Call for Proposals - SLT 2018

Jason Williams, Raul Fernandez, Tim Fingscheidt, Kai Yu, Eric Fosler-Lussier
2017 IEEE SLTC Workshop Sub-Committee

Following on the success of the bi-annual SLT workshop over the past decade, the IEEE Speech and Language Technical Committee invites proposals to host the 2018 IEEE Workshop on Spoken Language Technology (SLT-2018). Past SLT workshops have fostered a collegiate atmosphere through a thoughtful selection of venues, thus offering a unique opportunity for researchers to interact and learn.

The proposal should include the information outlined below.

• Workshop location and practicalities
  • Geographical location
  • Workshop venue (facilities, meeting rooms, network access during the workshop, audio/visual equipment)
  • Accommodation -- hotel availability and pricing
  • Meals
  • Transportation options -- major airports, logistics, visas
  • Climate
• Approximate workshop dates
  • Previous workshops have been held in the month of December
  • Status of venue -- whether workshop dates are being held pending IEEE SLTC selection  
• Approximate total cost to participants to attend, including accommodation, meals, and registration fees.
• Estimated budget for 100-150 participants and expected sponsorships, including venue costs, administration, banquet, coffee breaks, publication costs, etc. 
• Committee Personel
  • General chair(s)
  • Technical chairs
  • Local arrangements chair(s)
  • Other committee members and roles
• Tentative program
  • Paper submission, notification of acceptance, proposals for demonstrations, early registration
  • Reception, talks, posters, demo session, banquet, etc.
  • Substantial program additions/changes vs. past instances of SLT

The deadline for proposals is June 1, 2017.  Send proposals and questions to the workshop sub-committee: Jason Williams (jason.williams@microsoft.com), Raul Fernandez (fernanra@us.ibm.com), Tim Fingscheidt (t.fingscheidt@tu-bs.de), Kai Yu (kai.yu@sjtu.edu.cn), and Eric Fosler-Lussier (fosler@cse.ohio-state.edu).  In June, the IEEE SLTC will review proposals, and selection results are expected July 1, 2017.

If you are interested in submitting a proposal, we encourage you to contact the workshop sub-committee in advance of submitting a proposal.  They can provide an example of a past successful proposal.  Further, proposers who make contact before 28 Feb 2017 may be invited to briefly present in-person at the annual IEEE SLTC meeting at ICASSP 2017, March 5-9, in New Orleans, USA. (http://www.ieee-icassp2017.org/), to obtain feedback from the SLTC.  Presentations should be reasonably specific but need not be complete.  Note that the SLTC does not have funding available for travel to ICASSP.

The organizers of the SLT workshop do not have to be SLTC members, and we encourage submissions from all potential organizers.  IEEE SLTC members are welcome to participate on proposals, and the organizing committees of past SLT events have included many SLTC members.  To maintain fairness of selection, SLTC members who are affiliated with an SLT 2018 proposal will not participate in the SLT 2018 selection vote.  Further, the members of the workshops sub-committee may not be affiliated with any SLT 2018 proposal.  Please feel free to distribute this call for proposals far and wide, and invite members of the speech and language community at large to submit a proposal to organize the next SLT workshop.

For more information on the most recent workshops, please see:

http://www.slt2016.org for information about SLT-2016 in San Diego, California
http://www.slt2014.org for information about SLT-2014 in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada
http://www.slt2012.org for information about SLT-2012 in Miami, Florida
http://www.slt2010.org for information about SLT-2010 in Berkeley, California
http://www.slt2008.org for information about SLT-2008 in Goa, India

And feel free to contact the workshops sub-committee with questions.
Jason Williams (jason.williams@microsoft.com)
Raul Fernandez (fernanra@us.ibm.com)
Tim Fingscheidt (t.fingscheidt@tu-bs.de)
Kai Yu (kai.yu@sjtu.edu.cn)
Eric Fosler-Lussier (fosler@cse.ohio-state.edu)