Sponsors

We are most grateful for the financial support we have received from ILOG Australia, Dalton-Yee Strategy Consulting, Orbit Systems, Hoare Research Software, Paragon Decision Technology and The Optima Corporation. We also acknowledge the generous support we have received from Victoria University of Wellington.

The Hosts

The Wellington Branch of the ORSNZ and Victoria University of Wellington are pleased to host the 43rd Annual Conference of the Operational Research Society of New Zealand, ORSNZ'08, on Monday 24th and Tuesday 25th of November 2008 (with the conference banquet on Monday 24th November).

Registration and Fees

The conference fee includes lunch, morning and afternoon tea, a copy of the proceedings volume and a banquet ticket. (The student registration does not include a banquet ticket unless the student is speaking at the conference.) Refund of paid fees is only possible by notice in writing or by email before 15 November.

Free Registration and Membership for Students and New Graduates
Full-time students (students studying full time at a New Zealand university) and recent graduates (students who studied full time during the previous calendar year and are now resident in New Zealand) who present at the conference will have their conference fee waived. They will also receive a complimentary one-year student member subscription to the Society.

Due to some fantastic sponsorship, we have been able to keep the conference fees very low this year.

Conference fees are as follows:

• ORSNZ member NZ$200 (student NZ$60)
• Non-member NZ$270 (student NZ$80)
• Discount for registration before November 16 NZ$30 (student $10)

Membership fees for the society are currently NZ$70 (student NZ$15) per annum.

Abstract and Paper Submission

We welcome papers on all aspects of operations research, with particular emphasis on practical applications. Abstracts should be 200 words or fewer and are to be submitted by email to the conference organisers at [email protected]. See the Call for Papers.

Following acceptance of your abstract, we will invite you to submit a full length paper or extended abstract and presentation slides for publication in the conference proceedings.

Guidelines for preparation of the final papers are available for both Word and Latex. There is a 10 page limit for full papers. Please download the Word Guidelines Document if you want to prepare your paper using Word. For Latex users we have prepared a style file and sample document. It is in this Latex Guidelines archive, which includes some necessary style files. Please refer to the README.txt file for installation instructions. There is also a simpler sample LaTeX file available that does not require installing style files.

Extended abstracts should follow a similar style to the full papers but with a 3 page limit. You may find Fritz Raffensperger's excellent Powerpoint guidelines useful in preparing your presentation slides.

Presentation slides will be required as a PowerPoint presentation or in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. Full papers and extended abstracts will be required in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format (Visit http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/ or http://www.ps2pdf.com/ for free PDF creation services.)

Submission deadline for Abstracts: 1 October 2008 Extended until 8 October 2008
Submission deadline for Papers: 31 October 2008 Extended until 6 November 2008

Speaker Guidelines

Presenters for the contributed sessions are allocated 20 minutes, which includes questions and time for the change-over of speakers. The Young Practitioner Prize entrants have 15 minutes for their talk, and then there will be three minutes available between talks for questions and speaker change-over.

Windows XP computers with the latest versions of PowerPoint and Adobe Acrobat Reader will be available for presentations (as will overhead projectors). Speakers can email their presentations to [email protected] before the conference or bring them along. Please make a time before your talk to ensure your talk is set-up ready to go. It is possible to accommodate laptops if needed.

Student Travel Assistance

Full-time students studying at a New Zealand university, who are members of ORSNZ, and will be presenting a paper at the ORSNZ conference, are eligible for travel assistance from ORSNZ to attend the conference. You will need to confirm your student status. Students seeking support must have registered and paid for the conference by 31 October 2008. Grants are only valid for travel within New Zealand and will be payable either before or at the conference upon production of a GST receipt/tax invoice for the travel expenses.

Dalton-Yee Strategy Consulting Young Practitioners' Prize (YPP)

OR practitioners and students who will be under 30 years of age on 24 November 2008 are invited to compete for the ORSNZ Young Practitioners' Prize. Condition for entry is the presentation of a paper at the 43rd Annual Conference of the ORSNZ. When registering for the conference, competitors should request that their paper be scheduled in the YPP session and must provide proof of their eligibility. The total prize money awarded will be $1,000, split between the authors of the best papers at the judges' discretion. Click here for more details, including a list of past prize winners. The YPP is proudly sponsored by Dalton-Yee Strategy Consulting.

Conference Committee

Mark Johnston, Stefanka Chukova, John Haywood, Tony Vignaux, Ginny Whatarau.