Operations Research Management Science - Inside Story

<BODY bgcolor="#ffffff" link="cc0000" vlink="cc0000" text="#000000"> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=4 border=0><br>   <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=480><tr valign=top> <td width=10><img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 hspace=4 border=0></td> <td width=470> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=2><B><I><A HREF="../../ORMS.shtml" TARGET="_top">OR/MS Today</A> - December 2003</I></B></font><BR> <hr size="1"> <img src="cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=4 border=0><br> <font face="times new roman, times"> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=4 border=0><br> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=2><B>Inside Story</B></FONT><br> <IMG SRC="../barbluehook.gif" WIDTH="468" HEIGHT="4"><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=8 border=0><br> <FONT SIZE="+2"><B>Good, Better & Best</B></FONT><BR> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=6 border=0><br> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=2><B>Peter Horner, editor<BR> <I><A HREF="mailto:horner@lionhrtpub.com">horner@lionhrtpub.com</A></I></B></FONT><br> <hr size="1"> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=12 border=0><br>    It was the night before INFORMS formally presented an ambitious initiative to market the profession at a special session during the Institute's annual meeting in Atlanta, and the campaign was already helping operations research make friends and influence people out in the real world. A large group of conference attendees was hanging out at a smoky blues joint not far from the Georgia Tech campus, shooting a little pool, enjoying the music and generally having a good time. <P>Between sets, the leader of the INFORMS pack (who shall remain nameless) convinced the bluesman on stage to announce that a group of operations researchers was in the house. When the bluesman asked the analyst what operations research was all about, the INFORMS member pointed to the large button on his shirt, the same button that seemingly everyone at the INFORMS meeting was wearing, the one that articulated the freshly coined creative concept at the center of the marketing campaign. <P>"Operations research," the INFORMS member told the bluesman, "is 'The Science of Better.' " <P>"Cool," said the bluesman. "Better what? Never mind. I gotta play some music." Sure enough, before the next set, the bluesman introduced his new best friends. "We have some operations researchers with us tonight," he said in the kind of gravely voice you get only after years of singing the blues and smoking cigarettes. "It's all good because they're all about The Science of Good." <P>At that point, the INFORMS members in the crowd jumped to their feet and howled, "Better, not Good! It's the Science of Better!" <P>Without skipping a downbeat, the bluesman made a quick recovery. "Yesterday, it was The Science of Good," he announced. "Today, it is The Science of Better." The partisan crowd burst into applause. <P>OK, so maybe it wasn't the greatest moment in marketing history, but it's a start. Good, better or best, no one ever said this marketing business was an exact science. For more on the launch of the marketing campaign and the plans for 2004, <A HREF="frmarketing.html" TARGET="_top">turn to page 20</A>. <P>Speaking of the INFORMS Meeting in Atlanta, congratulations are in order for all those involved, starting at the top with General Chair Donna Llewellyn, Program Chair Paul Griffin, and a cadre of other volunteers and INFORMS staffers. The meeting was certainly the biggest and arguably the best in INFORMS history. <P>In accepting a certificate of appreciation from INFORMS President Tom Cook, Llewellyn thanked everybody who helped with the conference. The list was too long to repeat here, but suffice to say that a lot of people put in a lot of work to make the meeting a success. The meeting attracted a record 2,796 attendees (as of the second day of the four-day event). "If I have to, I'll go out to Peachtree Street and drag in four people to make it 2,800," said Llewellyn, drawing a laugh from the audience. If you know Donna, you know she wasn't kidding. <BR>  <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=5 border=0><br>  <img src="../barblue.gif" width=468 height=1 border=0 alt=" "><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=8 border=0><br> <CENTER><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script></CENTER><br> <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=8 border=0><br> <FONT face="verdana, arial, helvetica" SIZE=1> <LI> <A HREF="tocfr.html" Target="_top"><I>Table of Contents</A><br> <LI> <A HREF="../../ORMS.shtml" TARGET="_top"><I>OR/MS Today</I> Home Page</A><br>  <img src="../cleardot.gif" width=1 height=1 vspace=8 border=0><br> <img src="../barblue.gif" width=468 height=1 border=0 alt=" "><br> <b><i>OR/MS Today</i></b> copyright © 2003 by <A HREF="http://www.informs.org/" target="_new">the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences</a>. 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