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Faculty of Engineering and Computing

CNGL Associate Director wins International Client Award

CNGL Associate Director wins International Client Award for commitment to raising conference standards.

Dr Páraic Sheridan, Associate Director of the SFI-funded CNGL Centre for Global Intelligent Content at DCU, has been awarded the prestigious International Client Award 2013 by the International Association of Professional Congress Organisers (IAPCO). Dr. Sheridan was nominated by global professional conference organiser, Conference Partners, for being an “exceptional client” in his role as general co-chair for the ACM Special Interest Group on Information Retrieval (SIGIR) conference which was held in Dublin in July 2013.

This Award is bestowed on those individuals who are committed to raising the standard of international conferences. The ACM SIGIR 2013 conference in Dublin was truly an example of excellence in terms of its scientific programme and logistics. Organised by Dr. Sheridan and Dr. Gareth Jones of the School of Computing at DCU as General Co-chairs, with a Local Organising committee chaired by Dr. Séamus Lawless of TCD, the conference attracted 575 international delegates from 36 different countries for a five-day programme at venues around Dublin.

Accepting the Award, Dr. Sheridan said “CNGL was honoured to host SIGIR 2013 in Dublin this summer. The entire local organising team worked hard to anticipate the needs of delegates and strived to showcase Dublin as a centre of scientific excellence against a unique historical and cultural backdrop. To be recognised internationally for the exceptional quality of the conference makes it all the more rewarding.”

The ACM SIGIR 2013 conference made its mark both because of the quality of the scientific programme as well as the varied social programme. The event in July celebrated 20 years of Web search by bringing together pioneers of search engine technology. Among them was Jonathon Fletcher, creator of what’s commonly considered to be the world’s first Web search engine. The speaker line-up included academic leaders from top universities and senior industry professionals. The weeklong event attracted coverage in the Irish media and on the BBC.

Nicola McGrane, Managing Director of Conference Partners, described Dr. Sheridan as “an absolute pleasure to work with. Páraic was consistently open to suggestions and remained delegate-focused throughout the planning of the conference. At Conference Partners, we work with our clients as their partner, sharing their objectives and remaining committed to quality, creativity and innovation. This approach has resulted in a conference which has now been recognised internationally as being of the highest professional standard.”

This award endorses Ireland as a centre of excellence in hosting international conferences. Speaking about the announcement, Keith McCormack, Director of Visit Dublin and Head of Events at Fáilte Ireland, commented that “This IAPCO Award is a hugely significant achievement for Páraic Sheridan as an Irish conference host. It recognises his commitment to the conference as well as his pride in showcasing Ireland as a hospitable and welcoming destination. It also confers great endorsement on Ireland’s reputation for excellence in hosting international association conferences”.