The North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics invites proposals to host its 14th Annual Conference, to be held in the Americas in June or July, 2013. Hosting this major conference is an excellent opportunity to increase visibility of computational linguistics research at your institution. The local organizing committee will share responsibility for organizing NAACL HLT 2013 and may choose to delegate many tasks to a professional conference organizer and/or the ACL Office (Priscilla Rasmussen).
We seek preliminary draft proposals from prospective bidders in the Americas (North, Central, or South). Promising bidders will be asked to provide additional information for the final selection. The NAACL 2013 Executive Board will select the General Chair and the Program Committee Co-Chairs for the conference. Draft proposals should identify a Local Arrangements Chair, who will work with the General Chair and the Coordinating Committee to develop a detailed plan and budget.
Guidelines for preparing a bid, including budget and task list templates and additional links are provided at: http://aclweb.org/adminwiki/index.php?title=Bid_Guidelines
Bid Highlights: Draft proposals should include information on the following:
* Location (accessibility; conference venue, e.g., hotel or university; accommodation; dining options)
* Proposed dates. Religious and local national holidays should be avoided.
* Local arrangements team (chair/co-chair, committee, volunteer labor, registration handling; describing any experience the team has had in organizing previous conferences and the number of participants at those conferences)
* Local computational linguistics community
* Meeting venues (space for sessions, tutorials, workshops, posters, exhibits, demos, small meetings and registration)
* High-speed, all-ports-open, easy-to-use internet access
* Audiovisual equipment
* Catering, including breaks, receptions, banquet and entertainment
* Local sponsorships
* Budget estimates spreadsheet (template provided, linked from the Bid Guidelines)
Evaluation: Proposals will be evaluated according to the following criteria (unordered):
* Experience of local arrangements team
* Support from local computational linguistics community
* Support from local government and industry
* Accessibility of proposed site
* Suitability of proposed dates
* Conference and exhibit facilities for the anticipated number of registrants
* Quality of residence accommodations and food services in a range of price categories and close to the conference facilities
* Adequacy of budget projections
* Geographical balance with regard to past NAACL conferences (Edmonton, 2003; Boston, 2004; Ann Arbor, 2005; New York City, 2006; Rochester, 2007; Columbus, 2008; Boulder, 2009; Los Angeles, 2010; Portland, 2011; Montreal, 2012).
Important Dates:
February 2011 - Call for bids announced
March 31 2011 - Notify intention to submit proposal
April 30, 2011 - Draft proposals due
Through June 1, 2011 - Feedback to bidders
August 15, 2011 - Final bids due
September, 2011 - Bid selected
For any queries please contact Rebecca Hwa, Chair of the NAACL Executive Board. Please send draft proposals and/or informal expressions of interest to:
Rebecca Hwa
University of Pittsburgh
210 S. Bouquet St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Email: hwa [at] cs.pitt.edu
Phone: (412) 624-7953
Fax: (412) 624-8854