A Population Explosion:
The Nature and Evolution of X-ray Binaries in Diverse Environments
28 October - 2 November 2007
St. Petersburg Beach, Florida
Third Announcement
This is the third announcement of an international astronomy meeting entitled "A Population Explosion: The Nature and Evolution of X-ray Binaries in Diverse Environments", which will take place from 28 October to 2 November in St. Petersburg Beach, Florida. We are very pleased with the large number of excellent abstracts which have been submitted!
Contents of this Announcement
1. Information about Talks and Posters
2. Deadlines
3. Social Events at the Conference
4. Hotel Information and Deadlines
5. Contact Information
Information about Talks and Posters
We have received over 100 abstracts for this conference! An updated schedule showing the topics for each session of the meeting is now available on our webpage, as is a list of confirmed conference participants. In early August we will provide a list of all submitted abstract titles and authors on the webpage as well.
The SOC has selected abstracts for presentation as contributed talks, and we are currently in the process of contacting all speakers. We were more than two times oversubscribed in talk requests. We request that all speakers who have not done so already please register for the meeting by Monday, 6 August (or contact us via email by then if you will be unable to meet this deadline). By the end of August we will put a complete schedule of the talks on the conference website.
Poster presenters will be contacted within the next few weeks. All abstracts originally submitted as poster presentations have been accepted. All posters will be on display for the full duration of the meeting. Posters should have a maximum width of 34 inches/86.4 cm and a maximum height of 48 inches/121.9 cm. These dimensions will accommodate ANSI E (US) and A0 (European) size posters in portrait format. All authors who are presenting a poster will have the opportunity during the meeting to do an oral 'poster pop' during the regular sessions. These pops will be 2 minutes long, accompanied by 1 slide - we will ask you to provide the slide to the conference organizers the week before the meeting so that we can pre-load all pops onto the conference laptops. This will give you the opportunity to highlight the main results of your study, and 'advertise' your poster to the full conference audience.
We will continue to accept late poster abstracts *only* through the registration deadline of 15 August. If you wish to submit a poster abstract, please do so using the links for abstract submission on our website. Poster abstracts submitted after 15 August may be accepted at the discretion of the SOC.
Deadlines
Late poster abstract submission: 15 August
Late Registration ($390): 15 August
Hotel booking: 14 September
Social Events
The conference registration fee includes a welcome reception on Sunday evening (28 Oct) and the conference banquet on Thursday night (1 Nov), as well as morning and afternoon coffee breaks. Additional reception and banquet tickets can be purchased for guests; the cost is $30 for the reception and $60 for the banquet. Please let us know by email if you would like to purchase a guest ticket for either of these events. Guest tickets for the banquet may be available for purchase during the meeting, but all guest tickets for the opening reception should be purchased in advance.
If you are staying at the conference hotel (the TradeWinds), the hotel room rate includes access to many recreational amenities provided by the hotel, including the Fitness Center, Aerobics classes, use of the tennis courts, volleyball nets, paddleboats, and water trykes.
The afternoon of Wednesday, 31 October is scheduled as a free afternoon. We have two possibilities for group excursions that afternoon (for an additional fee), and we would like to assess the level of interest in these options. Please let us know via email by the end of August if either of these options would be of interest to you, and if so, which you would prefer:
1. Group guided tour of the Salvador Dali Museum. This museum houses the finest collection of works by Dali outside of Spain.
2. Boat cruise on the Gulf of Mexico - possibilities include snorkeling and dolphin watching.
If there is sufficient interest in one or both excursions, further details will be provided in a subsequent announcement.
Hotel Information & Deadlines
The Conference will take place at The TradeWinds Island Resort, a beachfront conference resort hotel on the island of St. Petersburg Beach. St. Petersburg Beach is a city on the Gulf Coast of Florida, located 30 miles west of Tampa and 120 miles west of Orlando.
To reserve your hotel room at the conference rate, please make your hotel booking no later than Friday, 14 September! Please note that late October is the beginning of the 'high season' in Florida, so we recommend that you make your hotel booking as soon as possible. Reservations can be cancelled at any time up to 2 days before the first night of your booking, so we encourage you to make your reservations now.
The conference rate is $169/night (plus tax) for up to two adults (plus two children) per room, which includes internet access (both in bedrooms and meeting rooms), parking at the hotel, business center computers and fax machine, and access to all hotel amenities. The $169+tax/night rate applies to the 'Standard' rooms - upgrades are available to Tropical rooms ($179), Gulf View rooms ($194), and Standard or Tropical Suites ($189/$199). The suites are family-friendly and would also be ideal for sharers. All rooms have microwaves, coffee makers, and refrigerators which should also be helpful for families, and those of us who hate getting up for breakfast!
To make your reservations at the TradeWinds, please call 1-800-808-9833 (within the US), or 1-727-367-6461 (from outside the US). Alternatively you can send a fax to 1-727-363-222 or email groupreservations at twresort.com. In all cases, state that you are attending the "Population Explosion" meeting in order to get the conference rate.
If you are interested in sharing a room and are looking for a roommate, please email us so we can assist in matching people up.
Contact
For further information or inquiries about the conference, please email xraybinary at astro.ufl.edu.
We look forward to having a fun and productive conference!
Sincerely,
Reba Bandyopadhyay
Stefanie Wachter
Dawn Gelino
On behalf of the SOC & LOC for “A Population Explosion”
