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GENERAL INFORMATION
Update: Conference registration materials will be sent
out via first class mail the week of May 3. If you are not on
the active membership last (i.e., receiving newsletters), please
use the link below to request your materials by snail mail.
Plan now to join us in Richland, Washington when the Guild
of Natural Science Illustrators meets for its annual international
meeting, August 7-14, 1999. We're gearing up for a dynamite schedule
of workshops, presentations, and fieldtrips. Registration packets
will be out in the first part of May, but for planning and budgeting,
here's the rundown on the program and financial aspects:
We are pleased to announce an exciting association with the
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), which is operated
by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy. PNNL is at the
forefront of environmental research and technology; their
scientists represent disciplines from botany, fisheries and
archaeology, to environmental engineering, molecular visualization
and astronomy. An impressive facility, PNNL is pleased to be involved with what will be a true collaboration
of art and science.
Our hotels are an easy five-minute drive from the WSU-TriCities
campus and PNNL, where most of our sessions and computer workshops
will be held. Traditional workshops will be held within a 5-minute
walk of the hotels.
Blocks of rooms have been reserved at the DoubleTree-Hanford
House, located alongside a lovely park on the Columbia River, and the Richland
Inn, which is two blocks away, situated alongside good Mexican
and Greek restaurants. (There are plenty of restaurants and pubs
within a five or ten-minute walk of either hotel, running the
gamut from fast food to gourmet, all casual.) To reserve a hotel
room, call either the DoubleTree-Hanford House (by July 23) at
1-509-946-7611, or The Richland Inn (by July 1) at 1-888-943-9406.
Both inns have outdoor pools and accept credit card deposits.
Be sure to tell them you're with the GNSI Meeting.
Room rates (per person) will run from about $25 to $42 per
night, double occupancy, or from $45 to $77 per night, single
occupancy, and include a light breakfast. (Prices include 10%
tax) There will be plenty of free parking both room side (and
on campus), as well as a free shuttle service between the airport
and hotels, and between the hotels and PNNL/WSU campus. A limited
number of opportunities to stay as guests in the homes of friends
will be available, if needed.
The registration fee for the core conference is $145, and
will include two catered lunches, the Annual Banquet dinner,
to be at the Columbia Crest winery, and of course 3 other evenings
of food associated with planned activities. Add this to a stout
daytime core conference schedule, and you'll see a lot
of bang for your buck.
Field trips will range from day-long geology tours with frequent
stops, to short two-hour trips within about a twenty minute drive.
Prices will stay in line with what they have been before, ranging
from minimal to about $45, depending on what is involved to cover
expenses. In addition, a printed field trip guide will be available
for those who want to get out on their own to explore.
Three days of workshops are scheduled, and workshop prices
will remain at about what they have been, from $35 for a half
day to about $70-75 per whole day. Extended workshops will be
figured on that basis, as well.
While the newsletter should be considered to be the final
authority on any conference information, feel free to check (http://aureliapress.com)
for updates and links to information on other items of interest,
such as the geology and natural history of the area, and for
links to other natural attractions of the Pacific Northwest.
Just click the GNSI meeting logo on the home page, and go from
there (web page design courtesy of Emil Huston, Web Site
Developer Extraordinaire).
Conference arrival and check-in starts on Saturday, the 7th
of August. We'll unofficially kick off the meeting that evening
with a kegger and informal musical jam session, featuring The
Ratfish Brothers! You may have heard their soundtrack from Ray
Troll's traveling museum exhibit, Dancin' to the Fossil Record,
and been tempted to kick up your heels. Ray Troll himself, our
keynote speaker, and his pal from here in Richland, Russell Wodehouse,
combine rock 'n roll, ichthyology, humor, and good art for a
most entertaining show. In addition, many of our membership are
musically very talented - if that includes you, polish up your
act, bring your instrument if you can, and we'll see what happens.
(A piano, cello, violin, and guitars will be supplied, so no
excuses!) Attendance is optional, but who would want to miss
something like this?
The Tri-Cities Airport in Pasco is only 15 minutes from the
hotels, and is serviced by United, Northwest, Alaska, and Horizon
out of Seattle and Portland; and by Delta out of Salt Lake City.
Rental cars are available at the airport; the is free airport
shuttle service, as well. The drive from Portland or Seattle is
about three and one half hours, and from Spokane, about two hours.
The final scheduling of every presentation is not yet in place,
but for basic planning, listed below is what we have so far.
Not everything has been assigned a time slot, and the list is
not necessarily complete. And of course, things are subject to
change. |
