Why get the IMA to run your Conference?

So it's finally decided: BURPS '07 will be run as a 3-day residential conference 'on campus' at the University of Edchester in the Autumn of 2007.

The Mathematics Department is abuzz with excitement. Who will the conference committee chair be? Will the Conference Banquet be at that pole-dancing club again? Will Professor Bibulous from Toper University drink too much and disgrace himself for the third time running? Who will create the conference budget and run all the finances? How awkward will the Edchester University Conference Office be this time? Who will manage the call for papers and delegate registration? Who will process and collate all the selected abstracts and get a Conference Digest Printed? Who will manage publicity, create a conference web site and keep the web pages up to date? Who will send formal invitations to all the invited speakers? Who will arrange the accommodation and catering facilities for all the delegates? Who will book all the necessary lecture theatres and audio-visual facilities? More importantly, how many organising committee members' marriages will be ruined by the extra work that running such a prestigious international conference will inevitably entail?

Actually, there is an alternative. Instead of doing all the administration, documentation and financial work yourself, leaving your poor students to revise for their exams alone and feigning amazement when your long-suffering partner appears less than enthusiastic about coming on the "conference trip" to the local Science Park to witness the enthralling history of adding machines - why not arrange for the IMA to manage all the 'domestic stuff' leaving you to concentrate on setting up the scientific programme schedule, selecting the conference abstracts and choosing those world-class international keynote speakers.

As a professional and learned society the IMA organises 8 to 10 residential, campus-based conferences each year throughout the UK, to promote and advance the understanding of Mathematics and its Applications. Whilst some conference themes have become regular biennial or triennial events such as Mathematics of Surfaces, or Cryptography and Coding, many popular new subject areas are emerging such as Vision, Video and Graphics, Modelling in the Management of Healthcare and The Use and Control of Chaos. The IMA supports and encourages conference development in all such areas.

So what exactly can the IMA do for you? Of course, you will still need to have your own Scientific Committee to structure and organise the Science part of the conference and to peer review the abstracts. Apart from this, though, the IMA can work in collaboration with you and your scientific committee to plan, budget for and run your conference. In summary the IMA can:

Set up and maintain conference web pages and issue the call for papers
Set reasonable conference fees and underwrite the conference finances
Sponsor your invited keynote speakers from the UK, Europe and RoW
Arrange all necessary room hire, lecture theatre(s) and audio visual facilities
Administer the conference (registration, invoicing, catering, accommodation)
Distribute travel information and joining instructions to all delegates
Create a Pre-Conference Digest and/or Publish Post-Conference Proceedings
Host the conference in a nearby University or campus
Set up a help-desk on-site with IMA staff 'to hand' throughout the conference
Administer settlement of all invoices and expenses after the conference
Publish a conference report in the IMA members' publication Mathematics Today

In short, arranging for the IMA to run your conference leaves you to get on with the bit that you're probably most interested in namely, the selection and presentation of peer reviewed papers across the whole spectrum of study and application by delegates at all levels of knowledge and expertise including research students, seasoned practitioners, researchers and world-class authorities in the chosen field.

The IMA has a full-time Conference Department with a proven track record of organising successful conferences ranging in size from 40 to 200 delegates and from one to five days in duration. IMA Conferences are typically run at selected UK Universities with delegates 'on campus' during the Summer, Easter/Spring and Christmas vacations. They therefore offer a combination of pleasant surroundings, professional conference facilities and reasonably priced student accommodation and catering provision for all delegates and invited speakers, with no financial risks for you or the organising committee to deal with.

As a business-aware person, you are probably wondering where the catch is. What do the IMA get out of this and how will it affect the finances of the conference that you want to run? The IMA's position on this is clear: The objective is to run 8-10 conferences per annum on an overall cost-neutral basis. Actually it doesn't normally work out that way, as the IMA rarely manages to completely cover its costs and overheads. Typically the IMA ends up subsidising each conference by a small amount, but since this is a service that is provided "for the good of Mathematics and the Mathematics Community as a whole" (rather than as a profit-making activity) the official IMA position is that this is not a problem.

As far as budgeting is concerned, the IMA will suggest a set conference fee per-delegate for their services. The fee structure proposed will depend on the duration of the conference and is clearly set out in The IMA Guide to Conference Organisers made available to all organising committees once the basic agreement is established. Then the variable costs such as accommodation, catering and room hire will be factored in, the number of delegates expected will be used to set the accommodation charges per capita and then an overall conference price table will be derived for publication on the web site and inclusion on the IMA registration and application forms. A three-tiered conference fee pricing structure is applied such that students pay the lowest fees, IMA Members pay a reduced fee and non-IMA Members pay the full fee. (But see note below for discounted membership application opportunity). Keynote invited speakers are of course charged no fees, receive free accommodation and catering and are offered a generous travel allowance at one of three levels according to whether they have to travel from within the UK, from Europe or from further abroad, covering the rest of the world. The long experience that the IMA Conference Department brings with it means that efficiency gains are certain compared to managing it all yourself, so that the IMA conference fee charged is relatively low and results in overall charges per capita that are very reasonable. It's also normally possible for the IMA to arrange some additional external industrial sponsorship or other third-party funding such that attendance costs can be kept to a minimum for delegates without independent means (such as PhD students).

In case you're still not sure that you might want the IMA to have a role to play in your conference, here's one final, more strategic thought: the UK research community is about to move into the brave new world of FEC (Full Economic Costing of research). The chronic "overtrading" that has made stressed-out workaholic wrecks out of so many academics has, for the first time in many years, some prospect of ending. Bearing this all in mind, when you organise BURPS '07 which do you think will be the most professional course of action?

a) Try to keep costs down to an absolute minimum for your delegates. Organise and manage everything yourself. Make the tea and coffee using your own kettle and save on campus staff costs by running a late bar yourself every night. Organise the conference secretariat from your front room at home and type and photocopy all the Proceedings yourself. They'll be so grateful to have saved maybe thirty quid that they'll come and visit you after your nervous breakdown.

b) Involve the IMA. Your delegates may pay slightly more in conference fees (though PhD students probably won't) but you will get a professionally-run, stress-free conference as a result. Your most pressing duties will be to decide on the conference programme schedule, arrange for the abstracts to be reviewed, select and establish the availability of suitable keynote speakers and decide who joins you at the top table for the banquet.

If you are interested in inviting the IMA to run your next mathematical conference or wish to suggest a conference topic then please contact Lizzi Lake, IMA Conference Officer at conferences@ima.org.uk

Written for and on behalf of the IMA by
Professor Alistair Fitt, CMath, FIMA
Chair of the IMA Conference Programme Committee