Call for Proposals to Host the TSL Workshop 2027

The INFORMS Transportation Science and Logistics (TSL) Society requests proposals for the 2027 TSL Annual Workshop. As with previous workshops, TSL will be accepting proposals to host the workshop at "any" location.

Considerations:  Proposals should answer the following questions:

1. Who will be the chair(s) of the conference?  Who else will be involved in organizing the conference?
2. When and where will the conference be held?  Why is the chosen city an attractive location for a TSL Workshop?  Notably, is the location accessible to a large number of participants and would they want to visit the location?  
3. What is the theme of the conference?  Please make the case for the topic's merit and evaluate the potential audience and expected participation.  If possible, please include a list of people who are interested in attending the workshop.
4. In recent years, attendance at the conference has been approximately 50-60 individuals.  Does your chosen venue have the ability to handle a group of this size at that time of year? Please consider:
   a. the availability and prices of conference facilities during the expected dates, and 
   b. the availability and prices of local hotel rooms during the expected dates.
5. What social events would be possible and what venues would be available for these events?
6. Please provide a rough budget for the conference. Factors to consider are: facility charges, catering charges (for lunch, coffee breaks), staff charges, cost of any social events you might plan (including catering charges for dinners), and any transportation charges (either from the hotel to the conference or to any social event).
7. Given target registration fee of $300 and late registration fee of $350 for TSL members with slightly higher fees for non-members, what level of corporate and/or host institution support will be necessary for you to break even?  Past conferences have required sponsorships levels on the level of $3500 - $7000 to break even.
8. What "blackout dates" do you have during which you will not be able to host the event? Please consider dates when airfares or hotel rates may be extremely high or unavailable in your city due to holidays, conventions or special events.

Sample proposals and budgets are available from Marlin Ulmer (marlin.ulmer@ovgu.de).  General information about past workshops is available from connect.informs.org/tsl/conferences/prior-conf

Submission: Please submit all of your materials as a single MS Word or PDF via email to Marlin Ulmer at marlin.ulmer@ovgu.de.  

For full consideration, proposals must be received by February 28th, 2026.