Dear Air-born, Just when you thought the information had finally eased up, here is another update from those Crazy Canucks, the AoIR 8.0 ("aerate" - get it?) Let's Play organizing committee. If you are not planning on coming to Vancouver in October then you might as well delete this message right now. Everyone else should at least glance at it. Then delete it. Make sure you return those electrons for your deposit, however. This is going to be a green conference. (As always, an archive of this email will be kept at the "About IR 8.0" page on the AoIR wiki: http://wiki.aoir.org/index.php?title=About_IR8.0) Green Actually, that's no joke. I am putting extra effort into ensuring that this conference makes some attempt to be low impact on the environment. Since we're starting from such a deep hole - presumably you're all going to be burning up the ozone flying here to Vancouver - we have an obligation to try for best practice. What does this mean, to you? - we'll have organic, local food wherever possible and we will be sourcing ingredients for their proximity to the conference city. Coffee will be as shady and bird friendly as we can get it, and so will our fruits and juices. - paper and plastic will be at a minimum and we'll use the recycled version wherever possible. - there will be vegetarian options at all of the meals and breaks I am open to suggestions on how to make ourselves - within reason, of course - even "greener." I wonder if you would be interested in bringing your own badge, for example. I, for one, have a pile of them from previous conferences and could not only bring my own but a dozen extras for others. Anyone else interested in doing this? What else could we do? Back channel/E-presence One of the fun elements of an AoIR event is the lively and irreverant "backchannel" that seems to spring up each time. While it is probably too early to tell what social networking technology is going to be dominating the action this year - I've started creating links in a few of the usual places. The AoIR Wiki has a set of pages on the event, which you can find here: http://wiki.aoir.org/index.php?title=About_IR8.0 There is a facebook event listing here: http://sfu.facebook.com/event.php?eid=2265672192 There is a facebook group here: http://sfu.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2331171313 IRC has been used successfully in the past, and I suspect that twitter might be popular, too. Some people have managed a twitter/facebook melding, even. I was at a conference recently that started up and maintained for several weeks afterward (it may still be going on for all I know) a skype group text chat as a back channel. What about SecondLife? I am not the most adept SL person on the planet, but I can see how it might be fun to "meet" there while the event is on. There will be a SecondLife pre-conference workshop, and perhaps some of those people would be interested in constructing a virtual conference in SL. I can get architectural drawings, if you want them... Suggestions - and requests for infrastructure if necessary - most welcome in this regard. Or, I can just let it emerge, organically (get it) from the members. We will have good wireless access throughout the conference site and both nearby hotels and almost all nearby coffee houses, so you can 'back channel' to your heart's content if you bring a wireless device. Hotels Speaking of hotels, you should be thinking of where you want to stay. I have two recommendations to start with: Reasonably priced, and reasonably nice: Ramada Limited Hotel<http://www.google.ca/maps?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=vcR&q=ramada&near=Vancouver,+BC&radius=0.0&latlng=49250494,-123111934,7229601437381686947&sa=X&oi=local&ct=result&cd=2>- this one is just around the corner from the conference venue and I stay there myself when I need to be overnight in the city; free internet for guests, not fancy but includes a free breakfast. No views to speak of. Very nice, and a bit more expensive: Vancouver Delta Suites<http://www.google.ca/maps?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=az6&q=delta+suites&near=Vancouver,+BC&radius=0.0&latlng=49250494,-123111934,10908167219865160986&sa=X&oi=local&ct=result&cd=1>- this is directly across the street and would be considered the "conference hotel" if we had attached ourselves to them. I recommend this if you have a department paying for your stay and like a little nicer room and a view. Internet is available, but you have to pay by the day, and the breakfast - while excellent - is not free. I could dig up more places, and I certainly shall if anyone is interested, but those are good starting points. Remember, you are on your own to book a place, so get out there and do it, or you'll be scrambling at the last minute. And don't forget your boots and raincoat! Keynotes I mentioned two of the keynotes in my last update (Henry Jenkins and Cory Ondrejka) and I am pleased to announce our third keynote will be John Willinsky <http://www.lled.educ.ubc.ca/faculty/willinsky.htm>, of the University of British Columbia. John is leader of the public knowledge project (PKP) and a passionate and articulate spokesperson for open access to research and scholarship. His recent MIT Press book The Access Principle<http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=10611>has received rave reviews and Dr Willinsky "walks the talk" - his book is available in full text for download<http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/ebook.asp?ttype=2&tid=10611>. He is the person behind the highly successful open journal systems (OJS) software. You can read more about PKP and OJS here: http://pkp.sfu.ca/ Not only that, but he is a funny and entertaining speaker. Venue If you haven't finished your paper yet, let alone got your presentation slides in order, you might not be that interested in seeing where you're going to present. On the other hand, a virtual tour of the conference facility is just the kind of procrastination activity that can make dodging paper writing so rewarding. With that in mind, take a wander through the virtual tour of our conference venue here: http://www.harbour.sfu.ca/mecs/vr.htm Wasn't that fun? As ever, we continue to work tirelessly (little beavers, we are) for you in the background. If there is any aspect of the conference that you are concerned about, or wish to know more, do let me know. I look forward to seeing you all in October, in Vancouver. Warmest regards, ...r -- Richard Smith, Associate Professor School of Communication Simon Fraser University, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, CANADA V6B 5K3 Phone: 604 291 5116 Web: http://www.sfu.ca/~smith/<http://www.sfu.ca/%7Esmith/> New book!: http://arago.cprost.sfu.ca/smith/mawc