| home | meeting philosophy | program | practical/travel information |

Practical Information Page Navigation:


Workshop Deadlines

DATE EVENT
Feb 29, 2008 Website Active
Mar 14, 2008 pre-registration available
Mar 14, 2008 First Announcement
May 01, 2008 Abstract submission Deadline
June 3, 2008 Final Program selected
June 3, 2008 Registration Open
July 10?, 2008 TBC Second Announcement
July 15, 2008 Registration Deadline
July 21, 2008 Marriott Courtyard North Hotel Room block released
Sept 3, 2008 Omni Hotel room block released


Back to Top

Workshop Location

The Workshop will be held at the Omni Hotel on the Historic Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, Virginia. For directions and maps, see below. The workshop will take place Thursday through Saturday, Sept 25-27.

Charlottesville is a city of about 45,000 located in the heart of Jefferson Country, in Albemarle county in the eastern half of the state of Virginia. It is 70 miles west of the state capital in Richmond, 110 miles southwest of the nation's capital in Washington D.C., 20 miles east of Staunton, and 70 miles north of Lynchburg. Charlottesville is home to the sponsors of the workshop: the North American ALMA Science Center (NAASC), located within the Headquarters of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO); and the Department of Astronomy of the University of Virginia (UVa).

In late September, expect the weather to be warm during the day, and comfortable at night (maybe a sweater). However, check out wunderground for a more complete forecast before your trip.

Back to Top

Workshop Schedule

Wednesday evening, Sept 24, the poster area at the Omni Hotel (Conference Room 225) will be open 7:30-9:00 pm for setting up posters and picking up your registration materials.

The meeting starts Thursday morning, with a continental breakfast and workshop registration 8:00-9:00am. The program begins at 9:00am and runs until about 5pm.

Thursday evening there will be a reception sponsored by Dr. Fred Lo, Director of the NRAO, at the NRAO Technology Center (NRAO-NTC), located about 1.5 miles west of UVa's Central Grounds. Tours will be available for the ALMA Labs, including the North American Front End Integration Center. Bus transport from the workshop to NRAO-NTC before the reception, and back to the hotels after the reception will be provided. During on-line registration, attendees must indicate whether they will take a tour, so that we may properly organize them. NOTE: Due to the limited time available during the NTC reception, we cannot accomodate everyone on the NTC tour (but we will do our best). In any event, those who request a tour will be given priority by order of conference registration.

The workshop continues Friday, 9:00am-5:40pm. On Friday evening from 5:45-7:00pm there will be a poster viewing session with wine and cheese, followed by the conference dinner from 7:00-9:00pm, all at the Omni Hotel. A bus will run from the Omni back to the Marriott Courtyard North hotel after dinner.

Saturday is the last day of the workshop, with the program running 9:00am-4:30pm (TBC).

The program of meeting events can be found at: http://www.cv.nrao.edu/php/meetings/massive08/program.shtml

Back to Top

Student Support

We have some very limited funds available to waive registration and possibly provide some lodging support for students at North American institutions. To apply for these, please send alma08@nrao.edu an explanation of why you and your advisor are having difficulty securing the funds.



Back to Top

Travel Information

By Air

You can fly directly to Charlottesville via commercial air service into Charlottesville Albemarle Airport (CHO, 434-973-8342), about 8 miles north of town, with direct service from Atlanta GA, Charlotte NC, Cincinnati OH, Detroit MI, New York LaGuardia NY, Philadelphia PA, and Washington Dulles. CHO is served by Northwest, Delta, United Express and US Airways Express.

You can also fly into either Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD, 703-572-2700, 2 hour drive), Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA, 703-417-8000, 2.3 hour drive), or Richmond International Airport (RIC, 804-226-3000, 1.3 hour drive). If you do so, you should probably rent a car (all major brands are available) and drive to Charlottesville (see maps and driving instructions below). This is the U.S., so public transportation is pathetic. Specifically, there is no bus or train service directly from any of the above airports. Van service from the airport may be arranged with Van on the Go (Charlottesville: 434-979-5466; Nationwide: 800-459-5645. The hotels with the room blocks are located in Zone-1), although their prices are outrageous ($200-$300 USD one-way). If you are having problems with your ground transportation, please contact us at alma08@nrao.edu.

Directions From airports:

By Car

Accommodations

We have reserved blocks of rooms at two Charlottesville hotels. The first is at the location of the workshop, the Omni Hotel (235 West Main Street Charlottesville, Virginia 22902 Phone: +1-434-971-5500, Fax: +1-434-979-4456). The conference rate is $169 plus tax (~$187 per night total). Complimentary parking is available. There are only 65 rooms available at the conference rate. Use This link to book a room at this rate. Rooms must be reserved by September 3 to get the conference rate.

Because of the limited number of rooms that could be held at the Omni, a second block of rooms is being held at the Marriott Courtyard North (638 Hillsdale Drive, Charlottesville VA, +1-434-973-7100 or +1-888-236-2427). This hotel is located 4.5 miles north of the workshop location at the Omni Hotel. A bus will run from the Marriott Courtyard North to the Omni each morning before the meeting, and back after the day's activities. The group rate for this hotel is $104 plus tax (~$115 per night total). Rooms must be reserved by July 21 to get the conference rate. There are restaurants near the hotel, but food will be provided at a reception Sept 25, and at the conference dinner Sept 26. Driving directions from the Marriott Courtyard North to the Omni Hotel

For either hotel, attendees will have to reserve their own room. Make sure to specify the "NRAO ROOM BLOCK" or "NRAO/ALMA WORKSHOP".

If you experience difficulties booking the hotel please email alma08@nrao.edu

We will maintain a list of people who are interested in sharing a room with other meeting participants. Please send an email to alma08@nrao.edu if you wish to be added to this list.



Back to Top
Back to Top

Restaurants

There are good restaurants within walking distance or a short ride from the hotels.

Back to Top

Local Information

You can find on-line information about Charlottesville, and things to do in Charlottesville, at the following websites:


Back to Top

Maps

Back to Top

Oral Presentations

There will be two computers set-up for putting talks on. One will be a Mac and the other a PC running Windows. The software available on each is as follows:

  • Macintosh: OS-X Leopard (10.5), Office2004, Office2008 (both include Word & Powerpoint), Keynote, Acrobat, Safari, Firefox, Quicktime, DivX player
  • PC/Windows: Windows-XP, Office2007 (includes Word & Powerpoint), Internet Explorer, Firefox, realtime player, windows media player

Please email us at alma08@nrao.edu if you require software not included in the above list.

All speakers should transfer their talks to a memory stick and bring the memory stick to NRAO support staff BEFORE the start of their session, preferably during the poster set-up session on Wednesday September 24 from 7:30-9:00 pm.

Back to Top

Poster Information

Posters should be no larger than 35 inches wide x 42 inches tall (89 cm x 107 cm). They will be set-up near the Omni Ballroom, in Conference Room 225 on the first floor. Participants can set up their posters either Wednesday evening, September 24 from 7:30-9:00 pm, or Thursday morning, September 25 from 8:00-9:00am. Numbers will be assigned for each poster presentation, and participants will recieve a map of poster locations with their registration package.

Back to Top

Computer Information

A wireless connection will be available in the hotel first floor, outside of the Ballroom and poster room. Connection information will be given in the registration package.

Back to Top

Meals

A Continental Breakfast and plated lunch will be provided each day at the Omni. Coffee and snacks will be available during breaks. If you have a guest that you would like to join you for these meals, you can select the "Guest Meal Package" when you register ($120).

Hor d'oeuvres and drinks will be provided at the Director's Reception on Thursday evening.

The Conference Dinner will be held Friday evening in the Atrium of the Omni hotel. If you have a guest that you would like to join you for the dinner, please indicate this when you register ($50).

Vegetarian options will be available at most meals. Please indicate if you wish vegetarian meals when you register.