System Dynamics Conferences: Summer 96

["Robert J. Glitz"]

Okay community, heres a brain tickler...

By the contents of my mailbox last week, I see that there are at least three
major System Dynamics conferences this summer:
1. The Power of Systems Thinking conference in June (Boston)
2. The SDEP conference the third week in July (Near Boston)
3. The System Dynamics Society international conference the fourth
week in July (also Boston).

[Hosts note: Conference 2 was scheduled to just procede 3 so that people
could, if they wanted, easily attend both]

Much as Id like to use up my entire travel budget attending all three, my
leaders wouldnt like that idea.

Im looking for suggestions on which ones have been the most popular/helpful
to list members in the past and which this summer have the best speakers and
sessions.

BTW, Im more the practitioner than academic and more the project manager
than ops researcher or modeler. We are using SD for strategic planning,
business redesign, and decision support within a DoD component and we have
recently switched over to the use of Powersim as tool of choice. We (our
contractor of choice and ourselves) are also heavily "into" electronic
facilitation tools (Groupsystems V and Questmap)as a means of accelerating
the learning by modeling process. Presently, we are looking for means to
extend our modeling and simulation reach out of the session room and across
the country via the WWW. (Personally, I also have an interest in attempting
to introduce SD into my childrens school, but I cant make that a decision
factor in spending corporate funds.)

So, which conference should I hit? (Or can I make a good case to go to more
than one!?)

Thanks for your replies.

RJ Glitz, LtCol, USAF
rglitz@erols.com

ps. for those looking to increase message flow on this list, feedback from
conference sessions might be a good starting point.

[jsterman@MIT.EDU (John Sterman)]

Which system dynamics conference to go to this summer?

All three; but if you have to choose, here is one persons biased answer
(In the interest of full disclosure, I am presenting at all three and am
the program co-chair for the International System Dynamics Conference
from July 21-25).

1. The Power of ST conference is aimed at practitioners. There will be
a many presentations by consultants, along with presentations by
practitioners about the work they have done. Relatively few academics
will present or attend. The best forum to see what is happening in the
world of practice.

2. The SDEP conference is for teachers, administrators, and just plain
folks seeking to introduce and nurture systems thinking and modeling in
their schools and communities. Expect lots of war stories and chances
to try out curricula and new materials. The pioneers in the field will
be there to share their experiences. The one to go to if you are
working in the schools or want to learn how to introduce systems
thinking in your community.

3. The System Dynamics Society international conference is the latest
in the annual series of conferences the society holds (next year:
Istanbul; last year: Tokyo). Draws a highly international group of
system dynamics people, including the top academics and also some
practitioners. The place to be to hear from the top people in the field
and to learn about the state of the art in the theory and applications
of modeling. Over 200 papers have been accepted for presentation; you
can view a list and also get registration information at the Virtual
Proceedings of the 1996 International System Dynamics Conference on the
world wide web:

http://web.mit.edu/jsterman/www/SD96/home.html

The virtual proceedings includes conference information, the
registration form, a list of the papers to be presented, and,
ultimately, links to the authors work and related pages. The site is
under construction, and comments and questions are welcome.

Note that the SDEP and ISDC96 conferences have been scheduled in
successive weeks to allow folks to attend both.

John Sterman
JSterman@mit.edu