CACGP – Halifax 2010James R Drummond

james.drummond@dal.ca

902-494-2924

Objective

• To provide a conference environment that is:– Well managed– Able to accommodate all participants– Affordable to as many people as possible– Fosters interaction between groups

Why You Should Come to Halifax!

• A safe and secure environment

• Easy access from the US and from Europe

• Costs are low

• The site is very compact– All parts within easy (<1km) walking distance

• Halifax is in the middle of a major tourist region

Issues to Grapple With

• Timing of conference– Must be before 3rd week of August to avoid

university term– Time selected is 16-20 August 2010– Major Benefit: University accommodation is

very reasonable• Permits more people for the budget, especially

students

Planning Assumptions

• There will be one plenary session lasting five days• There will be one large poster session for five days

– perhaps excluding setup and tear-down time at the ends• There will be morning and afternoon coffee breaks• Lunch will be provided as part of the conference

package• Other meeting rooms will be available for splinter groups,

committees, etc.• The attendance at the conference will be approximately

500 people• There will be approximately 500 posters• There will be an icebreaker at the start of the conference• There will be a conference dinner

Pricing

• Prices are quoted in 2007 dollars as it is hard to estimate costs for 2010– Inflation in Canada is now about 2-3% pa

• Most services in Nova Scotia attract “Harmonised Sales Tax” (HST) of 14%.– This is normally charged as an extra item– For the purposes of the proposal HST is included in

prices• All prices are shown in Canadian dollars. The

prices in US dollars are slightly lower the exchange rate is $0.95US = $1CDN at present. The Euro exchange rate is E0.70 = $1CDN

Bidding Group

• Led by:– Prof. James Drummond

• Membership– To be decided, but icludes Randall Martin – Other members of the team will be drawn from Dalhousie

University, Environment Canada, and the Bedford Institute of Oceanography.

• Previous Experience– Organized and helped organize similar conferences in the past

• “IGAC-SPARC-GAW Conference on Global Measurement Systems for Atmospheric Composition”, Toronto, Canada May 20-22, 1997

• Several Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (CMOS) conferences.

• The CMOS conference will be in Halifax in 2009

Site Plan

• Plenary Sessions held in Cohn Auditorium– seats 1000

• Poster sessions held in:– Cohn building - 300– Student Union - 300

• Lunches will be provided in Howe Hall

• If the weather is good, breaks will be alternately in the Cohn and the Student Union to promote poster interaction – In case of bad weather, will

stay in Cohn

Cohn AuditoriumCohn AuditoriumHowe HallHowe Hall

Student UnionStudent Union

Accommodations

• Residence accommodation is available on the site. – Cost of: Single: $40.50/night/$243.00/week Double:

$63.90/night/$383.40/week. (Rooms have shared washroom facilities). The amenities are: linens and towels provided, coin-operated laundry facilities, weekly maid service, parking for $4/night per vehicle, lounges with cable televisions, in-room Internet access for $5/day or $20/week. Regular membership privileges to Dalplex athletic facility. Breakfast $7/day.

• Hotel Accommodation: – 2007 rates for local hotels such as the Lord Nelson (260 rooms, 1km),

Holiday Inn Select (232 rooms, 1km), Westin Nova Scotian (297 rooms, 2km), are in the range of $170 per night single or double including all taxes. There are a large number of hotels in the Halifax area, some within walking distance of the site and others, further out of the centre require the use of public transport or a car.

• There is sufficient accommodation in the vicinity of the site to accommodate all participants

Some of the Hotels Within Walking Distance

Holiday InnHoliday Inn

Lord NelsonLord Nelson

WestinWestin

Cambridge SuitesCambridge Suites

Waverley InnWaverley Inn

SheratonSheraton

Conference Dinner

• A number of possibilities including:– An “under canvas” dinner on Citadel Hill which is in the centre of

the city. This provides a unique location and experience for our guests.

– A lobster dinner (lobster is an Atlantic Canada speciality - alternatives will be provided for people who cannot eat lobster) in the Cunard Centre which is on the waterfront.

• Both of these possibilities have the advantage of being within walking distance of the conference venue and hotels and therefore there will be no transport issues either to or from the dinner – guests can leave when they wish in groups as large as they wish

Visa Issues

• Visas are required for some nationalities (See complete list in the accompanying documentation).

• Visas are NOT required for citizens of: – EU, US (including green card holders).

• In some cases letters of invitation are required, but these are not onerous.

• Generally Visas are not a serious issue

Health and Security

• Minimal issues– No health issues– Personal security is not a problem in Halifax

• Safe for both sexes to walk through the city at any hour of the day or night (if sensible precautions are taken).

• Property crime is at a similar low level.

Delegate Support• Support is divided into on-site support and off-site support.

The off-site support would provide for abstract submission, registration and payment. The on-site support would be provided locally and would deal with the conference operations, speaker and delegate support.

• On-site we will have both the local organizers, committee, and students as well as the Dalhousie Conference Services.

• Off-site For abstracts, registration, etc. we have two options:– The Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society operate an

annual scientific conference of about 500 people and have offered their services for abstract submission, registration, etc.

– Registration Solutions have organized a number of scientific conferences They have worked on conferences such as the “Canadian Association of Rehabilitative Professionals” and the “Global Microcredit Summit” as well as a psychology conference on the Dalhousie Campus this summer.

– Costs are comparable and a more detailed comparison will be performed to select between them.

Costs

• A serious effort has been made to control costs. • The final objective of this conference is to hold the

average registration fee to $400. • Without sponsorship, but including all costs including

lunches, we currently have an average cost of $450 per person (2007 dollars)

• We believe that combined with the low cost of on-site housing, this makes Halifax a low-cost, but fully functional destination.

• Details of the costs are given in accompanying document.

• We would hope to attract students to the conference by providing an attractive student registration fee and to provide the usual early incentive/late penalty for conference registration.

Sponsorship

• There are a number of opportunities for sponsorship in Canada– E.g Government departments at provincial and federl level,

foundations, private companies– getting a commitment 3+ years in advance proves difficult.

• Conference is initially costed as though it had no sponsorship (see above).

• Sponsorship – coffee breaks, icebreaker and the like– This can realistically reduce the average registration cost from

$450 (no sponsorship) to $400 or less and have a fund of approximately $30,000 for speaker/attendee support.

• The viability of this conference will be improved by sponsorship, but it is not essential.

Access

• Halifax airport is directly linked with:– Canada, US, Europe

• Carriers include:– Air Canada, United Airlines, Delta

Tourism

• Halifax and Nova Scotia are part of the Atlantic Canada Tourist area.

• Many opportunities exist for pre- and post- conference travel– e.g. Prince Edward Island, home of “Anne of Green Gables”)

and the entire Eastern seaboard of the US• During the conference, there are many attractions

– within walking distance • e.g Point Pleasant Park, Citadel Hill, museums, etc

– within a short car or tour • e.g. Peggy’s Cove, Lunenburg.

• A travel desk will be set up to assist with tour set up.• Halifax tourism at: http://www.destinationhalifax.com

Halifax Harbour Area

Peggy’s Cove

The Citadel, Halifax

The Eastern Seaboard

Prince Edward IslandNewfoundland

NewBrunswick

Nova Scotia

Other Issues

• If it were possible to divide the posters into two sessions (e.g. Monday-Tuesday + Wednesday-Thursday), then the posters could be in a single location and it would be possible to host the entire conference in the Cohn Centre.

• In that case there would be some significant economies for the budget that could be used to further reduce the registration fee and/or provide more travel support.

• This is not the proposed program, but is offered as a suggestion for further controlling costs.

Conclusions

• Halifax can accommodate the conference

• The facilities are compact

• The costs are affordable

• Access to the site is excellent

• On-site “milieu” is also excellent

• Other activities are available in profusion

• Halifax awaits your decision!