Updates from the useR! 2014 organizing committee

[Jeroen Ooms]

Hi all,

We are exactly one month away from the useR! 2014 conference [1]. Time
for an update from the organizing committee.

This weekend, registrations passed the 500 mark, which is a new record
for useR! according to data collected by Gergely Daróczi [2]. Yet,
there is plenty of additional capacity, both for the conference
itself, as well as the beautiful on-campus housing at UCLA. We hope to
see many more registrations over the upcoming weeks and appreciate all
help in spreading the word to friends and colleagues that (should) use
R, but might not be actively following the blogs or mailing lists.

To those who are unsure whether to attend, we want to emphasize that
useR! is not just for seasoned professionals, but has lots to offer to
any R user. Abstracts and (free) tutorials cover a great diversity of
topics in both research and industry applications, ranging from
introductory to very advanced. The conference provides a great
opportunity to learn and mingle with the community, and is interesting
for beginner as well as experienced R users.

Tutorials this year are included with the conference ticket and no
separate registration is required. All registrants will receive an
email survey asking which tutorial they would like to attend, if any.
This information will be used for scheduling purposes and to
facilitate communication between presenters and participants (e.g.
distribution of preparation material).

Finally, we urge international guests to verify that their visa or
visa-waiver documents are valid to enter the United States. Citizens
from visa-waiver countries [3] that do not already have a US visa,
must apply online for an ESTA travel authorization at least 72 hours
prior to departure. Once approved, the ESTA is generally valid for a
period of 2 years, so now would be a good time to complete this
process.

We look forward to seeing all of you in California! Please keep an eye
on the conference website, which is continuously updated with most
recent news and information as it becomes available.

Best,

Jeroen, on behalf of the organizing committee


[1] http://user2014.stat.ucla.edu/
[2] http://rapporter.net/custom/R-activity/data/Rstats.csv
[3] http://www.esta.us/visa_waiver_countries.html