Since the first event in 1979 in Los Angeles, California, USA, the conference has evolved into one of the major forums for research on conceptual modeling and information retrieval.
Conceptual modeling is about describing the semantics of software applications at a high level of abstraction.
In their typical usage, conceptual-model diagrams are high-level abstractions that enable clients and analysts to understand one another, enable analysts to communicate successfully with application programmers, and in some cases automatically generate (parts of) the software application.
Initiated by Elsevier in 2008 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the journal, Data and Knowledge Engineering, the Peter P. Chen Award honors one person each year for his or her outstanding contributions to the field of conceptual modeling.
Notwithstanding this intentional bias, ER Fellows may be selected from the broader community when they have clearly made significant research, education, and service contributions to conceptual modeling and continue to be actively involved in ER-community affairs.