Technically Cosponsored Conferences John Vig VP Publications IEEE
Technically Cosponsored Conferences John Vig VP, Publications, IEEE Sensors Council November 2013 Baltimore, MD, USA
IEEE Policy 10. 1. 2 Technical Co-Sponsorship “Technical Co-Sponsorship/Technical Cooperation indicates direct and substantial involvement by the IEEE organizational unit solely in the organization of the technical program. The IEEE organizational unit has no financial involvement in the conference. ” 2 10/28/2021
Total Number of IEEE Conferences IEEE Society/Council/Geographic Unit/Other – Sponsored/Co-Sponsored 3 10/28/2021 Conference Activity through 30 September 2013
Top 8 TCSing Societies Society 4 No. of TCS Conf’s TCS Manuscrips Com. Soc 60 3, 323 ~$500 K CAS 34 3, 409 SMC-S 26 3, 880 CS 39 2, 721 EMB-S 16 3, 804 EDS 24 2, 905 CES 2 3, 903 APS 10 3, 082 Society Total 377 44, 868 MGA & Other Total 356 50, 969 10/28/2021
Benefits of TCS Extends IEEE influence and reachout Good to have relationships with sister societies and conferences Possibility of financial cosponsorship IEL payout rarely mentioned; not widely known, but, it benefits some societies at the expense of other societies 5 10/28/2021
Downsides of TCS Conferences TCS conference support is a significant expense Papers result in IEL distribution to IEEE cosponsors (due to downloads & content) but negligible new revenues to IEEE Distribution is a redistribution of IEL $$$; one society’s gain is another’s loss. (IEL pot determined by sales, not by the number of papers added to Xplore. Price increases are determined by library budgets, inflation & the competition; number of papers added is a 2 nd order effect. ) Total IEEE conference attendance ~400 K/y; has not grown in spite of growth in number of conferences. Many TCS conferences compete with; provide alternatives to, FCS conferences; result in loss of IEEE conf attendees; loss of reg. fees. Quality issues; reg. fees go to outside partners 6 10/28/2021
2007 vs. 2013 Conference Attendance 2007: 2013: “Estimating ~400, 000 attendees ― 236 K financially sponsored conferences ― 159 K technically sponsored conferences”
Example: Com. Soc TCS Consequences More and more conferences but no increase in attendance 60 TCS conferences produce ~3, 300 papers IEL payout ~495 K @$150 ave. per paper Proposed fees = (60 x 1, 000) + (3300 x 15) = 109. 5 K If Com. Soc decided to pay the fees, it would still gain 385 K, or $6. 4 K per TCS conference (plus lower TAB Support $$$) Authors want to publish in Xplore; publishing via TCS is good enough for many; TCS conf’s compete with FCS conf’s If Com. Soc were to discontinue TCSing a conference and, thereby, gain 10 to 15 additional registrants at its FCS conferences, it would come out ahead, financially 8 Big advantage of reg. fees gain over IEL payout is that reg. fees are a gain to both Com. Soc and IEEE; IEL payout is a gain for Com. Soc but a loss to the rest of S/C. 10/28/2021
Conferences Benefit from “IEEE, ” TCS/FCS IEEE brand name; w/o “IEEE, ” attendance would be lower IEEE Xplore and the continuing availability of proceedings Customer support: >100 K calls, e-mails per yr Volunteer indemnification, insurance and liability coverage Handling of reporting requirements (e. g. , tax filings, compliance, recording of revenues and expenses…) Resolution of legal issues, gov’t regulations, ITAR and OFAC Problem resolution (visa issues, inter-country tax issues, attrition resolution, contract issues, physical security issues, emergency response issues, etc) Contract review and suggestions for protection Availability of banking services; timely processing of loans Website (conference listing in Database, alerts, pubs listings…) 9 10/28/2021
Conferences Committee Proposal Change way TCS conference expenses are funded Currently, those who have no TCS conference pay the same % as the society with 60 TCS conferences Proposal: $1 K per TCS conference + $15/paper Societies are free to pay the fees; fees need not affect outside partners; “it’s an internal IEEE matter” TCS Fees << TCS IEL payouts Some societies already charge a fee; $300 - to 1 K 10 10/28/2021
If Proposal Passes Fairer allocation of costs; those with more TCS conferences will pay more towards the costs of TCS conference support TAB Support amount will be reduced for all S/C (SC’s 2013 TAB Support = 104 K) Sensors Council gains 11 10/28/2021
Questions? Comments? 12
- Slides: 12