[MOBY-dev] MOBY-DIC IV hotel & travel information

[Mark Wilkinson]

Hi all!

Here are the details of where we are meeting and how to get there.

Most of you will be arriving on October 3rd and departing on the 6th
from the Vancouver International Airport (YVR: http://www.yvr.ca/). 
Your trip from the airport to the hotel is best made with the Vancouver
Airporter Shuttle bus, which runs every 40 minutes from the airport
right to the hotel door.  One-way fare is CA$12, but you are probably
best to get the return fare for CA$18 and you can use the same ticket to
get back to the airport on the 6th (http://www.yvrairporter.com/).  The
driver takes cash only (I think), so you should get some Canadian money
in the airport.

Tell the driver that you are going to the Wall Centre Hotel and he'll
tell you where to get off (http://www.sheratonwallcentre.com/).  If you
are renting a car, driving directions are here: 
http://www.starwood.com/sheraton/search/vicinity_enter.html?city=&stateProvince=&country=&postalCode=&hotelLocationType=&pOI=&arrivalDate=&departureDate=&lengthOfStay=&numberOfRooms=&numberOfAdults=&amenityType1=&amenityType2=&amenityType3=&nState1=&nState2=&nCity1=&nCity2=&requestedChainCode=&requestedAffiliationCode=&propertyID=709&returnURL=&promotionCode=&corporateAccountNumber=&rcdi=&iATANumber=&groupBlockID=&ratePlanName=&starwoodPreferredGuest=&fromSearch=&H=250&W=491
All rooms have high-speed net access for an additional daily charge. 
Your room is booked and paid for for the nights of the 3rd 4th, and
5th.  There will be additional fees for internet, telephone, extra
persons, etc. so you will need to bring a credit card with you for
incidentals when you check in.

The Wall Centre is right in the middle of downtown Vancouver, just a
couple of blocks from the world-famous Robson Street, Gastown, and
Canada Place docks.  For those who want to take a slightly longer walk,
head directly west from the hotel and you'll get to Stanley Park (about
20 blocks).  Based on my experience as a grad student in Vancouver, I
**strongly** advise you to bring an umbrella!!  :-)  About 6 blocks
north of the hotel, just before you get to the waterfront, is a street
called "Hastings".  If you are walking alone, day or night, you might
want to avoid going east on that street... west is fine, but east is a
bit dodgy...  Otherwise, you will find the city completely safe and
stunningly beautiful!  

On the northern downtown waterfront is a big red brick building with
white pillars.  This is the Sea Bus terminal - a regular bus fare
(~$2.00) will get you on and take you over the harbour to Lonsdale Quay,
a popular shopping district in North Vancouver.  You can also purchase
all-day transit tickets for ~$8.00.  Bus drivers accept exact cash fare
only, so be sure to have change on you.  If there is anything in
particular that you want to see or do in Vancouver send me an email and
I can help you find it.

Unfortunately, I wasn't quite able to cover the full cost of this
meeting from our MOBY budget, so I will need to charge a $100 fee from
everyone (even the local attendees) to cover the cost of food & coffee
breaks at the hotel.  I'll look after breakfast and lunch for everyone
on the 4th and 5th of October.  Suppertime is a free-for-all, and there
is no shortage of fantastic restaurants within walking distance of the
hotel.

Attached is the registration form indicating a variety of payment
methods.  Please fax the form back to Sophie so that she can keep track
of the budget.  She will also issue a receipt to you (even for those who
are paying me cash-in-hand).

I think that's all the information you will need.  If not, please
contact me.

We haven't settled on an agenda yet - Damian and I were discussing that
on the phone the other day.  I'm hoping that Heiko and Rebecca will
favour us with a presentation on their experiences with MOBY, and in
particular, the things they think are missing/badly structured :-)  (I
haven't told them this yet - Surprise!!)  

I'll put together an agenda over the next week or two.  Generally
speaking we'll have half-day of MOBY-S and half-day of S-MOBY on each of
the two days.

Cheers all!

Mark
-- 
Mark Wilkinson <markw at illuminae.com>
Illuminae
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