[AISWorld] Survey for holding an AMCIS on a Cruise Shipo

[Galletta, Dennis]

Note: Usually to save time, I unfortunately find myself skipping much of the verbiage before answering a survey. But this isn't M.Turk, and in this case, it is important to see the characteristics of holding AMCIS on a cruise ship before answering about your impressions of doing so. Many people might have preconceived and incorrect notions about what would or could occur. The verbiage is repeated at the beginning of the survey itself and the link is: https://pitt.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_ezjTyn9fR5a3g2h so you can just click now if you promise to read the identical preamble there. We think you will find this to be an interesting and short (one long-ish page) survey, and we really need a large sample or a small group will have high impact on the entire community. The only reward we can promise is to provide the majority with a really fun venue or to avoid a bad venue.

Here goes:

The AMCIS Executive Committee is considering an option to conduct the Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) on a cruise ship. A six-member task force has been charged to identify advantages and shortcomings of conducting AMCIS on a cruise ship, and to provide some advice to the AMCIS Site Selection Committee. This change in venue is not meant to be permanent, but only once or perhaps infrequently at best.

So far the task force has discussed some of the likely characteristics of such a cruise conference to help you respond to this short questionnaire:

  *   Some preliminary, rough analysis shows that, compared to a conference on land, overall costs (registration + food + lodging) for an academic attendee would likely be about 10% lower if you share a room with another academic and about 6% higher if you stay alone in a cabin.
  *   Costs for guests (such as family members) will be higher because everyone is fed and entertained (see below).
  *   Entertainment is generally furnished frequently in several locations: shows, dancing, movies, etc.
  *   Food is generally available at no extra cost for the entire cruise, with some exceptions of alcohol, soft drinks, and specialty restaurants. No one leaves hungry!
  *   A large variety of land excursions are generally available at extra cost when there are stops at ports.
  *   Registration, room, and food are likely to be combined on one bill but we would work to itemize for greater detail.
  *   Arriving late or departing early would be rather difficult and perhaps not possible.
Our task force is researching some details, such as:

  *   Community sentiment (this survey) as to the overall idea, length, ports, and location.
  *   Facility and cost issues of "taking over" a smaller ship versus integrating into an existing crowd on a large ship
  *   Costs for students have not yet been worked out, but we are working to find options to make the conference affordable to them.
  *   Internet connectivity is likely to be limited but it depends on the particular ship selected
  *   Pre- and post-conference activities (such as Doctoral Consortium) would likely need to be held at a land-based hotel unless a 7-day cruise is chosen
Again, the link to the survey is https://pitt.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_ezjTyn9fR5a3g2h and a large sample would be helpful.



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Dennis F. Galletta                      Professor of Business Administration
University of Pittsburgh                       Ben L. Fryrear Faculty Fellow
282a Mervis Hall                         and Director, Katz Doctoral Program
Phone +1 412-648-1699                       Katz Graduate School of Business
Fax +1 412-624-3633                                    Pittsburgh, PA  15260
E-mail: galletta @ katz.pitt.edu            homepage: www.pitt.edu/~galletta<http://www.pitt.edu/~galletta>
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