SERVSIG held its first International Research Conference in 1999. The founding concept was that a different university would host the conference every two years. To ensure novel and fun service experiences, SERVSIG also promised that the conference would never repeat a city. The SERVSIG International Research Conference has taken place in wonderful places around the world like New Orleans, USA; Sydney, Australia; Reims, France; Singapore; Liverpool, UK; Porto, Portugal; Helsinki, Finland; Thessaloniki, Greece; Maastricht, Netherlands; Paris, France; and Glasgow, Scotland. The 2024 Conference is hosted by KEDGE Business School in Bordeaux, France.
SERVSIG seeks proposals to host the 14th SERVSIG conference in 2026. While the conferences have typically been held in late May or June, alternative months will be considered based on the location of the host school and other factors including the scheduling of other relevant conferences. SERVSIG always tries to avoid dates when other service conferences will occur.
These are some of the pertinent details that possible conference hosts would need to address in their proposal:
• Background – of the host school and host city.
• Conference Organization – Who would be the conference co-chairs and who would be the conference support staff? (conference coordinating committee is selected in consultation with the SERVSIG Co-Chairs.)
• Conference Facilities – These can be on-campus and off-campus.
• Suggested conference dates – Identify possible conference dates and provide justifications. The conference date will be decided in collaboration with the SERVSIG Co-Chairs.
• Attendee accessibility – Considerations of disabilities and special needs during conference sessions and social events.
• Conference Social Events – The conference is expected to start with a reception, and include a conference dinner and another social event on the following two conference evenings.
• Hotel Arrangements – What would be the primary conference hotel? What secondary hotels would be available? What would be the estimated prices?
• Travel Arrangements – What are the nearest international airports, train stations, etc.
• Summary of Projected Attendee Prices – Summarize the projected conference attendee prices for registration, hotel, travel, etc.
• Sightseeing Possibilities in Host City or Surrounding Area – Describe the city, the region, the country, special attractions, etc. and briefly explain what advantage(s) the host city has to host the SERVSIG Conference.
Possible conference hosts should contact SERVSIG Co-Chairs Sertan Kabadayi and Kristina Heinonen with their questions and inquiries to indicate their interest to host the 2026 conference.
All conference host proposals must be submitted by April 15, 2024. The decision on the 2026 SERVSIG conference host will be made May 15, 2024.
