The first draft of the preliminary program for the 2009 History of 
Economics Society Conference has been posted on the conference 
website, 
<http://www.hes-conference2009.com/>http://www.hes-conference2009.com/.

In determining chairs and discussants for the sessions in which the 
organizers have not settled this already, we will follow the process 
used by HES President Avi Cohen at last year's conference. Many of 
you have shared the frustration at conferences of not being able to 
attend sessions in which you are interested, because harried 
conference organizers (always!) have unknowingly scheduled you as 
discussants or chairs at competing sessions. In an attempt to enhance 
your conference experience, I am asking for you to suggest up to 2 
papers you would be interesting in discussing, and up to 2 sessions 
you would be willing to chair. We will do our best to match 
preferences and assignments, and hopefully have more of you at the 
sessions in which you are most interested. Please respond (again to 
<[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]) by May 5. 
Preference-matching will only go so far, so we thank you in advance 
for taking on whatever roles you are ultimately assigned.

If you have not yet registered for the conference, please bear in 
mind that the deadline for discounted rates on registration is May 
15, so be sure to complete your registration before then. A link to 
the online registration material can be found on the conference 
website 
(<http://www.hes-conference2009.com/>http://www.hes-conference2009.com/).

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me 
(<[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]) if you have any 
questions about the conference.

Best wishes,

Steve Medema
President-Elect, History of Economics Society
2009 HES Conference Organizer