INFORMS is delighted to share with you a brand-new feature of the Virtual 2020 INFORMS Annual Meeting: our nine unique virtual meeting guides! These guides represent many of the individuals who attend our meetings each year: students, young professionals, tenure-track professors, practitioners, exhibitors, and even INFORMS staff.
Regardless of the stage of your career, if you are presenting or just attending, or if you want to learn more about the Virtual Annual Meeting, check out our guides to enhance your conference experience.
Find the guide you feel best represents your interests, follow them on Twitter, and for more opportunities to connect with them, please take the time to answer the questions at the top of their profiles so they can learn more about you as well!
Meet our Virtual Annual Meeting Guides!
Darius
Curious, Funny, Passionate
(@darius_informs)
Even while he was still an undergraduate, Darius knew he wanted to make difference in his career, whatever he chose to do. For him, analytics provided that opportunity. Now, as a data scientist at a leading medical center in Seattle, Darius takes pride in the fact that his work contributes to saving lives in his own community. Darius is also a proud Certified Analytics Professional (CAP), it has really helped him progress in his career.
At the upcoming Virtual 2020 Annual Meeting, Darius is looking forward to attending a number of business meetings and spending time reconnecting with peers that he met at last year's Analytics Meeting, held in his hometown of Seattle. Darius will be the first to joke that he will be one of the first to attend an Annual Meeting two years in a row in the same city (more about Darius's jokes later). He is also looking forward to learning about new research and applications in his field.
Self-confessed "Nerd Dad" Darius loves tormenting his children (and amusing his Twitter followers) with his epic dad jokes. For the best dad jokes you'll ever (not) want to hear, click here to learn more about and connect with Darius.
Gabriela
Adventurous, Dedicated, Determined
(@gabby_informs)
Gabriela, or Gabby to her friends, is a professor in industrial engineering working and living in Colombia. One of her favorite parts of her job has always been interacting with and mentoring her students. While she tackled the challenges presented by the pandemic head-on, she is looking forward to hearing from other Annual Meeting attendees how they have addressed distance learning and instruction.
Gabby has reached the stage of her career when she is focused on achieving tenure at her university. To do so she will need to present more of her work and was admittedly extremely concerned that COVID-19 would significantly limit her ability to do so. Needless to say, she was very excited to learn the INFORMS Annual Meeting would be held virtually!
Gabby's desire to give back extends well beyond the O.R. community. Her passion for animals has led her to volunteer at local shelters, and she has even taken on a few special needs animals as fosters into her own home. She also has a keen sense of adventure! In particular, her love of hiking has led her to explore the Ciudad Perdida (The Lost City) trek on the Inca Trail. Click here to get to know Gabby, or to follow her adventures outside the classroom.
Sarah
Ambitious, Creative, Active
(@sarah_informs)
Sarah is an INFORMS employee who loves her role in customer service ̶ one she has held for several years and she can't imagine working anywhere else! In addition to working with a great team, she finds herself continually amazed by the incredible contributions of the INFORMS membership. She is dedicated to ensuring that every Annual Meeting attendee has a full and rewarding experience and will be on hand to answer questions, provide guidance and engage with attendees leading up to, during, and after the Annual Meeting. Her favorite part of a traditional INFORMS meeting has always been interacting with INFORMS members face-to-face so she is especially excited for the many opportunities to engage with attendees that this year's meeting will offer.
In addition to her position with INFORMS, this past year has seen her balancing a brand new role as teacher to her six-year-old daughter who has been learning from home during the pandemic (a role that has given her a whole new level of appreciation for all the educators out there!). Sarah also has a passion for food and cooking and is constantly trying out new recipes on her family, many of which you can check out on her Twitter feed. Click here to learn more about and connect with Sarah (and get the scoop on great new recipes).
Annya
Focused, Job-seeking, Organized
(@annya_informs)
A master's student in Taiwan, Annya had been planning to attend the Annual Meeting this year prior to the pandemic, so was thrilled when the meeting transitioned to virtual. As a student hoping to graduate in the next year, time is a luxury she does not have much of. While she will miss the opportunity to travel to a new location and explore a new city, she is excited by the increased accessibility to meeting content, and the ability to craft her own meeting schedule. This will be especially beneficial as this year she will be presenting for the first time! While a little nervous, she is staying tuned for guidance and best practices from INFORMS for recording and promoting her session and is excited to help share this information with others.
Throughout the pandemic, she has been fascinated by the impact on supply chain functionality, and seeing how other O.R. professionals have risen to these new challenges has cemented her commitment to making this the focus of her career path. Despite her busy schedule and an eye to the future, Annya has also taken time during the pandemic to explore other interests, like gardening (you should see her tomatoes!) and catching up on her favorite (not O.R.-based) T.V. shows. To connect with Annya and talk more about presenting at the meeting (or great recipes that feature tomatoes), click here.
Izabel
Energetic, Dynamic, Socially-conscious
(@izabel_informs)
Izabel is a member of a small but motivated analytics team, one she hopes to lead one! Her organization is focused on finance and she is very interested in the transformational capabilities of analytics within this field. Perhaps one of the most difficult challenges she is continually trying to overcome is communicating the value of her team's work to her organization's leadership and is hoping her Annual Meeting experience will help her explore this.
Not unlike many others, Izabel is also trying to balance work and family life, as she and her partner look to start a family in the near future. She hopes to connect with other women in her field throughout the meeting, to learn more about how they prioritize both their work and parenting. In addition to continuing to grow her role at her company, she also wants to continue her education to prepare for new opportunities, and is exploring the benefits of a certification like the INFORMS Certified Analytics Professional (CAP) and hopes to learn more about this by connecting with other CAPs during the Annual Meeting.
Located among some of Brazil's most beautiful beaches in Rio de Janeiro, Izabel splits her free time between enjoying the sand and sun (from a socially safe distance), keeping on top of world events, and challenging herself with the latest computer games. To find out what Annual Meeting content she is most interested in, her thoughts on CAP, and even her favorite go-to computer game, connect with Izabel here.
Dev
Optimistic, Shy, Tenacious
(@dev_informs)
A Ph.D. student living and learning in India, Dev has spent much of his COVID-19 quarantine time preparing to defend his dissertation. With school taking up so much of his time, he has found it difficult to connect and build relationships with his peers, and the pandemic certainly hasn't made that any easier (and don't even get him started on Zoom dating!).
At the upcoming Annual Meeting, Dev hopes that the virtual setting will create new opportunities to learn about the work that others are doing, as well virtually connect with peers around the world who hold similar interests and professional goals. In addition to building connections with academic peers, Dev is hoping to find mentorship opportunities to help guide him as he moves forward with his career. Enough emphasis cannot be placed on the value of learning best practices and advice from those who have gone through the same experience and come out the other side … with successful academic careers!
Dev squeezes a lot into what little personal time he has! A self-described cycling enthusiast (aka, Bike Nut), he is always looking for and sharing new routes to try. And even in his downtime, Dev is still a data and research junkie. To check out the latest article or topic to catch his attention on Twitter, simply follow #DevHasData! To learn more about Dev and his goals for the upcoming meeting, click here.
Calvin
Planner, Detail-oriented, Outgoing
(@calvin_informs)
Calvin, a strategic account and marketing manager, works for a software company in the heart of Silicon Valley. While his organization has continued to develop and release innovative products, Calvin and his team are struggling to connect and grow relationships with new clients, as budgets remain stagnant and the ability to meet face-to-face is still not an option.
At the Annual Meeting, Calvin is looking forward to virtually increasing his company's exposure, showcasing his company's growing portfolio, identifying new leads, and learning new best practices from other exhibitors. In addition, as a lover of fine wine, Calvin is definitely hoping to attend some virtual happy hours and other social events during the meeting.
Despite the many professional challenges of the pandemic, one positive outcome has been the opportunity to spend additional time with his family, though he still finds time to reflect and regroup on long hikes, and even recently tackled a bucket list item – hang gliding! To connect with Calvin and swap wine recommendations, or learn more about his goals for the virtual exhibitor experience, click here.
Patrice
Positive-thinker, Sensitive, Determined
(@patrice_informs)
An assistant professor living and working in Montreal, Patrice is in the early stages of her career, and new to her position at her university. She's interested in connecting with other young education professionals to learn how they are tackling the complex challenges of remote teaching during the pandemic. She is hoping to expand her professional network to reflect many different and diverse perspectives. During the pandemic, she, like many others, has struggled with feelings of isolation, being new to her position in Montreal and away from her family. She is looking forward to the Virtual Annual Meeting as an opportunity to connect professionally and personally with her peers.
Outside of work, she is always on the lookout for a fun new DIY project to tackle, loves being active, and hopes one day to run a marathon. She is also one heck of a bookworm! Life very nearly took her in a different direction toward an English literature degree, until she fell in love with O.R., but she still has a passion for reading. You can always pick her out in a crowd as she loves accessorizing with her favorite color (bright orange, like her earrings in her profile pic!). To learn more about Patrice and connect over books, new DIY projects, or O.R., click here.
Lars
Level-headed, Health-nut, Type A
(@lars_informs)
A professor at a technology-based university in the fifth largest city in the Netherlands, Lars will be attending this year's Virtual Annual Meeting as a presenter, session attendee, and potential employer! He is in the unique position of trying to fill not one but two tenure positions at his university, a task that has certainly been complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lars is looking forward to the opportunities to meet, interview, and interact with a large candidate pool at the Annual Meeting Career Fair, the format of which will enable him to quickly review resumes and schedule interviews, while ensuring no candidate is overlooked.
In addition to a busy work schedule, Lars is also an avid runner and self-described health nut. However, after months of working from home, even he has not been immune to the temptations of the kitchen and has taken on the challenge of attempting to shave an entire minute off his best running time! His goal is to stay fit and ready to race when it becomes safe to sign up for his next marathon. To swap running tips or learn more about how Lars will be utilizing the Virtual Career Fair, connect with him here.
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Ashley Kilgore
Manager, Communications
INFORMS
Catonsville MD
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