NeurIPS 2024 Call for Socials
We are very happy to announce our open call for Socials at the upcoming NeurIPS 2024.
Socials are an excellent opportunity for our community to meet up, discuss, collaborate, debate, or celebrate around a common interest. We solicit proposals from all registered NeurIPS attendees on any social topic of common interest within our community.
The Socials are intended to be focused on the social aspects of the conference, rather than the technical one, like Workshops or Tutorials. Organizers interested in planning events targeted at an affinity group (e.g., WiML, Black in AI, LatinX in AI, Queer in AI, New in ML, {Dis}Ability in AI, Muslims in ML, Indigenous in AI) should apply to Affinity Events.
For inspiration, you can find past social events run at ICML 2020, NeurIPS 2020, NeurIPS 2021, NeurIPS 2022, and NeurIPS 2023.
If you are considering being a mentor for earlier-in-career community members, we also run a Mentorship program (https://mementor.net) that does not require you to apply for a Social.
Requirements
- The proposers must provide a paragraph with the scope of the social.
- Each proposal must be backed by at least two organizers from different institutions who will be responsible for the organization of the event. Proposals with organizers from a single institution will be rejected.
- Organizers and their guests must be registered participants of NeurIPS at the time of the event.
What makes a good social event? While our vision is to have a broad range of social events that are as diverse as possible, it should be helpful to also consider the following soft criteria:
- Diversity and inclusion:
We aim to host a diverse range of events that represent all parts of the NeurIPS community, and also to help visibility of underrepresented minorities. In line with this goal, all socials should be accessible for everyone that wishes to participate. - Reasonably broad appeal:
Each event should appeal to at least 150-200 participants. - Focus on social aspects:
Rather than providing a stage for regular research talks, events should attempt to create a less formal environment that encourages discussion between all attendees. Open debates, round-table discussions, hands-on tutorials (e.g. presentation skills, public speaking), coaching sessions and other forms of academic speed dating are encouraged. - Get creative with the topics:
There are numerous interests that connect us both within and beyond machine learning and AI, and we’d be thrilled to host social events organized around less technical topics. - Event types:
Proposers can select their Social to be run in-person only. - What a social is not:
We discourage submitting applications with a commercial focus, please consider sponsoring NeurIPS instead. We also cannot approve socials that violate the code of conduct or have a political agenda. We might have to reject eligible proposals due to limited capacity.
What we provide
The selected Socials will be hosted as official events of the NeurIPS 2024 programme. Socials should last no more than two hours. The number of in-person socials will be constrained by the venue capacity. We will have very limited opportunities this year.
Code of conduct
Being part of NeurIPS 2024, social events are subject to the general code of conduct of the meeting.
Important dates
- Deadline: September 5, 2024 (AoE)
- Notification (first round): September 18, 2024 (AoE)
- Notification (second round): October 18, 2024 (AoE)
How to apply
Please provide a 1-page pdf file including the names and institutions of the organizers, along with a short description of the activities planned at the proposed social event considering the requirements. Please include how many participants you expect and if you need any video/audio equipment, or tables and chairs. Proposals will be evaluated by a small committee led by the social chair.
Applications should be sent to:
Contact
If you need any information, please feel free to contact us at: social-chairs@neurips.cc
We look forward to seeing your proposals!
Hendrik Strobelt (MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab), Social Chair