StanCon is happening at the beautiful Asilomar conference facility at the beach in Monterey California for three days starting January 10, 2018 (yes, just after the AmNat meeting). We have space for 200 attendees and expect that this will sell out, so if you really want to go register soon.
If you don't already know, Stan is a great language for probabilistic modeling with Bayesian analysis. If you do statistics, machine learning or data science then you need to know about Stan. StanCon offers a dense schedule of invited talks, submitted papers, and tutorials unavailable in any other format. Balancing the intellectual intensity of cutting edge statistical modeling are fun activities like indoor R/C airplane building/flying/designing (http://brooklynaerodrome.com) and non-snobby blind wine tasting for after dinner activities. We will have the first ever "wear your poster" reception--see the call for posters below. And no parallel sessions--you get the entire StanCon2018, not a slice. Go to http://mc-stan.org/events/stancon2018 to register. More details: We have 7 invited talks: Andrew Gelman, Department of Statistics and Political Science, Columbia University Susan Holmes, Department of Statistics, Stanford University Frank Harrell, School of Medicine and Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University Sophia Rabe-Hesketh, Educational Statistics and Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley Sean Taylor and Ben Letham, Facebook Core Data Science Manuel Rivas, Department of Biomedical Data Science, Stanford University Talia Weiss, Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Submitted talks: We have 18 accepted talks ranging from public policy viewed through Bayesian analysis to painful theory papers. Talks are self-contained knitr or Jupyter notebooks that will be made publicly available after the conference. Tutorials: We have tutorials that start at the crack of 8am for those desiring further edification beyond the awesome program. Total time ranges from 6 hours to 1 hour depending on topic—these will be parallel but don’t conflict with the main conference. - Introduction to Stan: Know how to program? Know basic statistics? Curious about Bayesian analysis and Stan? This is the course for you. Hands on, focused and an excellent way to get started working in Stan. 2 hours every morning 8am to 10am. - Executive decision making the Bayesian way: This is for nontechnical managers to learn the core of decision making under uncertainty and how to interpret the talks that they will be attending the rest of the day. 1 hour/day every day. - Advanced Modeling in Stan: The hard stuff led by the best of the best. Very interactive, very intense. Varying topics, every day 1-2 hours. Poster Call for Participation: We will take poster submissions on a rolling basis until December 5th. One page exclusive of references is the desired format but anything that gives us enough information to make a decision is fine. We will accept/reject within 48 hours. Send to [email protected]. The only somewhat odd requirement is that your poster must be "wearable" to the 5pm reception where you will be a walking presentation. Great way to network, signboard supplies will be available so you need only have sheets of paper which can be attached to signboard material which coincidentally will be the source airframe material for the R/C airplane activities following dinner. That's it! StanCon2018 is going to be a pressure cooker of learning and fun. Don't miss it. Early bird registration ends November 10, 2017. Go to http://mc-stan.org/events/stancon2018 and register. Lizzie and the rest of the StanCon Organizing Committee
