SOCIETY OF BUSINESS, INDUSTRY, AND ECONOMICS
CALL-FOR-PAPERS
SOBIE 2013 ACADEMIC CONFERENCE
April 16-19
SANDESTIN GOLF AND BEACH RESORT
Invitation
You are invited to participate in the 15th Annual Academic Conference of the Society of Business, Industry, and Economics (www.una.edu/sobie) on April 16-19 at the spectacular Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort (http://www.sandestin.com/) in Destin, Florida. SOBIE offers a wonderful opportunity to share your research, visit with your colleagues, and take a break from school to enjoy the beach!
Sandestin (http://www.sandestin.com/) has become a destination conference site for SOBIE. We encourage you to bring your family to enjoy the beach and all the resort and surrounding areas offer you to experience in recreation, dining, shopping, and entertainment!
As a special favor to SOBIE participants, Sandestin offers the conference rate for the weekends before and after the conference. We encourage you to extend your stay! Reserve your calendar for April 16 - 19, 2013. We look forward to seeing you at the beach!
SOBIE 2014 will also be held at Sandestin. Mark your calendars for April 8-12, 2014.
Please share this invitation with your campus colleagues and businesspeople who you think would benefit from participating in this conference.
Mission
SOBIE (Society of Business, Industry, and Economics) is a national academic conference dedicated to the promotion and publication of peer-reviewed research. The SOBIE mission is to encourage business faculty members to respond to current economic and market issues and interact with industrial practitioners. Once a year, SOBIE publishes its journal, JOBIE (Journal of Business, Industry, and Economics), which is listed in Cabell's directory.
Research is essential to the pursuit and continuity of knowledge. The seeds for economic growth, market innovation, more effective business practices, consumer trends, and greater profits often come from the ideas we germinate through our research. SOBIE is a wonderful opportunity to highlight your cerebral pursuits throughout the year.
SOBIE is based on the idea that viable, peer-reviewed research at small colleges and regional universities needed to be recognized. Faculty, non-academic professionals, business people, doctoral candidates, graduate students, and undergraduate students should attend.
SOBIE invites both traditional and interdisciplinary research. Please share this opportunity with your colleagues across campus, as well as business people. Research is not just an academic exercise; it attempts to find practical solutions to the many problems business people and public policymakers confront.
History
SOBIE was founded in 1999 by Dr. Jim Couch and Dr. Doug Barrett, both from the University of North Alabama with about 30 participants from 5 schools. SOBIE has grown rapidly to become the premier academic conference for small and regional universities, attracting participants from many research universities, businesses, and government agencies.
Student Research
Since its inception, SOBIE has made a commitment to advance the academic and career opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate students through research, an extension of the classroom. Student presentations are grouped together.
Inspire their future! SOBIE provides a good foundation for the next generation of scholars. Many small liberal arts colleges and honors programs encourage their students to attend SOBIE to present their senior theses.
SOBIE is especially proud of its long, impressive list of student alumni! Each year, we have several former SOBIE students returned as professors.
SOBIE waives the registration fee for students. However, they should register for the conference. Our corporate sponsors, publishers Cengage, Pearson, and McGraw-Hill, provide monetary awards to student recipients. For consideration of these awards, student papers need to be submitted to Doug Barrett (jdbarrett@una.edu) by April 1.
Publications
SOBIE publishes its peer-reviewed academic journal, SOBIE, which is listed in Cabell's directory once a year. SOBIE will publish an electronic student journal on our website (www.una.edu/sobie).
Proceedings
SOBIE publishes proceedings for each conference. The guidelines are available on our website (www.una.edu/sobie).
Conference Schedule
Tuesday, April 16: 7:30am - 3:30pm
Wednesday, April 17: 7:30am - 3:30pm
Thursday, April 18: Breakfast, 7:30am
Sessions, 9:30am - 3:30pm
Friday, April 19: 7:30am - 12:30
SOBIE attempts to limit each session to three subject-area papers to allow ample time for discussion and review. PowerPoint and web access will be provided.
Paper Submission
Please make your conference registration by Saturday, March 16 at the conference registration site: http://www.una.edu/sobie/register.html.
Attach an abstract only. Please specify your research area, as well as your co-authors. SOBIE allows you to submit one additional paper.
Cost
SOBIE offers an affordable conference rate of $150 and competitive room rates at Sandestin starting at $129. The conference rate includes a breakfast on Thursday, April 18 at 7:30 am, and a complimentary copy of JOBIE.
Conference and Hotel Registration
For the conference, link to our website: http://www.una.edu/sobie/register.html.
For your hotel registration, link to Sandestin's website, using our special SOBIE conference code (22O37A):
http://www.Sandestin.com/22O37A.aspx
Sandestin Group Reservations
Website: http://www.Sandestin.com/22O37A.aspx
Phone: 800.320.8115
Fax: 850.267.8221
Please make your hotel reservation by Saturday, March 16, 2013.
Accommodations
Guest Room, $129
One Bedroom, $178
Luau 1 Bedroom:
Studio, $151
One Bedroom, $178
Beachside Studio: $207
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines has service to the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport located in Panama City, FL, about 30-45 minutes east of Sandestin.
Southwest Airlines: http://www.southwest.com/
Southwest Airlines: http://www.southwest.com/travel_center/routemap.html
Airport: http://www.iflybeaches.com/
Map of area surrounding airport: http://www.iflybeaches.com/contact
Payment
Once you complete the conference registration, please submit your conference payment to the address below. All payments should be made either by your personal check or by your university. Early payment is preferred, but payment will be accepted at the conference. If you school requires a W-9, please forward it to this address or bring it to the conference. For your reference, SOBIE's tax ID is: EIN 26-1843624.
Make checks payable to SOBIE and mail to:
SOBIE
David L. Black
POB 5198
One Harrison Plaza
University of North Alabama
Florence, AL 35632
Contact
Please contact us at: sobie@una.edu.
With warm regards,
Taylor Stevenson
President, SOBIE 2013
East Tennessee
State University
David L. Black
Conference Chairman, SOBIE
2013
University of North Alabama
sobie@una.edu