Wednesday evening 9/17 3:30-5pm Grand Lodge

Festivus: A Capsule History

• Originally conceived by Papa Costanza in an obscure TV show– “Airing of Grievances” an important part

• Made main-stream by a very hip conference– “Conference is for people with papers; Festivus is for

the rest of us”• Aim: Presentations by a panel of plaintiffs—to air

the most pressing purely technical or techno-sociological grievances about the planning and scheduling community—followed by an open discussion

• Held in 2005; 2007

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Festivus@ICAPS

• Aim: Presentations by a panel of plaintiffs—to air the most pressing purely technical or techno-sociological grievances about the planning and scheduling community—followed by an open discussion

• Held in 2005; 2007

Do we really need another Festivus?

Didn’t we exhaust all our complaints?

“Too many” complaints

1. Too many competitions!

2. Too many winners determined by the theoretically suspect Borda Counts.

3. Too many parallel sessions

But I also have innovative solutions

1. Too many competitions!

2. Too many winners determined by the theoretically suspect Borda Counts

3. Too many parallel sessions

• Just do classical track

• Allow at most two planners (in the only track)

• Put Ronen’s papers into a separate mini-conference

Probabilistic track can be won by ignoring probabilitiesLearning track can be won by ignoring learningTemporal track can be won by ignoring time

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Festivus Down-Under

• Presentations by a panel of plaintiffs—to air the most pressing purely technical or techno-sociological grievances about the planning and scheduling community—followed by an open discussion

• Design decisions:– New plaintiffs– Affirmative action for the young

• Originally meant for young in hair• ..eventually extended to young at heart

Schedule• 7 brave/plaintive souls: 5min talk+ 5min audience grilling

(35+35=70min)– Carmel Domshlak – Robert Goldman– Steve Smith– Malik Ghallab– Brian Williams– Derek Long– Craig Knoblock

• Closing discussion (~20min)• Off to shiver on Your Sydney 2000

Shlomo keeps the time

Caveats & Exhortations• NOT a panel

–Every speaker talks about their own issue (so if you don’t like the current issue, wait for 5min and it will change!)

• NOT a spectator sport..– Audience participation is essential (more than

60% time reserved for questions—and answers—from the floor)