Walt’s wORld
Hello my name is Walt DeGrange. I practice OR in the Navy and this is my second Practice Conference. My first one was two years ago in Baltimore. Enough about me…
I am going to try and take a little different angle on this year’s conference. I am going to attempt a behind the scenes look at the conference and see if there is any attempt to practice OR. Now I am not saying that we should use OR to analyze every task (although I am working on an optimization for tying my shoes) but rather open the aperture. Some of the stuff I intend to look into:
- Conference scheduling – I am getting to the bottom of why everything I want to see is always on the morning of the second day.
- Table serving during the Edelman Awards Ceremony – Surely there is a shortest path algorithm or traveling salesman somewhere.
- The “Last Session” – I will attend one of the last sessions and see who the presenters are and who is attending (and why).
If anyone else has any ideas of stuff you want me to look into then comment below. I will try to honor all requests as time permits.
Hope everyone has safe travels and see you in Orlando!
2 Comments
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I’ve wished we had an analysis of traffic activity in the exhibit area. certainly when coffee break centers are located near the booths – flow will increase at those interval. wonder if the timing of the booth hours is “optimal” ? or if we are closing too late or too early…
good seeing you in huntsville at the regional conference – enjoy the practice conference – its my favorite
This information is much easier to capture with newer technology – we’ve been using relatively inexpensive people-counting cameras with a high degree of accuracy. Perhaps a thought for next year…