Mark your calendars: January 30 – February 2, 2013
We’re excited about ScienceOnline2013 and we’re making lots of plans. So we thought you might like to be in on some of the info early. You know, so you can make plans!
Here’s the scoop:
Schedule
We’re starting ScienceOnline2013 on Wed night, Jan 30th and we’ll be having an evening of fun to kick off the un-conference. We’ll have sessions through Saturday afternoon.
NEW this year: Pre-conference workshops. We wanted to maintain the un-conference format for the regular sessions, but there are some topics that need in-depth instruction, hands-on time, or one-on-one mentoring. So, on Wednesday afternoon BEFORE the conference, we’ll have optional Workshops. Right now we’re planning three 3-hr workshops and four 1.5-hr workshops. The 3-hr workshops will run all afternoon (1:00-4:30pm, with a half hour break). There will be two afternoon slots for the 1.5-hr workshops (probably 1:00-2:30pm and 3:00-4:30pm) Topics, fee (to cover the extra costs for rooms, equipment, etc), and schedule will be available after everyone registers. Then it will be first-come, first-served for signing up. We plan to make these reasonably small sessions so that you can learn by doing.
If you don’t want to participate in a Wednesday workshop (or if the workshops are full), this is the same time that you can arrange to take a local tour or check out some other local activities. We’re not arranging tours this year for you, but we’ll have a place on the wiki for people to coordinate, share ideas, etc.
We have some fun evening events in the works for Wednesday and Thursday nights, but instead of a banquet for Friday night, we’re returning to a dinner-on-your-own evening so that you can explore downtown Raleigh’s restaurants. By Friday, we hope you will have met some new friends and be inspired by the sessions to keep conversations going. We’ll help you find the best restaurants–most are within walking distance of our ScienceOnline hotel.
Speaking of HOTEL
We’ve got enough room for all of us to stay together this year at a terrific hotel, in a terrific location, with a terrific bar (!) for late night socializing. We’ll be staying at the Raleigh Marriott City Center, located in downtown Raleigh. Our special rate includes wifi and we want to encourage everyone to stay together in the one hotel. We’d like to also encourage locals to stay in the hotel so that you can be a part of the evening fun and feel more a part of the community spirit. The ScienceOnline2013 rate is $135 per night. Don’t register yet–we’ll have a special code to give to everyone who successfully registers.
And, check out the bar! It’s a great place for late-night gatherings. The hotel restaurant even serves the bar area with food until late in the evening. We hope we will see another #SciSweetup (bring your best–and crazy–chocolate confections) and maybe another candy poker game will take place. We’re also looking for a way to continue our Open Mic tradition. Stay tuned for more info!
REGISTRATION
Yes, we know that there are more people who want to come than we have room for. But the reason that we keep the size limited (450 people) is so that the conversation, camaraderie, and collaborations are maximized.
Registration will start on September 17th, and we’ll have a few windows for registration to accommodate different time zones. We’re making registration easier by asking for a minimum of information before we send you to the payment page. Once you are officially registered, we’ll re-direct you to another page to give us more registration details at a more leisurely pace.
Your cost to registration for ScienceOnline2013 is $200 (NOTE: the actual cost to cover all the conference expenses is more than your registration and we rely on our generous sponsors and supporters to make the conference affordable for you! You can help by connecting the organizers to potential sponsors, donors, and corporate partners). Registration includes the conference venue, all regular sessions (Wednesday workshops are extra), many of your meals, and more! We will have breakfast on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Lunch is provided on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and evening food is covered for Thursday at a special yet-to-be announced event. We are still planning the details of the Wednesday night opening, but we will surely have adult beverages and hors d’oeuvres. You will be covering your own costs for dinner on Friday. And of course, coffee, other beverages, and snacks will be available throughout the three days.
Details for registration and the full program will be made available prior to the opening of registration so that you can decide about attending.
If you have questions, feel free to email Karyn!
- Join our mailing list
- Follow the Twitter hashtags #scio12 and #scio13
- Add your program ideas to the planning wiki
- New to ScienceOnline? Learn about our conferences here
- Wrap up post about ScienceOnline2012 by Bora
Organizations, foundations and companies interested in sponsoring the conference are encouraged to contact us.
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