Guidelines for Invitations

• Step 1: Establish a list with the most influential researchers in your field. First, concentrate on the top two researchers to avoid having the situation that more people agree to come than slots are available. Send out invitations stating that
  • on behalf of the Department of Computer Science of the Johns Hopkins University you would like to invite the person to give a talk in the distinguished lecture series of the department,
  • we will be paying for transportation, hotels, food... and
  • also a honorarium will be provided.
  
  
• Step 2: If a researcher is interested in giving a talk, arrange a date with him/her. Please check the current schedule for empty slots to avoid collisions. Our plan is to have around two talks per month. Thursday and Friday are the preferred days, since we have room reservations for these. Once a date has been fixed, send it to Christian so that it is included in the schedule.
  
  
• Step 3: At least two weeks (but better one month) before the talk,
  • begin arranging travel, hotel,...
  • finalize the day and time for the talk (preferred are Thursday and Friday, 10:30-12:00) and send the information to Christian and/or Conway,
  • ask the speaker to provide a title, abstract and short bio, and
  • point the speaker to the web page of the distinguished lecture series http://www.cs.jhu.edu/~scheideler/distinguished.
  
  
• Step 4: Remember, YOU will be his/her official host! This means you will
  • if not done yet, ask the speaker for a title and abstract of his/her talk and about his/her equipment needs (LCD projector,...) and send the information to Christian and/or Conway at least one week before the talk so that proper announcements can be made
  • arrange a schedule for the speaker
    • also, start this at least one week prior to the visit
    • you may wish to allow the speaker to meet with several people at once (e.g., with all students in some lab)
  • if possible, pick up the speaker from the airport or railway station,
  • introduce the speaker before the presentation, and
  • invite the speaker for lunch and/or dinner and ask other faculty members to join you.
  
  
• Step 5: At the end of the visit, ask the speaker to send you all receipts and to give you his/her social security number. Give all of this to Nancy and point out to her that apart from a reimbursement the speaker also receives a honorarium.