Abstract for: Evolving Program Construction at the System Dynamics Conference

For 2024 we are using a new process for organizing submitted work into sessions for presentation at the conference. The process involves more automation than has been used in the past, but at the same time is a product of the evolution of the overall conference over the past 30 years. In this paper we give some background on how we have arrived where we are, then detail the mechanics of assessment and assignment that are in use for 2024. The key innovations involve assignment of work to Thread Chairs inside and outside of the submitted Thread, then creating sessions based on similarity of the submitted works. The second part of this is more complicated, and two similar but distinct algorithms are described to accomplish it. Which approach seems to work best, and gets used for 2024, is unknown at the time of writing, but will be understood at the conference itself.