The 2011 Stata Conference in Chicago ended last Friday, and a good time was had by all.
The two days had the usual wide array of talks, given by researchers in Econometrics, Sociology, Medicine, and Statistics, together with three of us from StataCorp—Bill Gould, David Drukker, and me.
The conference was held in the Gleacher center on the banks of the Chicago River in Chicago (of course), which is a fine facility. I know it sounds mundane, but the acoustics in the lecture hall were excellent, making it very easy for speakers and questions to be heard clearly.
It was really fun talking to old friends and making new ones both during the breaks and the conference dinner on Thursday night.
The Wishes and Grumbles session was one of the liveliest in recent memory. These are always fun for us, because they give us a window on design questions in Stata. The extra buzz from Stata 12 being recently announced was an added bonus.
Chris and Gretchen Farrar, who were running the logistics for the meeting said this was one of the happiest groups they can remember.
Here are the sentiments of Gabi Huiber, who tweeted:
Back from @Stata Conference, telling my wife about it. Her: “You’re glowing. That must have been like a spa retreat for you.
I couldn’t have said it better.
A gallery of photos from the conference is available on Facebook.
The 2012 Stata Conference will be in San Diego on July 26 and 27. See you there!