Organizers of the INFORMS International Puerto Rico 2007 Meeting invite you to join us July 8-11 at the Westin Rio Mar Beach Resort & Spa. The conference location — the most luxurious hotel on the island — offers 500 acres of tropical paradise on the island's northeast shore, adjacent to El Yunque National Forest. The resort features a mile of uninterrupted beach, multiple swimming pools, a water sports center, spa, casino, tennis, golf and much more. The special INFORMS rate is $170.50 single/double occupancy.

The meeting provides an opportunity to present your work and keep abreast of the latest developments in the field, while experiencing the vibrant beauty and culture of this tropical island at the same time. The Puerto Rico scientific program will cover the broad O.R. landscape. The program is well underway; however there is still time to participate. Contact Program Chair Robin Lougee-Heimer (robinlh@us.ibm.com) for more information.

New features of the meeting include special clusters on "O.R. in the Americas," "O.R. at the Edge," industry's unsolved problems, new O.R. techniques for manufacturing, managing health care, O.R. in retail marketing and many other emerging areas. Exhibitions by software vendors will be offered. O.R. and affiliated professionals from Central and South America are particularly encouraged to attend and present their work. Many INFORMS subdivisions are organizing specialized tracks. Check the Puerto Rico 2007 Web site for a list of clusters and chairs. To contribute a paper, go to: http://meetings.informs.org/ Puertorico2007/abstractsubmission.htm.

Dr. Jorge I. Velez-Arocho, the chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez, will give the welcoming address. We will have two plenary speakers:

• Jack Levis, director of Package Process Management of United Parcel Service (UPS), heads a division that has designed, developed and deployed many large-scale systems aimed at improving service, reducing cost and automating and reengineering processes at UPS. He will discuss how O.R. is helping in the continual transformation of the package-delivery business through the coupling of new technologies such as GPS, hand-held devices and RFID with modeling and simulation.

• Loren Cobb and Miguel Gonzalez will speak about the NationLab Seminar Project, a successful strategic gaming laboratory that serves Latin American countries in leadership training for experienced executives who aspire to the highest levels of government. NationLab seminars are intense, week-long, role-playing exercises that play 5-15 years into the future of the host country, requiring participants to engage in long-range planning and implement structural reforms in government, all the while dealing with opposition players, organized crime and endemic corruption, as well as short-term crises ranging from pandemic influenza to natural disasters to foreign financial emergencies. NationLab adjudication is assisted by a sophisticated dynamic model of the socio-economic conditions prevalent in the host country. To date, NationLab has worked with policy-makers in Bolivia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.

The University of Puerto Rico has taken a lead role in the planning of the meeting, assisting with both the scientific program and the social events. The social program will take full advantage of our tropical location. Our welcome reception will take place in San Juan where we will provide historical walking tours of Old San Juan. After your walk, you will enjoy a reception (including a folkloric performance) at La Puntilla Arsenal, built by the Spanish in the 19th century to guard San Juan's port. The reception is sponsored by the University of Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company (PRIDCO) and by The Puerto Rico Rum Association.

The Monday night reception will take place at the beach at Rio Mar and include salsa music and dance instruction provided by the University of Puerto Rico. Come meet old friends and make new ones while learning to salsa on the beach. In addition, we have arranged tours (sign up when you register for the meeting) to El Yunque Rainforest — the only tropical rain forest in the U.S. Forest System — the bioluminescent pools and a catamaran sail/snorkel buffet. You can also arrange additional tours on your own to the observatory, horseback riding, scuba diving and more. Information on these tours is available on the Web site.

For all details on the meeting, visit http://meetings.informs.org/PuertoRico2007. We hope to see you in Puerto Rico!

Karla Hoffman is general chair of Puerto Rico 2007.






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