Hey geeklets! It's that time again - time for Freestyle O.R. Supreme at our Annual Meeting.
What is Freestyle? It's our Annual Meeting game show for students and early-career professionals (although we are equal-opportunity; your department head is welcome to play as well.) This year we are running it virtually and it's open to all who have registered for the Annual Meeting.
What does it involve? On Sunday, October 24, our client will present a business problem. You will be assigned to a team, and your team will have approximately one hour to outline a solution to the problem. (In the past, solutions have involved all areas of Operations Research and Analytics with a little bit of pop psychology thrown in.) Your team will record and upload a five-minute video presentation of your solution, and then the judges will review. Each teach receives feedback, and a select few will win.
Why should you do this? What have past participants said?
"It was a fantastic networking experience. I was a student, and my team lead turned out to be a great professional mentor for me. We are still in touch two years later."
"So much of this conference experience for me as a student was to sit and watch other people talk and try not to fall asleep. I was still such a new grad student I didn't have any research to really present. This game show was a great opportunity for me to actually get to participate, newbie though I was."
"Highly recommend. So much of the conference is smart people presenting big problems they have worked on quietly for years. This is loud people presenting small problems they worked on for an hour. Great contrast!"
Are you interested? Sign up on our sheet below. (Note this is just an expression of interest, not a commitment.) We will try to accommodate all who want to participate. And we seriously believe we are the most fun happening at the conference.
Freestyle O.R. Supreme Virtual 2021 Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor!
-- Carrie Beam, University of Arkansas
P.S. Got a question? Drop me (Carrie,
cmbeam@uark.edu) an email.
------------------------------
Carrie Beam
Teaching Associate Professor
University of Arkansas
Walnut Creek CA
carrie@carriebeamconsulting.com------------------------------