Sympoisum on Simplicity in Algorithms, 2019

Jeremy Fineman and I are co-chairing the 2019 Symposium on Simplicity in Algorithms, the second year of this new endeavor.  It's nicely co-located with SODA, and the submission deadline is August 16.

This symposium arose of an apparent need to have a home for results that were focused on simplicity -- specifically, a place where you could introduce a simpler algorithm or a simpler analysis of an existing algorithm for a problem.  I think we're still in the stage for testing that need, but it would be nice to make this a permanent addition to our conferences, and like ALENEX and ANALCO, it's a great fit as a co-located SODA event.  

Please spread the word, and submit your papers -- we look forward to reading them.  More call information is available here.  

STOC 2018, Early Reg Deadline

Just a reminder that the early registration for STOC 2018 is June 1.  Besides wanting that early registration discount price, you really want to also make your hotel reservation -- the conference hotel special rate is (only) available through June 1.  I was looking this morning, and as the web page warns, hotels in LA that week are going to be expensive -- there's an award show in town that will be filling the hotels.

So please register today.  (Or tomorrow.  But by Thursday for sure.)

SIGACT-Related Stuff

Some SIGACT related-stuff of import:

First, there's an election going on!!!  If you're an ACM/SIGACT member, you've probably gotten an e-mail about this, and it's probably gone into some folder that you probably never look at.  Please check your e-mail for a subject like "ACM SIG 2018 Election".  I believe the deadline is the first week or June or so.  Please vote!  (Bios and related materials for people running can be found here.)

Second, the Knuth Prize call is out.  (It should be on the SIGACT web page shortly, but the main info is cut and pasted below.)  July 1 deadline is perhaps the most important part.

Third, keep in mind the early registration/hotel deadline for STOC (which runs June 25-29 in Los Angeles) is coming up, June 1.  It will be another "theory fest", so expect some great keynote speakers and invited talks, workshops and tutorials, poster sessions, and other great events.  If you went to STOC last year in Montreal, you know the "theory fest" is a different creature than previous STOCs, and that you don't want to miss it.  Also, it's the 50th STOC, so there will be some events specifically for that.  STOC is the theory conference you really want to go to -- sign up and make sure to get the early registration fee.

Knuth info below:

Nomination Procedure. Anyone in the Theoretical Computer Science com-

munity may nominate a candidate. To do so, please send nominations to

 knuth.prize.2018@gmail.com by  July 1st, 2018. The nomination should

state the nominee’s name, summarize his or her contributions in one or two

pages, provide a CV for the nominee or a pointer to the nominees webpage, and

give telephone, postal, and email contact information for the nominator. Any

supporting letters from other members of the community (up to a limit of 5)

should be included in the package that the nominator sends to the Commit-

tee chair. Supporting letters should contain substantial information not in the

nomination. Others may endorse the nomination simply by adding their names

to the nomination letter. If you have nominated a candidate in past years, you

can re-nominate the candidate by sending a message to that effect to the above

address. (You may revise the nominating materials if you so desire).

 Criteria for Selection. The winner will be selected by a Prize Committee

consisting of six people appointed by the SIGACT and TCMF Chairs, see below

for the composition of the committee. All nominations will be considered by

the Committee, including those submitted in previous years, but nomination is

not a requirement to receive the Prize. Note that the Knuth prize is awarded

to a single individual each year. Nominations of groups of researchers will not

be considered.

In selecting the Knuth-Prize winner, the Committee will pay particular at-

tention to a sustained record of high-impact, seminal contributions to the foun-

dations of computer science. The selection may also be based partly on ed-

ucational accomplishments and contributions such as fundamental textbooks

and high-quality students. The award is not given for service to the theoretical

computer science community, but service might be included in the citation for

 a winner if appropriate. The current prize committee consists of Avrim Blum

(TTIC), Allan Borodin (U. Toronto), Alan Frieze (CMU), Shafi Goldwasser (UC

Berkeley), Noam Nisan (Hebrew U.), and Shang-Hua Teng (USC, chair).