[agents] Call for Bids to Host AAMAS-2019

[Ulle Endriss]

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CALL FOR BIDS TO HOST AAMAS-2019
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This is a call for bids to host the 18th International Conference on
Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS) in 2019. We will
consider bids from all geographical regions; however, for 2019 we
particularly encourage bids from North America.

Bids should be made by individuals or small groups, with the backing
of a host institution (typically a university or research center).
Please note that we seek bids from volunteers from the scientific
community, though they may be supported by paid meeting professionals.

All correspondence regarding bids should be directed by to the chair of
the IFAAMAS Conference Committee, Ulle Endriss (ulle.endriss at uva.nl).
You are strongly encouraged to get in touch well before the deadline
and before drafting a full proposal, to let us know of your intention
to submit a bid and to discuss any questions you may have.

The deadline for submitting a bid is *30 November 2016*.

For information on IFAAMAS, please refer to http://www.ifaamas.org/.

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BACKGROUND
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The initial AAMAS conference was held in July 2002 in Bologna, Italy,
as a joint event comprising the 6th International Conference on
Autonomous Agents (AA), the 5th International Conference on Multiagent
Systems (ICMAS), and the 9th International Workshop on Agent Theories,
Architectures, and Languages (ATAL).

Subsequent AAMAS conferences have been held in Melbourne, Australia
(July 2003); New York City, NY, USA (July 2004); Utrecht, The
Netherlands (July 2005); Hakodate, Japan (May 2006); Honolulu, Hawaii,
USA (May 2007); Estoril, Portugal (May 2008); Budapest, Hungary
(May2009); Toronto, Canada (May 2010); Taipei, Taiwan (May 2011);
Valencia, Spain (June 2012); Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA (May 2013);
Paris, France (May 2014); Istanbul, Turkey (May 2015); and Singapore
(May 2016). AAMAS-2017 will be held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and
AAMAS-2018 will be held in Stockholm, Sweden.

AAMAS is firmly established as the largest and most influential
conference in the area of autonomous agents and multiagent systems,
routinely attracting several hundreds of participants. The conferences
include a variety of activities, such as plenary keynote talks,
parallel sessions with contributed talks, poster sessions, associated
workshops, tutorials, and social events.

AAMAS is the flagship conference of the non-profit International
Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (IFAAMAS);
the Foundation's website provides links to the past conferences.
The Foundation's Board of Directors is elected by the AAMAS research
community, membership in which is defined on the basis of attendance
at AAMAS conferences.

IFAAMAS underwrites the conference. The IFAAMAS Board can provide
advance payments as might be necessary for booking venues. The Board
seeks neither to obtain a surplus nor a deficit, but wishes to
shepherd the community's funds with the best care.

The Board has well-defined processes not only for selecting conference
hosting bids, but also for nominating and selecting general and
program chairs. The general chairs fill out the remaining organizing
committee positions. Those wishing to participate in an AAMAS
conference in any capacity should contact a Board member for advice.

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CONSTRAINTS ON TIMING AND SIZE
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Regarding timing, the Board has a strong preference for May 2019. Based
on past experience and trends, we expect the attendance of AAMAS-2019
to be between 600 and 800 people. Plenary sessions need to be scheduled
in a sufficiently large hall.

In recent years, AAMAS has included the following components:

* a main conference program of 2.5-3 days (Wednesday to Friday), incl.:
   o 6 parallel presentation sessions
   o poster sessions with up to 180 posters at a time
   o an opening reception with an entertainment program
   o a banquet including an entertainment program and awards ceremonies
* a pre-conference program of two days (Monday and Tuesday) consisting
   of several workshops and requiring around 20 rooms.

Hosts can sometimes lower expenses by using university facilities for
the pre-conference programs, even in case this is not possible for the
main conference. This is strongly encouraged whenever possible.

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BID CONTENT AND PURPOSE
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Bids are geared towards determination of responsibility for local
arrangements and designation of a Local Arrangements Chair. Bids will
be reviewed by the IFAAMAS Conference Committee and Board.

A bid should consist of a short statement that explains why you meet
the criteria listed below. A bid should include estimates of the
following expenses:

* charges for the conference venue
* charges for food and drinks (coffee, lunches, reception, banquet)
   for 700 attendees
* typical hotel and student housing costs
* airfares from a few cities (Beijing, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, Moscow,
   New Delhi, New York, Sao Paulo, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Toronto)

To ease the work of the Conference Committee, please express all
prices mentioned in the bid in US dollars. Where applicable, please
also state the exchange rate used to translate from prices in the local
currency to dollars.

Each bid should identify the proposed team of organizers, and include
full contact details. The bid should be led by a member of the
scientific community (i.e., an active researcher in the field served
by AAMAS), who should remain available to respond to clarification
requests, which often come up during review.

The bid document submitted should not exceed 20 pages.

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CRITERIA FOR ASSESSING AAMAS BIDS
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The following criteria will be used for evaluation:

* Site Location: attractiveness to conference attendees, as well as
   those accompanying the attendees (i.e., nearby attractions, tours,
   restaurants, and night clubs). Will people *want* to attend?

* Transportation: location with respect to major air routes and local
   transportation (trains, buses, automobiles). Since AAMAS attracts
   world-wide participation, it is important that the venue be
   conveniently reachable for international attendees. Please include
   information on visa requirements and procedures.

* Affordability: will it be possible to contain the costs associated
   with the organization of the conference so as to be able to offer
   affordable registration fees to participants? Fees will be determined
   together with the IFAAMAS Board, but bidders may wish to indicate
   possible measures for containing costs already at the proposal stage.
   Please include an estimate of regular and student registration fees.

* Dates: relation to possibly conflicting special or local holidays;
   to conflicting or synergistic conventions or special events at the
   same time or immediately before or after the conference.

* Climate and Season: particularly as these factors affect (1) the
   availability of rooms and rate structure (and provide some
   negotiating edge with the hotels); and (2) attendance by the local
   community.

* Facilities: quantity, quality, flexibility, availability of meeting
   rooms, meeting support services, and exhibition hall. This factor is
   linked to the choice of accommodation, as it may be desirable to
   co-locate meeting facilities and accommodation. Please include
   preliminary information regarding any space and equipment rental fees
   that may be incurred by the conference.

* Accommodation: ability to accommodate the anticipated numbers of
   conference attendees, with a range of income levels. In other words,
   accommodation options should range from business or luxury hotels to
   student housing. Please include ballpark figures for hotel room rates.

* Experience: ability of the local organizers in organizing and
   handling projects of comparable size and complexity. The use of a
   professional conference organization company may be included as part
   of the bid, with associated estimated costs, benefits and suitability.

* Supporting Scientific Community: the presence of regional and
   local research communities to support the conference and which will
   benefit from its occurrence. Interest of the community in hosting
   or supporting synergistic co-located conferences. Since the AAMAS
   area touches upon several other areas, it may be worth exploiting
   synergies by co-locating with related events.

* Backing of Host Institution: does the organizers' institution
   support the conference? Host institutions sometimes can provide
   free or low-cost facilities for the entire conference or for the
   pre-conference program. They can loan equipment such as projectors
   and wireless routers. They can provide access to their housing
   facilities. The use of institutional facilities or equipment might
   constrain the schedule, but that might be a worthwhile trade-off.

* Supporting Local Industry: is there local or national industry that
   may be willing to support the conference in some way? Please estimate
   how many participants the conference would attract from the local
   industry.

* Supporting Local Government: is there a government agency, such as
   a Ministry of Science or a Ministry of Tourism, that may be willing
   to support the conference in some way?

* Volunteer Labor: availability of an active local group willing to
   help out before, during, and after the conference.

* Special Needs Arrangements: ability to accommodate various special
   needs of participants, including dietary restrictions (e.g., Kosher,
   Halal, vegetarian, vegan) and physical disabilities (e.g., wheelchair
   access, facilities for individuals with hearing/visual impairments).

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-- 
Ulle Endriss         http://www.illc.uva.nl/~ulle/
Institute for Logic, Language & Computation (ILLC)
University of Amsterdam    Tel: +31 (0)20 525 6511
Postbus 94242              Fax: +31 (0)20 525 5206
1090 GE Amsterdam (NL)     Email: u.endriss at uva.nl