Social events are linked to specific registrations - you will be requested to present a valid coupon to enter venues external to the conference center. Please see the registration page

Social events are restricted to passport and main conference participants.

Receptions

Welcome Reception (Sunday evening)

The Welcome Reception will be held on Sunday July 21 (20h-23h30) in the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution of Natural History. Fine food will be cooked and served by Fleur de Mets that has been organising receptions for almost 15 years.

The Grande Galerie de l'Évolution is located in the southwestern part of the Jardin des plantes in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. Created from the former Zoology Gallery, the Grand Galerie de l'Évolution is an exhibition space renovated in 1994 that focuses on the evolution of species and the diversity of the living world, and is based on a contemporary scenography of the MNHN’s natural history collections. In a reserved space and a twilight atmosphere, the extinct or highly endangered species are presented. Finally, the basement is dedicated to a temporary exhibition (Oceans) which will be open for SIGIR participants! A visit of the Museum is scheduled during the reception.

The welcome cocktail (and the conference) takes place in a museum, a security check is done at the entrance of the museum; this means:
  • Please avoid as much as possible bringing luggages to the conference since this will make the security check much longer for you and the other participants
  • You should arrive in advance - during the day, queues are mixed with visitors
  • No not bring anything that can be considered as a weapon (e.g. knife)

If you cannot leave your luggage at your hotel, you can use lockers in trani station and other locations. In particular, you can use DropYourBag or Eelway that can pick up your luggage at your hotel and transports it to the airport - either Orly or Charles de Gaulle.

To get there, please follow the directions from Citymapper:

Student Party (Monday evening)

The student party will take place on The Who’s - close to the modern art museum “Georges Pompidou”. Only participants registered to the event (free drink / entrance ticket) will be admitted. The party starts at 20:00 and a DJ will be there!

Banquet (Tuesday evening)

The banquet will take place in the Science Museum, within the museum area.

3 exhibitions will be freely accessible:

  • Body and Sport presents how sport has become an amazing experimental laboratory for scientific and technical research.
  • Microbiota tells the incredible story of microbiota, more commonly known as gut flora, where billions of bacteria live and contribute to the healthy functioning of our organism.
  • Robots lays bare the actual capabilities of robots and provides insight into the current issues.

Other social events

Student Luncheon (Monday lunch)

The ACM SIGIR Executive Committee will host a Student Lunch during the main conference.  Only those with Student registration (and others by invitation only) may register for and attend this event.  There is no cost to attendees, but you should RSVP in advance during your registration process, since the number of places is limited (first-come, first-served; see registration form).

Women in IR (Tuesday 18h15 - 19h30)

The Women in IR session of SIGIR 2019 invites all the female participants (male participants are welcome too) to discuss issues relevant to female students/researchers/employees. The session is partially structured and partially interactive. Topics include, but not limited to: how to pitch your ideas and be convincing; how to deal with [un]conscious bias of male classmates, co-workers, etc.; work-life balance. During the session we also provide the opportunity of match-making for those who like to have mentors & those who like to mentor. The matched mentors and mentees will further the related discussions beyond this session.

We are happy that Mounia Lalmas (Director of Research at Spotify) will give a talk during the session, with the title “My life as a researcher: what I loved, what I learned and some humour always”.

Mounia Lalmas
Spotify
UK

Diversity and Inclusion Lunch (Tuesday)

This year the ACM SIGIR Executive Committee is again hosting a Diversity and Inclusion Lunch to provide a forum for community members to learn about and discuss issues related to diversity and inclusion.  It is open to anyone, and has a nominal additional fee.  If interested, please RSVP in advance during your registration, since the number of places is limited (first-come, first-served; see registration form).

Jennifer Rode
University College London
UK