15th of March 2012
Statistics + Operations Research is Sexy!
Everyone should read the very appealing column written by Nancy Geller, the now Past-President of the American Statistical Association (AMSTAT News, August 2011), with the wonderful title: "Don't shun the 'S' word". Unfortunately, we all observe that people often scorn the word 'Statistics'.
It seems clear that (we) statisticians have a problem communicating how important applied statistics is, both in ordinary life, and in a number of very important fields of application. Or sometimes our work is used, but disguised by terms such as 'data mining', 'machine learning', 'genome-wide association studies', or 'business analytics'. Why is the word 'statistics' avoided? And what misconceptions do people have?
The March 29, 2012 Annual Meeting of the Netherlands Society for Statistics and Operations Research (VvS+OR) has as general topic:
"Statistics for the Millions: Presenting statistics and operations research to the public".
The issue of how to communicate statistics will be addressed by three keynote speakers: Nicholas Fisher, Sam Savage, and Ionica Smeets. These speakers are in different ways experts in this area, but each of them is also known for telling hilarious stories. Thus the 2012 Annual Meeting will not only become very interesting, but also extremely entertaining. Who says statistics is boring? Statistics is sexy!
If you would like to attend this day, which is held at the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht, please register in time so that enough snacks, but -more importantly-, enough chairs will be available!
Register on: http://www.vvs-or.nl/en/menu/Annual_Meeting/Register.
The lectures are open to members of the society, speakers and invited guests. Interested non-members can participate when they become a member of the society in advance,
http://www.vvs-or.nl/en/menu/Become_a_Member/Application_form,
or pay an amount of €50,- up front (bank account: 202091, VvS+OR, "registration annual meeting") and bring proof of payment (copy of bank statement) to show at the registration desk at the entrance of the conference room.
To download the program booklet with bio's of the speakers and abstracts, go to: http://www.vvs-or.nl/db/upload/documents/AnnualMeeting/AnnualMeeting2012_program.pdf
Program details can also be found on http://www.vvs-or.nl/en/menu/Annual_Meeting.
Jacqueline Meulman
President VvS+OR
Professor of Applied Statistics
