Call for hosting ISMIR future conferences
Since its
inception, ISMIR the International Conference (originally Symposium) on
Music Information Retrieval has grown tremendously both in contents and
attendance. ISMIR 2006 took place
at the University
of Victoria, British Columbia, ISMIR 2007 will take place in If you and
your institution are interested in arranging the conference, please read the
appendices, below, which give essential information about hosting ISMIR: some
approximate figures for previous conference costs, and a list of requirements
that candidate hosts will need to consider. Also read the "ISMIR
Conference Series Management Guide" (http://www.ismir.net/admin/ismir-booklet.pdf),
which provides more detailed guidelines on the conference setup and the responsibilities
of the hosting organization. The ISMIR
Steering Committee encourages colocating the
conference (i.e., holding it at a compatible place and date) with meetings of
learned societies or organizations that have interests in common with ISMIR,
provided the general structure of ISMIR is preserved. How
to submit We will
follow essentially the same procedure for deciding the host institution as we
have in previous years. We've tried to make the procedure as quick and easy
as possible for all concerned: (1) Interested
institutions must respond to the requirements listed in Appendix B with a
written proposal. These proposals can be very brief as well as informal; we'd
just like to know that the conditions described can be met. Please comment on
each of items a through j, and name the venue you would use. (2) Interested
institutions must submit a proposal, via e-mail to me <donbyrd@indiana.edu>. (3) A
member of the Steering Committee will speak to each group that submits a proposal
and will report back to the Committee. (4) We
will announce our final decision publicly (and we will notify applicants of
our decision just before announcing it). Committee members whose institutions
are among the candidates will not participate in the decision. Deadline
for proposals The deadline for proposals for hosting is 1 March of
the year preceding the conference. Thanks
for your interest in the ISMIR series. Don Byrd,
Michael Fingerhut and Kjell Lemstrom, Appendix A: Previous meeting descriptions and
costs
The 2000
and 2001 meetings lasted 2½ days, the ISMIR 2000
cost about $40,000 to put on, of which an NSF grant paid about $30,000, and
registration fees most of the rest. The hotel rate was about $97 a night,
including taxes. ISMIR 2001
cost about $37,000 to put on (including student travel awards and organizing
committee and invited speaker travel), of which an NSF grant funded
approximately $27,000 and registration fees the rest. The hotel rates were
about $84-$114, including taxes. Putting on
ISMIR 2002 cost considerably more, about 88,000. The increase in costs was
due mostly to the greater length of the conference and added activities as
compared to previous years. An NSF grant paid about $40,000 for travel
expenses for ISMIR 2003
cost about $81,000 (including organizing committee and invited speaker travel,
and invited speaker honoraria), of which about $78,000 was covered by grants
and registration fees. The hotel rate was about $180 a night, including
taxes. ISMIR 2004
cost about 57,000 to put on, of which 43,000 was covered by registration
fees. The accommodation rates were about from 55 (university residence) to
116 (a four-star hotel), including taxes. Note that
all the above figures are direct costs, and they do not include
salaries for the organization staff. Typically, a significant portion of the
budget has gone to pay travel for invited speakers from all over the world as
well as student stipends, plus travel, accommodations and registration for
the members of the Steering Committee. In 2001 and 2002, we had fewer invited
speakers than in 2000, but awarded many stipends for travel and so on (ISMIR
2000 had no stipends). Of course, if future ISMIRs
attract more people than previous ones, they may cost correspondingly more to
put on, but increased registration fees should more than make up for that. Another
major expense for the organizers is the printed proceedings. For
additional details, please see the "Music IR Conferences and Related
Activities" web site: http://www.ismir.net/
Appendix B: List of requirements
The
Steering Committee is planning to follow essentially the same procedure for deciding
the host institution as we did in the past. In their formal applications to
host an ISMIR conference, interested institutions will be asked to agree to
reserve a large number of rooms (see comment on the number below): (a) in
a suitable venue (hotel or other) for a meeting of 3 to 4 days; (b) at
a reasonable rate (see comment below); and (c) at an appropriate time
probably in October that doesn't conflict with other important meetings. You
can find information on the meetings we feel are most likely to be of
interest to people who might want to come to ISMIR at http://www.ismir.net/conferences/2004.html.
Note that this list was established for 2004; if you know of a relevant
meeting in 2006 that is not in the list, please report it to The host institution
will also have to: (d) agree
to reserve an adequate number of meeting rooms for the activities that can
accommodate a large enough number of people, specifically at least 200, plus
other meeting rooms as appropriate for parallel sessions, panels or
tutorials; and a suitable room for posters. Rooms should be within small
distance to allow for easy "hopping". Unless these rooms are very
close to the conference hotel, good transportation must be available between
the hotel and the meeting rooms. (e) agree to a
registration cost comparable to that of previous ISMIRs. (f) commit to
publishing and distributing the proceedings, as described in the ISMIR
Management Guide (especially Section 6). (g) describe resources
(funds, people, infrastructure, links to industry, special fund
possibilities, etc.) they can draw on to plan and organize the meeting. (h) list persons from their
organization who attended previous ISMIRs.
Continuity is important; an institution that had no one at a previous
conference is at a major disadvantage. (i) include events
like a welcome reception, a banquet, and appropriate social activities, as described
in the ISMIR Management Guide (especially Sections 4 and 7). (j) waive the
registration fee for members of the ISMIR Steering Committee. ISMIRs through 2004 also paid for accommodations and
travel for Steering Committee members who didn't have funding from their own
institutions. This would be helpful, but it is no longer required. A
"large number of rooms" depends on where
the conference would be. If it's to be in a small city with few hotels near
the conference site (like the 2001 conference in Bloomington, Indiana), the
number would be 120; if it's a large city with numerous nearby hotels (like
the 2002 conference, at IRCAM in Paris), a much smaller number would be
acceptable. We
generally consider a "reasonable rate" for hotel rooms to be a rate
not much above the previous year's. However, the
rate in 2003 was much higher than in 2002. This seemed to be unavoidable
because of the costs of hotels in the |