INFORMS Open Forum

Dear INFORMS Colleagues,

The Social Media Analytics (SMA) Section is excited to begin planning for the 2026 INFORMS Annual Meeting, which will take place in San Francisco, CA, from November 1–4, 2026. We warmly invite you to participate in this year's program by chairing a session, presenting a talk, or sharing a poster. Applications are open to all members of the INFORMS community, including faculty, graduate students, and industry practitioners, with priority given to SMA members.

Interested in chairing a session?

Please contact us with a tentative session title or theme as soon as possible, preferably by April 25. Since INFORMS limits the maximum number of sessions for each division/section, earlier expressions of interest are more likely to secure a session.

A few notes for session chairs:

• Speaker lists are due May 6

• Abstracts are due May 20

• Each session should include 5 regular presentations

If you may not be able to identify 5 speakers, please still reach out. We may be able to arrange a co-chaired session.

Interested in giving a talk instead?

Please send us a tentative talk title by May 6, preferably earlier. We will connect your talk with an appropriate session chair so that you can receive an official invitation. Please note that INFORMS allows each speaker to give only one presentation at the conference. A formal paper is not required; only an abstract is needed.

Interested in presenting a poster?

We would also be happy to hear from you.

If you would like to participate in any of these ways, please contact:

• Lingshu Hu: lhu@wlu.edu

• Ye Liu: yeliu@gatech.edu

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Lingshu Hu
Assistant Professor of Business Administration and Data Science
Washington and Lee University
Lexington VA
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Dear Dr. Hu and Dr. Liu,

I hope you are doing well.

I would like to express my interest in serving as a Session Chair for the Social Media Analytics (SMA) track at the 2026 INFORMS Annual Meeting.

I am currently an industry experts for building Green Building Development and implementation of Green Building Council's ideas and perception into realistic development Environment. 

I would like to propose the following session theme:

"Life Cycle of Carbon Footprint: RMC Concrete and Green Building Design"

This session will focus on how Carbon-Footprint is affecting for the high-rise skyscrapers building and necessary actions been taken to save an environmental issues nay arise for future generations. 

I am confident in my ability to curate a strong set of speakers and coordinate a high-quality session aligned with the SMA section's goals. I would also be happy to collaborate with a co-chair if needed.

Please let me know if you would like any additional details. I would be glad to proceed quickly to meet the May 6 deadline.

Thank you for your consideration.

Best regards,
Jaydev R. Sonani
Project Engineer

All State 12 GC Corp., New York

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Jaydev Raghavbhai Sonani
Project Engineer
All State 12 GC Corp.
Rutherford NJ
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-20-2026 10:31
From: Lingshu Hu
Subject: Call for Session Chairs and Talks: SMA at the 2026 INFORMS Annual Meeting

Dear INFORMS Colleagues,

The Social Media Analytics (SMA) Section is excited to begin planning for the 2026 INFORMS Annual Meeting, which will take place in San Francisco, CA, from November 1–4, 2026. We warmly invite you to participate in this year's program by chairing a session, presenting a talk, or sharing a poster. Applications are open to all members of the INFORMS community, including faculty, graduate students, and industry practitioners, with priority given to SMA members.

Interested in chairing a session?

Please contact us with a tentative session title or theme as soon as possible, preferably by April 25. Since INFORMS limits the maximum number of sessions for each division/section, earlier expressions of interest are more likely to secure a session.

A few notes for session chairs:

• Speaker lists are due May 6

• Abstracts are due May 20

• Each session should include 5 regular presentations

If you may not be able to identify 5 speakers, please still reach out. We may be able to arrange a co-chaired session.

Interested in giving a talk instead?

Please send us a tentative talk title by May 6, preferably earlier. We will connect your talk with an appropriate session chair so that you can receive an official invitation. Please note that INFORMS allows each speaker to give only one presentation at the conference. A formal paper is not required; only an abstract is needed.

Interested in presenting a poster?

We would also be happy to hear from you.

If you would like to participate in any of these ways, please contact:

• Lingshu Hu: lhu@wlu.edu

• Ye Liu: yeliu@gatech.edu

------------------------------
Lingshu Hu
Assistant Professor of Business Administration and Data Science
Washington and Lee University
Lexington VA
------------------------------