Working on the details

We just had a new meeting with Louise from Limerick Travel, who will take care of the conference logistics on our behalf. They will be in charge with the registration and will help us organise both the conference and the social events. We went through the current scenario and examined costs, the timeline and responsibilities; I guess we spoke about almost everything: conference bags, student volunteers, both budget and posh accommodation, Limerick city and area attractions..

Everything sounds great - we even joked about some magic boat to bring the guests from the Hilton to the City Hall crossing the Shannon;-) Canoes are available, but I assume there aren't many guests who would like to get wet...

We would be happy if you'd drop a line here about what went wrong in the previous editions - and we'll do our best to perform!

The social events...

We have now a better idea about what will happen in the evenings.

For Tuesday, September 25, there will be a welcome reception at the Georgian House, one of the tourist attractions in Limerick. Our guests will get the chance to visit the house and the garden and meet other participants, in the charming atmosphere of that venue. There is no big room in the house that could accommodate all the guests at one time, but there's an audio installation that will allow everyone to hear the welcome speech while wandering around with a glass of wine!

On Wednesday, September 26, we will be welcomed by the Mayor of Limerick at the City Hall for a civic reception. If the weather is nice, it will be a delight to have a stroll by the Shannon and admire the Hilton from the opposite side!

On Thursday, September 26, we're out to the Dromoland Castle, for a walk on the domain and the official conference dinner. This is likely to be an unforgettable event for our guests, as the place is pretty unique...

And of course, for those who come early, there's always something happening in the city - we'll prepare a list of recommendations for Monday evening closer to the time.

For those who want to stay over for the following week-end, Limerick Travel promised to put together a list of half-day or one-day trips to fit every budget and every interests!

The new Hilton - more comments

As mentioned in the previous post, we arranged a visit at the-Limerick-Hilton-to-be.

Here's an excerpt from Lui's notes, edited by Gabriela :

The main restaurant, bistro and bar on the ground floor:
Here's where we'll have lunch during the conference. We're planning a buffet bar, because this would give people a wide choice of food, and avoid long waiting times. We're probably going to have a long queue to the buffet bar but there is really nothing to do about that. If the weather is nice, the terraces could be nice gathering spots around lunchtime. People will have to be seated throughout the 3 spaces of the bar, restaurant and bistro to eat, but this will give them the chance to form smaller groups scattered around.

During the first two days(workshop days), we can reserve one of the spaces for the lunch, as there will be less people. Another option would be to arrange lunch on the 7th floor during the first two days.

The 7th floor:
There are 10 meeting rooms of different sizes on this floor, and four other on the 6th floor.
All the rooms have TV plasma screens that can be connected to laptops for both video and sound.
This floor has a separate common area/lobby. I think that the coffee breaks during the workshop days should take place there. The roof terrace will also be a nice feature if the weather is good and might encourage some of the groups to work outdoors for a little while. Overall I was very impressed with this floor. I particularly liked the fact that the meeting rooms have plenty of natural light. The potential risk is that the view will be a distraction!

The Lower level
The main conference room is very big. I think the plan of using 2/3 or it and having 1/3 sectioned off for posters would probably use the space in a good way. Of course we could decide to have the posters just outside in the dedicated lobby, where coffee will be served during breaks, but it might get crowded. The dedicated lobby could also host the registration desk during the main conference. This area has a separate outdoors courtyard - a quiet and close by place for getting some fresh air (probably a blessing for the smokers too!)

The main room will need one projector with good resolution as the projection surface will be quite large, and microphones. We should also get a platform/stage set up for speakers, panelists, etc. as the room is so large it might get difficult to see the speakers otherwise.