Interspeech 2017 was hosted in Stockholm. First off, I can’t emphasize enough how stunning Sweden in the summer is. Highlights for me included lunch at the idyllic Botanic Gardens, swimming in the nearby lake between sessions (lots of locals swim before going to work!), casually running into the King and Queen, and being very generously welcomed by a local friend to his family’s summer house. Stockholmers clearly have pride in their city, and I can see why.
This past December saw the annual election of new members to the Speech and Language Technical Committee. The purpose was to fill the places of those whose 3-year terms were coming to an end. SLTC membership is associated with subject areas, and in this year's election (for the 2018-2020 term) we had 19 openings in 10 areas. In addition, on a biannual cycle, we n