We intend to establish a formal review system to judge the performance of the conference series by evaluating the participants' experience. Surveys will assess the conference's format, organization, quality of instruction, topical choice and program, and effectiveness in terms of stimulating discussion and generating ideas for future collaboration. We will distribute questionnaires both immediately after the conference and after a period of six months to evaluate the anticipated long-term impact, such as actual new collaborations. We also expect that the advisory panel will offer constructive criticism during and after the conference. The results of these surveys will guide us in the design of future MYRES meetings.
Appendix D has a draft of a list of questions that will have to be answered by all attendees to judge the individual conference's performance while impressions are still fresh. Results from these surveys will be evaluated by the current chairs of MYRES and an anonymized summary result will be published on the conference series' web-site to make the performance assessment as transparent as possible. To facilitate the evaluation procedure, we intend to distribute the questionnaire electronically. MYRES meeting budgets and running organizational costs will be listed publicly.
These questionnaires should be interpreted as a statement of our goals as well as the criteria on which we intend to be judged when applying for longer-term funding of this program.