is some flexibility as to timing. The conference has been held in many different countries around the world, but we anticipate that the 2019 conference will most likely be held in either Asia or Latin America (with Europe being an outside possibility). The Frontiers Conference is the world’s leading annual service research conference, and annually draws 200-300 attendees from 30-40 countries. Presenting at the Frontiers Conference is highly selective, with only about half of all submissions being accepted. The conference draws a lively mix of academics and practitioners, from a variety of backgrounds and functional disciplines. The conference is sponsored by INFORMS, the AMA, and the University of Maryland’s Center for Excellence in Service. The conference also typically has corporate and/or governmental sponsors–e.g., IBM has been a sponsor of many Frontiers Conferences. For more information about the upcoming Frontiers in Service Conference, scheduled for Bergen, Norway in June, see http://www.frontiers2016.no/.
To express interest or to get more information about hosting the 2019 conference, please contact Roland Rust at rrust@rhsmith.umd.edu. We would like to receive initial expressions of interest by May 31. For more information about the INFORMS Service Science Section, please contact Tor Andreassen at tor.andreassen@nhh.no, and for more information about AMA SERVSIG please contact Werner Kunz at werner.kunz@umb.edu.
Roland T. Rust
