I received the following email from the Program Chair of JSM, David Banks, this week:

"As program chair for the 2020 Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM) in Philadelphia, PA—to be held August 1-6, 2020—I am writing to you with an invitation for your organisation, Statistical Society of Australia, to participate in a competition for an invited session for these meetings. 
As you may know, JSM is sponsored by the American Statistical Association, Eastern North American Region and Western North American Region of the International Biometric Society, Institute of Mathematical Statistics, Statistical Society of Canada, International Chinese Statistical Association, International Indian Statistical Association, International Society of Bayesian Analysis, Korean International Statistical Society, Royal Statistical Society, International Statistical Institute, Casualty Actuarial Society, and the Caucus for Women in Statistics.

We encourage proposals for invited sessions on topics of your choice to be submitted. These submissions will compete for a maximum of nine invited sessions for organizations other than the JSM sponsors. 

The theme for JSM 2020 is “Everyone Counts: Data for the Public Good,” but not all sessions have to adhere to this theme. Formats vary for invited sessions; however, all are 110 minutes in length and have a session chair. The sessions typically include 2–6 participants, including the chair, with two of the most popular and successful formats being 2–3 speakers with a discussant or a panel discussion of 3–5 panelists. Please reference the call for invited sessions published in Amstat News: https://magazine.amstat.org/blog/2019/07/01/jsm2020/. 

To get session information into the early planning stages for JSM 2020, please submit the session proposal online at www.amstat.org/meetings/jsm/2020/submissions.cfm. The submission site will be open from Thursday, July 18, through Thursday, September 5, 2019 (11:59 p.m. Eastern, 9:59 p.m. Pacific), for session proposals. 

Detailed information needed to submit an invited session proposal is provided below. If you encounter any problems with the online system, please contact Naomi Friedman at naomi@amstat.org. You will need to have the following information to submit your session proposal online: 

1.     Session Type (invited)
2.     Session Subtype (e.g., paper or panel)
3.     Primary Sponsor (Select Statistical Society of Australia from the pull-down menu provided)
4.     Title of Session
5.     Session Description – please provide the following information in this field:
▪        Indicate that the proposal is intended to be part of the Outside Organizations Competition
▪        Short description of session, including focus, content, timeliness, and appeal
▪        Invited speakers/panelists, including affiliation and email address for each participant and tentative title for each presentation
▪        Format of session (e.g., chair, three speakers, and discussant)
▪        No abstracts are required for submission at this time
6.     Theme (yes or no): Designate if the session has topics relevant to the JSM theme
7.     Applied (yes or no): Designate if the session has topics relevant, or will have special appeal, to applied statisticians
8.     Estimated audience size: Select the estimated audience size the session will attract
9.     Session organizer, including affiliation and email address
10.  Session chair, including affiliation and email address
11.  Discussant (if any), including affiliation and email address

Please contact potential participants before submitting a proposal, as they already may have committed to participating in another session at JSM 2020. There are participation guidelines and restrictions regarding the number of times and in what capacity one can participate in the program: https://ww2.amstat.org/meetings/jsm/2020/guidelines.cfm.  

We may request more information about the session by mid-September 2019 and ask that you adhere to all subsequent deadlines for invited sessions.

Should you have questions or wish to have further discussions regarding JSM and invited sessions, please contact me directly. Thank you for your interest, and I hope to hear from you with a submission by September 5, 2019.

Sincerely,
David Banks, 2020 JSM Program Chair, ASA"

Regards
Marie-Louise Rankin, Executive Officer, SSA