Dear AoIR 8 ("Let's Play!) delegates, The program is printed, the food is ordered, the extra security has been arranged. All is set for your edification and amusement next week in Vancouver. All we need now are the nerds (Ahem, Internet Researchers...), so get those suitcases packed and hop on a plane. I have received a few inquiries about various logistical matters and hope to clear many of them up in this email. If you have other questions, however, don't hesitate to contact me. 0. Registration The registration will be open on a limited basis on Wednesday, October 17, to process folks who arrive early for the workshops. If you get into town during the day on Wednesday, drop in and pick up your bag, but after 9:30 when the workshop folks will be in their sessions, please. Registration is in the front hallway, just as you come into the building at 515 West Hastings Street. It will be open 8-4 the rest of the conference. 1. Presentations There is a computer and LCD projector - with proper external speakers - in every room. No need to bring your own laptop, and in fact you will find it easier and simpler to just bring your presentation on a CD or USB stick/drive. There is an old fashioned overhead projector in every room, as well. 2. Coffee We will have coffee and *some* snacks before the event begins each morning, and then again at 10am and 3pm. Remember, the first session is at 8:30am... so don't sleep in! 3. Lunch Lunch is provided. You are welcome to use your lunch time - we scheduled 90 minutes for lunch - to go outside, but a modest lunch buffet will be available for all delegates. 4. Reception There is an opening reception on Wednesday, October 17, starting at 7pm. The reception is sponsored by University of Washington's School of Communication. We've had a larger than expected number of people indicate that they were coming, so we've tried to lay on a bit more snacks and wine, but please be understanding if there is no more free booze when you get here. The bar will stay open, on a cash basis, until 9pm. Then you are on your own. Have fun, but be safe. 5. Banquet The banquet is an extra cost option, which many of you did select, but it is now sold out. Numerous other dining and entertainment options exist in Vancouver - a tourist guide will be in your conference pack - and our registration staff will be happy to make suggestions. Most downtown things are easily walkable from the conference site. 6. Internet Yes, we will have (wired and wireless) internet connections available for those of you with your own laptops. An instruction guide with user ID and password for the campus network is in the back of your badge holder. A limited number of workstations available in the computer labs for those of you who do not have a computer with you. Please give (anxious about midterms) students priority in those labs, however. 7. Crowds We have had a large response and it is possible that your presentation room or the keynote will be over full. Please be patient. In some cases we may be able to move to a larger room, but in other situations you might have to crowd in or go to another session. If that happens, look on the bright side: at least our research area is sufficiently popular to create a crowd! 8. Program The program is available through the AoIR wiki: http://wiki.aoir.org/ index.php?title=About_IR8.0 and you can also download the complete program from my personal web space, here: http://www.sfu.ca/~smith/ AoIR2007ProgramOct11.pdf You will find a "conference at a glance in the program and in the back of your badge-holder, or you can memorize this pattern: parallel sessions, coffee, keynote, lunch, parallel sessions, coffee, parallel sessions. That is the order of things on Thursday and Saturday. On Friday, our keynote is in the afternoon so the pattern is slightly altered: parallel sessions, coffee, parallel sessions, lunch, parallel sessions, coffee, keynote. 9. AGM The Annual General Meeting begins promptly at 5pm in room 1900, following Henry Jenkins' keynote address. If you don't wish to participate in the AGM, kindly exit to the lobby, where Dr Jenkins will be available for a few minutes following his talk. 10. Tags Internet researchers understand the value of ad-hoc networks, and I encourage you to create delicious tags, twitter tags, jaiku tags, flickr tags, irc channels, skype message groups, whatever... aoir8 is a distinctive and easily used "tag" and might suit your needs and help others find you. I don't have an official photographer for this event (yet) but I hope that a few of you might bring your cameras. 11. Weather Vancouver in the fall is cool (10-15 degrees celsius, or mid-50s for those in Farenheit) and a high probability of showers. Dress warmly, bring a waterproof jacket, and shoes that you can walk in the rain in and not have wet feet. You'll have more fun. I can't think of anything more, so I will send this off now. I hope you have a safe and pleasant trip to Vancouver and that your hotel arrangements are comfortable, and I look forward to seeing you all here next week. ...r -- Richard Smith, Professor, School of Communication Simon Fraser University, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, CANADA V6B 5K3 New phone number: +1 778 782 5116 Web: http://www.sfu.ca/~smith/ Skype - callto://richard_k_smith New book: http://arago.cprost.sfu.ca/smith/mawc