PROPOSAL TO HOST ECIS2004 IN TURKU, FINLAND

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1 PROPOSAL TO HOST ECIS2004 IN TURKU, FINLAND Authors Tapio Reponen Malin Brännback Kalle Kangas Hannu Salmela Reima Suomi Version Background Turku School of Economics and Business Administration respectfully applies the right to host the ECIS2004 conference in Turku, Finland. Below we reason why Turku is a potential organizer of the conference. The text has been organized according to the Guidelines for proposals for hosting ECIS conferences by Walter Baets, Frank Land, Georgios Doukidis, and Edgar Whitley. The preliminary proposed theme of the Turku Conference would be The European IS Profession in The Global Networking Environment. This title emphasizes the need for further strengthening the European role in the IS world. However, we feel that there must still be a liberty to change the main title of the conference later, if new important developments in the field emerge. In the keynote speeches the strong European IT-industry would present its viewpoints on the development of communication systems. In different tracks and workshops the achievements and contributions of European researchers will be presented. The conference organizers in Turku identify and respect the ECIS tradition. The Turku conference will be held respecting the best ECIS traditions. To guarantee that objective the organizing committee consists of scientists with pioneering and long experience in IS research. 2 General remarks on the character of the Conference Since ECIS2004 will be for the second time in a Nordic country after Denmark 1999 and for the first time in Finland, this principle of a multicultural conference is well supported. Finnish people, and of course academics in particular, are very proficient in the English language, and there is no risk of bad service because of missing language skills.. The experience from the Danish conference and also from ICIS 98 in Helsinki show that if the program is well designed the number of participants will be high. Scandinavian countries have a reliable reputation in organizing conferences and meetings. Thus the participants may trust on the quality of both the scientific and social programs. The location of Finland is very favorable to participants from Baltic countries and Russia. In addition to the usual participants there is potential to temp new researchers into the ECIS community. As Finland is a non-native English speaking country, the treatment of papers from other similar areas and countries would definitely be fair. Details of contents of the conference will be formulated in daily organization and refereeing work of the organizers and referees. The Turku organizers fully understand and support this statement. Scandinavian countries are typically ones in which multiple methods of IS research have been used. This tradition of appreciating different approaches will be maintained in building up the program. The organizers are expecting some 250 academic participants into the conference and around 100 participants from the business world. The conference hotel Caribia has good facilities to handle this number of people, and still offer

2 a close and intimate atmosphere. We strongly believe that Turku as a human-scale city will give good ramifications for such a target. We have built our preliminary budget so that 250 academic and 50 non-academic participants would cover the costs, but would like to accept up to 350 academic and 150 non-academic participants to the conference. We fully accept the financial responsibilities and risks connected with the conference. As a state university, we have the needed resources and credibility. We shall see to that the conference is up to the standard of the previous conferences as is comes to offered services and quality and charges. We shall work hard to involve as much as possible and suitable private sponsors, the benefits gained from them shall be for the most part forwarded to the participants. 3 The format of the conference 3.1 Conference date We propose the conference dates of June 21-23, The conference days are from Monday to Wednesday thus offering the participants to enjoy cheaper over-the-weekend air fares, if still applicable. Next weekend, June 26 there will be the famous Nordic midsummer celebration, Juhannus in Finnish. This offers a possibility to experience sunshine in the night. Welcome reception will be organized at the Sunday evening 20. June. The conference dates, of course, are tentative, and subject to changes according to the opinion of the standing committee. The conference dates can of course at this timepoint be a subject of discussion, is so wished. Calender of June 2004 is below: m t w t f s s Streams of activity We will have separate streams on research papers, cases, panels and research in progress. Other streams can be considered later. A keynote speaker will be organized for each day. 3.3 Conference dinner and social program A conference dinner with some program will be organized at Tuesday 22. evening. It will be included to the conference fee and we will offer reasonable pricing to accompanying persons and non-participants. 3.4 Conference venue We have booked the local conference hotel Caribia for the purpose. It is a first class conference hotel with a big luxury spa too included. A conference room up to 2000 seats could be organized, and several smaller rooms, including an auditorium with 150 places are available. The hotel was totally reconstructed in 1999, and has hosted among others OECD conferences. Up to 300 conference visitors can have a room in the hotel, if they wish, cheaper alternatives are available within a walking/ten minute bus distance. The hotel is situated 2 km from the city centre. The hotel prices can not yet be exactly negotiated, but should be in the European middle-scale. 3.5 A book / software exhibition We shall organize a book/software exhibition at the venue.

3 4 Finances 4.1 Sponsorship The following companies have been contacted so far, and they have given their initial promise to be with in the conference sponsorship team. Exact sums have to be discussed later. CSC Scientific Computing Ltd Elisa Communications Corporation Finnair Restel Group Silja-Line Most of the sponsorhip money will be used directly for the benefit of the participants. 4.2 The budget Our preliminary budget of the conference at the moment is as follows (all sums Euro) Income Participant fees academic 250*350 Euro = Participant fees others 50* 450 Euro = Direct sponsoring and public support The costs are expected to be Variable costs per participant 300*150 Euro = Printing of proceedings (600 copies) Conference rooms and facilities Prospects, www-site and other marketing Invited speakers Other costs Conference officer meetings In the variable cost per participant (150 Euro) we have included: Welcome reception 15 Euro Conference dinner 30 Euro Lunches 70 Euro Coffee breaks 25 Euro Other 10 Euro 4.3 The participant's fees The fees for participants are in two categories Academic 350 Euro Non-academic 450 Euro. If sponsorship can be found, a special rate for students can be considered. 5 Programme committee The program committee will be nominated in 2003 taking into attention the ECIS tradition.

4 6 Conference officers Based on the acceptance of following persons, the preliminary suggestion for the conference organization is the following: Conference chair Programme chair Research papers organiser Panels organiser Research in progress organiser Case study organiser PhD consortium organiser Publication officer / editor Professor Tapio Reponen, Turku School of Economics Economics and Business Administration, Finland Professor Timo Saarinen, Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration, Finland Professor Stefan Klein, University Münster, Germany Professor Birger Rapp, University of Linköping, Sweden Doctor Hans-Dieter Zimmermann, University of St. Gall, Switzerland Professor René Wagenaar, KPN research & Vrije University Amsterdam Doctor Chrisanthi Avgerou, London School of Economics Doctor Paul Jackson, Brunel University, Great Britain The list includes both experienced officers as well as newcomers.. We shall organize at least one meeting before the meeting where all the conference officers meet. 7 Conference proceedings Conference proceedings will be published in a book form prior to the conference. Copyright will be held with the conference proceedings publishers with the understanding that papers can be reprinted in the appropriate information systems journals after the conference. The publisher of publication series has still to be discussed. 8 Organising committee An organizing committee will be set up after the acceptance of the application. The organizing committee will be broadly based in Finland.. In Turku we have three Universities which all have information systems in their curricula. Cooperation between them and also with other IS departments in Finland is well established. The other units are ready to participate into the organizing the conference. Professor Reima Suomi is suggested to be the chairman of the organizing committee, and professor Malin Brännback the vice-chairman. Both are from the organizing university, Turku School of Economics and Business Administration. Other members will be nominated in 2002 at the latest, we shall establish at least the roles of a publicity organiser, a finance officer, a parallel events organiser and a local arrangements organiser. Professional expert support will be used where needed. The organising committee is entirely responsible for the financial viability of the conference. 9 Conference marketing The organising committee is responsible for ensuring that the conference is adequately advertised. There will be a call for papers five months before the submission deadline. This will be followed by a second call for papers three months before the submission deadline. A poster will be sent nine months before the conference date and an invitation programme sent three months before the conference. In addition, the conference should be promoted widely through electronic means, other related conferences and in the journals that support the conference. 10 About Turku Turku is the former capital of Finland, with a nice archipelago, three universities, and daily ferry connections to Stockholm. Turku has some inhabitants. The city is mainly characterized by trade and administration, not by industry. There is an own airport, with several daily flights to Helsinki and Stockholm, and to several other, also international, destinations.

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