[Air-L] [IR8 - Let's Play! Vancouver.... Last email before the conference]

[Richard Smith]

Dear Air-ant academics,

If you thought you were going to get through the month of September  
without a missive from me, you were sadly mistaken. I am here, as  
always, to remind you that there are things relating to the  
Association of Internet Research conference that you have to pay  
attention to. Or, at least I HOPE you will pay attention to them. Not  
much, as it turns out, is left unsaid and I think you can safely  
assume that you won't hear from me again until I am toasting you at  
the welcoming reception (Wednesday evening, October 17, first 100  
people get a free beverage...).

OK, so why the email? Here are the remaining things, in order of  
importance:

CANCELLATIONS:

If you have a paper accepted and it is in the schedule then you MUST  
register AND show up. We really don't want a bunch of last minute  
cancellations at the last minute. Please. Professional courtesy - to  
us as organizers, and to your colleagues who may have come from  
around the world to see you - requires that you withdraw if you can't  
make it. If you are *not* going to be there - and you surely must  
know by now - then send Mia an email and she can take you off the  
program and I can cancel that lovely cappuccino and cake that we had  
saved for you. Not to mention the slice of pie we've been keeping in  
the back of the fridge. The teenagers want it!

PROGRAM:

The schedule is on the wiki (check out http://wiki.aoir.org) and it  
contains your paper, slotted into a presentation (if you submitted a  
paper and had it accepted, that is). Check the listing. Make sure we  
have your name spelled correctly. Is your title correct? We will be  
printing what you see in that spreadsheet, so don't be shy if you  
think there is a mistake. And if you don't think you should be listed  
(because you aren't coming, see above, then let us know now).

LOCATION:

Although this is in the web site and must have been mentioned here a  
few times, let's get this in, just in case you have forgotten. The  
conference is in downtown Vancouver, CANADA, at the Vancouver campus  
of Simon Fraser University. The street address is 515 West Hastings  
Street, V6B 5K3. You can tell any cab driver "Hastings and Seymour"  
or "Hastings and Richards St" and he /she will get you there. The  
Delta Hotel is right across the street and the Ramada is around the  
corner ("Ramada,on Pender near Richards St" you can tell your cab  
driver and look like a local).

HOTELS:

If you haven't booked your hotel yet, do it soon. I hear there are  
only 10 rooms left at the Delta. You will want a place to stay in  
Vancouver. Have you been watching the Pacific North West's weather  
(sunny and warm for the past 10 days) on the weather channel and  
thinking you'll sleep in the park? Don't count on it. We'll have a  
rain storm for sure, then. Get a nice room, spoil yourself. You know  
you want to.

PIE:

If you haven't discovered it already, there if a Facebook group  
dedicated to the conference and another group dedicated just to *pie*  
at the conference. You might think this is a silly thing, and  
entirely frivolous, but then you'd be .... correct. It is silly. But  
silly and sweet aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, and you will  
find the pie group friendly, fun, and ready for a big feed. There is  
a rumour that people who show up early (Tues evening) can get treated  
to some great pie, courtesy of the conference organizer. I don't know  
how that rumour got started, but I am packing a bib and a fork in my  
luggage. If you get in early, get in touch (SMS, Skype, email...  
whatever).

QUESTIONS:

If you have them, then ask. Don't be afraid. Don't worry that my  
email box is filling up (of *course* my email box is filling up), I  
am a professional. I can handle it. If you get to town and don't know  
where you are or what you're doing, give me a call. Here is my cell  
phone: 604 715 9916. Regular phone and skype are in the signature,  
below.

That's all for now, folks. See you in October.

...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