ISU Informatics Research Institute to host academic conference Oct. 8-10

Themed “Information, the lifeblood of our organizations,” the 50th annual Mountain Plains Management Conference will be held at Idaho State University Oct. 8-10.

The conference brings together 50 faculty from 19 universities to present in the disciplines of information systems, informatics, accounting, management, marketing, finance, economics and pedagogy.

The ISU Informatics Research Institute is hosting the conference.

Conference keynote speaker will be Dr. Lisa Cannon-Albright of University of Utah, an internationally known informatics research specialist. She will speak on the balance needed between analyzing health care information and protecting personal health care data.  

Full details on conferencing programming and housing information may be found at http://www.iri.isu.edu/mpmc.htm

Dr. Gene Griessman, the world’s pre-eminent Abraham Lincoln actor, playwright and scholar, will appear in costume and present “The Wit and Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln” in the Beverly B. Bistline Thrust Theater, in the L.E. and Thelma E. Stephens Performing Arts Center, at 7 p.m. on Oct. 9.

His appearance, sponsored in part by the J.R. Simplot Co., is open to the public with 200 seats available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Griessman has performed at conferences and annual meetings worldwide. He has performed his one-man play at Ford’s Theatre and before large audiences at many large venues, including the Georgia Dome. He has interviewed U.S. presidents, famous actors, business leaders and Nobel Laureates. He is also the author of several Lincoln-themed novels.

The Informatics Research Institute (IRI) is an academic unit providing coordination for several interdisciplinary degrees and research centers across the university. Informatics is an integrative discipline that arises from the synergistic application of computational, informational, organizational, cognitive, and other disciplines whose primary focus is in the acquisition, storage and use of information in a broad spectrum of domains. It includes the study and application of information technology in the arts, sciences, commerce, medicine, and society in general.

For more information on the conference, contact James Frost at (208) 282-4549) or by e-mail to frosjame@isu.edu.