BACKGROUND
The initial AAMAS conference (AAMAS-2002) was held in Bologna, Italy as a joint event comprising the 6th International Conference on Autonomous Agents (AA), the 5th International Conference on Multiagent Systems (ICMAS), and the 9th International Workshop on Agent Theories, Architectures, and Languages (ATAL).

Subsequent AAMAS conferences have been held in Melbourne, Australia (July 2003), New York City, NY, USA (July 2004), Utrecht, The Netherlands (July 2005), Hakodate, Japan (May 2006), Honolulu, Hawaii, USA (May 2007), Estoril, Portugal (May 2008), Budapest, Hungary (May 2009), Toronto, Canada (May 2010).  AAMAS 2011 will be held in May in Taipei, Taiwan, and AAMAS 2012 in June in Valencia, Spain.

AAMAS is now firmly established as the largest and most influential conference in the area of agents and multiagent systems, routinely attracting several hundred participants.  AAMAS brings together researchers and practitioners in all areas of agent technology such as software agents, multiagent systems, synthetic agents, robotic agents, and human-agent interaction.  The AAMAS conferences include a variety of activities, including technical sessions, tutorials, associated workshops, and social events.

AAMAS is the flagship conference of the non-profit International Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (IFAAMAS); the Foundation's website: http://www.ifaamas.org/ provides links to each of the conferences.  The Foundation's Board of Directors is elected by the AAMAS research community, membership in which is defined based on attendance at AAMAS conferences.  (The next elections for the IFAAMAS board will be held at the beginning of 2012.)

IFAAMAS underwrites the conference.  The IFAAMAS Board can provide advance payments as might be necessary for booking venues.  The Board seeks neither to obtain a surplus nor a deficit, but wishes to shepherd the community's funds with the best care.

The Board has well-defined processes not only for selecting conference hosting bids, but also for nominating and selecting general chairs, who go on to select program chairs with Board approval, and fill out the remaining organizing committee positions.  Those wishing to participate in an AAMAS conference in any capacity should contact a Board member for advice.

CONSTRAINTS ON TIMING AND SIZE
The IFAAMAS Board now invites bids for hosting AAMAS-2013.  The Board has a strong preference for May.  Based on past experience and trends, we expect the attendance of AAMAS-2013 to be between 700 and 900 people.  Plenary sessions need to be scheduled in a sufficiently large hall.

In recent years, AAMAS conferences have included the following components:

• A main conference program of just under three days (Wednesday to Friday), including:
  • six parallel presentation sessions
  • poster sessions interspersed with the presentation sessions
  • an opening reception with an entertainment program
  • a banquet including an entertainment program and awards ceremonies
• A preconference program of two days (Monday and Tuesday) consisting of several workshops and tutorials and needing about 20 rooms
• An additional preconference day (Sunday) for doctoral mentoring

Bidders can sometimes lower expenses by using University facilities for the preconference programs if not for the main conference.

BIDDING PROCEDURE AND IMPORTANT DATES
All correspondence regarding bids should be directed by email to the IFAAMAS Conference Committee Chair (Munindar P. Singh singh@ncsu.edu) and Chair Elect (Onn Shehory ONN@il.ibm.com).

Bids should be made by individuals or small groups, with the backing of a host institution (typically a university or research center). Groups or individuals who are planning to submit a bid should notify
Dr. Singh and Shehory of their intention as soon as possible.

• Now: Expression of interest and queries.
• November 17, 2010: Submission of final bid.
• November 18, 2010-February 28, 2011: Potential discussions withbidders; internal discussions in the IFAAMAS Board.
• March 1, 2011: Decision.

BID CONTENT AND PURPOSE
Bids are geared towards determination of responsibility for local arrangements and designation of Local Arrangements Chair.  Bids will be reviewed by the IFAAMAS conference committee and Board.
A bid should consist of a short statement that explains why you meet the criteria below.  A bid should include estimates of

• Charges for the conference venue
• Charges for food and drinks (coffee, lunches, reception, banquet) for 700 attendees
• Typical hotel and student housing costs
• Airfare from a few cities (Beijing, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, Moscow, New Delhi, Sao Paulo, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Toronto)

Each bid should identify the proposed team of organizers, and include full contact details.  The bid should be led by a member of the scientific community.  At least one of the organizers should remain available to respond to clarification requests, which often come up during review.

CRITERIA FOR ASSESSING AAMAS BIDS
The following criteria will be used for evaluation:

• Site Location: attractiveness to conference attendees, as well as those accompanying the attendees (i.e., nearby attractions, tours, restaurants, and night clubs).  Will people *want* to attend?
• Accessibility: location with respect to major air routes and local transportation (trains, buses, automobiles).  Since AAMAS attracts world-wide participation, it is important that the venue be   conveniently reachable for international (and intercontinental) attendees.
• Dates: relation to possibly conflicting special or local holidays; to conflicting or synergistic conventions or special events at the same time or immediately before or after the conference.
• Climate and Season: particularly as these factors affect (1) the availability of rooms and rate structure (and provide some negotiating edge with the hotels); and (2) attendance by the local community.
• Facilities: quantity, quality, flexibility, availability of meeting rooms, meeting support services, and exhibition hall.  This factor is linked to the choice of accommodations, as it may be desirable to collocate meeting facilities and accommodations.  Please include preliminary information regarding any space and equipment rental fees that may be incurred by the conference.
• Accommodations: ability to accommodate the anticipated numbers of conference attendees, with a range of income levels.  In other words, accommodations should range from business or luxury hotels to student housing.  Please include ballpark figures for hotel room rates.
• Experience: ability of the local organizers in organizing and handling projects of comparable size and complexity.  The use of a professional conference organization company may be included as part of the bid, with associated estimated costs, benefits, and suitability.
• Supporting Scientific Community: the presence of regional and local research communities to support the conference and which will benefit from its occurrence.  Interest of the community in hosting or supporting synergistic collocated conferences.  Since the AAMAS area touches upon several other areas, it would be worth exploiting synergies by collocating with related events.
• Backing of Host Institution: does the organizers' institution support the conference?  Host institutions sometimes can provide free or low-cost facilities for the entire conference or for the preconference program.  They can loan equipment such as PC projectors and wireless routers.  They can provide access to their housing facilities.  The use of institutional facilities or equipment would typically constrain the schedule, but it might be a worthwhile tradeoff.
• Supporting Local Industry: is there local or national industry that may be willing to support the conference in some way?  Please estimate how many participants the conference would attract from the local industry.
• Supporting Local Government: is there a government agency, such as a Ministry of Science or a Ministry of Tourism that may be willing to support the conference in some way?
• Volunteer Labor: availability of an active local group willing to help out before, during, and after the conference.