[AISWorld] ICIS 2011: Registration numbers

[Galletta, Dennis]

We have had good news--an initial strong showing so far in our registration numbers. But while the initial numbers were quite encouraging, the numbers are growing week by week a little more slowly than anticipated. Given the need to apply for a visa, we understand that last-minute decisions to attend ICIS are a little more difficult. In fact, it is possible that some of you were waiting to obtain your visa before registering.

Another push will help greatly. Please register for ICIS now if you have waited. We will need to finalize our budget very soon, and a more accurate picture of eventual attendance now will allow us to put in place our complete set of plans for a great conference. Accurate registration numbers are also crucial for scaling meals and room sizes properly, avoiding space problems or food outages.

We are currently at 915 attendees, and if we are able to pre-register 146 more academic members we will hit our budget!

Regarding the visa: My "non-rush" Chinese visa just arrived yesterday (Oct 31), exactly 2 weeks after I sent the application materials and my passport to G3's visa service. So while I would not recommend waiting any longer, it should not be too difficult to get your visa even now. G3 isn't the cheapest service, but they seem to be quite dependable and fast.

So please register at http://icis2011.aisnet.org/Conference_Registration.html and make your hotel reservations by visiting http://icis2011.aisnet.org/Hotel_Reservation.html. The Gran Melia hotel is supposedly absolutely fantastic so don't miss it! And you can put your visa process in place by visiting http://icis2011.aisnet.org/Travel.html and following the directions there. In fact, let me close with the specific directions I sent last week. See you in Shanghai!

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Applying for the visa is not difficult but requires a few forms and documents. According to the Chinese Consulate website, you cannot do this yourself by mail. You have to either appear in person at your particular Consulate, or use a service. I used G3 visa service (www.g3visas.com<http://www.g3visas.com>) but many services are available that do the same. They also have rush services, and if you delay much more you will most likely need to make use of a rush service at extra cost.

Here is what you should have when you apply for the visa:


-          Passport with 6 months left and one blank visa page

-          One additional passport photo

-          Hotel registration information (Gran Melia is simply outstanding and there is still availability)

-          Visa service company's form, if applicable (G3 has an online PDF form to file that allows them to correspond with you online during the process)

-          Visa application form (the version depends on your country of citizenship). Business visa is said to be appropriate for a visa to attend a conference. G3's site takes you automatically to the right Consulate form after you fill out their online form.

-          Letter from ICIS (please download and replace the generic fields with your own). This pre-signed document on letterhead is from Lihua Huang of Fudan University.

-          Letter from your school, requested by my particular consulate. G3 provided me with a nice example that I tailored to my own school and printed on Pitt letterhead.

-          Travel itinerary from your airline (email from travel agency works)

It is indeed not difficult but it takes a couple of hours.

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Dennis Galletta and TP Liang
ICIS 2011 co-chairs

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Dennis F. Galletta                      Professor of Business Administration
University of Pittsburgh                 and Director, Katz Doctoral Program
282a Mervis Hall                            Katz Graduate School of Business
Phone +1 412-648-1699                                  Pittsburgh, PA  15260
E-mail: galletta @                                       Fax +1 412-648-1693
        katz.pitt.edu                       homepage: www.pitt.edu/~galletta<http://www.pitt.edu/~galletta>
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