2026 George John Symposium — Conference Schedule

Thursday, April 30 — Arrival & Welcome

12:00p – 5:30p Arrivals & hotel check-in 

5:30p – 6:15p Welcome remarks — TBD 

6:30p – 8:00p Opening cocktail reception — All attendees 

Friday, May 1 — Conference Day 1

8:00a – 9:00a Breakfast (Abrahm Claude room) — All attendees

9:00a – 9:15a Welcome remarks / introductions — George John, University of Minnesota & Kelli Frias, American University

9:15a – 10:30a Keynote: Research journey & opportunities for young researchers — George John, University of Minnesota

10:30a – 10:45a Coffee break 

10:45a – 11:15a AI-Human Collaboration: Analytical Approach — Zuhui Xiao, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

11:15a – 11:45a The Effect of Natural Disaster on Misconduct Behaviors — Yuanchen Su, University of Delaware

11:45a – 12:00p Open discussion / Q&A

12:00p – 1:00p Lunch (Abrahm Claude room) — All attendees

1:00p – 1:30p Policy Type Matters: Diversity in Consumer Reactions to Government-Backed Healthcare Initiatives — Liuyi Wang, University of Arizona

1:30p – 2:00p Modularity and Governance in the Healthcare Industry — Kelli Frias, American University

2:00p – 2:30p TBD — Steve Carson, University of Utah

2:30p – 3:00p TBD — Alok Kumar, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

3:00p – 3:15p Coffee break

3:15p – 3:45p TBD — Madhu Viswanathan, Indian School of Business

3:45p – 4:15p Navigating career as a junior faculty member — open discussion — George John & Senior Participants, University of Minnesota

4:15p – 5:00p Personal time

6:00p – 9:00p Dinner — Harbor Lights Buffet (Abrahm Claude room) — All attendees

Saturday, May 2 — Conference Day 2

8:00a – 9:00a Breakfast (Jonas Green room) — All attendees 

9:00a – 9:15a Setting agenda for Day 2 — George John, University of Minnesota

9:15a – 9:45a The Effects of Government Policies and Charger Types on Electric Vehicle Adoption — Seulmin Yang, University of Minnesota

9:45a – 10:15 Digitally Mediated Commerce Technologies in Structurally Marginalized Contexts — Rehan Khan, McMaster University

10:15a – 10:45a Product Comparison Tools: Marketing a Competitor's Product — Arash Roghani, Bucknell University 

10:45a – 11:00a Coffee break 

11:00a – 11:30a When Joint Effort Pays: Mitigating Customer Churn Through Sales Collaboration in B2B Markets — Bella Yoon, University of Minnesota

11:30a – 12:00p AI-Human Collaboration in Sequential Sales Funnels: Evidence from a Large-Scale Field Experiment — Xiaolin Li, Hong Kong Polytechnic University

12:00p – 1:00p Lunch (Jonas Green room) — All attendees

1:00p – 1:30p Loss Leaders — Andreas Kraft, Chicago Booth

1:30p – 2:00p Organizing for Sales: Impact of Artificial Intelligence Tools — Raghu Rao, University of Texas at Austin

2:00p – 2:30p Accelerating into a Quagmire? Theory and Evidence on the Speed of Omnichannel Integration — Bharat Vaishnav, Cape Breton University

2:30p – 3:00p Impact of Digitalized Procurement on Buyer-Supplier Relationship — Ruitong Wang, Tongji University

3:00p – 3:30p TBD — Vishal Kashyap, University of Graz 

3:30p – 3:45p Coffee break

3:45p – 4:00p Summary / general discussion / Q&A / next GJ Consortium planning — George John + All participants, University of Minnesota

6:30p Farewell reception — All attendees

Sunday, May 3 — Departure Day

7:30a – 8:30a Closing breakfast — All attendees

8:30a – 11:00a Informal conversations & departures — All attendees 

✈️ Travel Information for Attendees