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Re: [mpi-21] Logistics of the face-to-face meetings



Avneesh Pant from NCSA asked if I could reply to the list for him that he would like to attend the January Forum meeting as well (he's on vacation with only limited access to e-mail).



On Nov 20, 2007, at 10:21 AM, Richard Graham wrote:

I need input from people as soon as possible on this. It turns out that we
can get a block of 35 rooms at the Courtyard O'Hare for $119 per night, in
both Jan and March, which is $20 lower than the government rate. The kicker
is that the meeting room is $400 per day, or $1200 for the two half days,
and the full day. The rate is the same at the other hotels in the area. On
top of that there is the cost of snacks and drinks (which I don't mind
picking up, to keep the cost down). It has been suggested that we hold the
meeting a bit away from the airport, where meeting rooms may be cheaper,
what is people's opinion ? Several of us are looking to see if we can find
sponsors to pay for the meeting room, so it may end up not being as big of
an issue. (Actually, are there organizations that would be willing to pay
for one meeting ?)


Also, to get the lower rate, we basically have to commit to fill the 35
rooms. In Reno there were about 25 people that indicated they would need a
hotel room, and I know that there were several people that did not come to
the meeting, who do intend to participate. Can we get a "show of hands" on
how many people will actually attend ?


Finally, rates will go up as we get into the "high season". In the previous
e-mail I posted about logistics, I listed potential meeting dates for the
rest of the year. If we can go ahead and firm these up, we can include
these in the hotel contract, for better rates. What do people think about
this ? Also, if we go ahead with this, what do people think about having
the August meeting in early Sept in Europe, in conjunction with the Euro
PVM/MPI conference, to ease travel on the Europeans, while many of us are
already in Europe for this meeting ?


Thanks,
Rich


--
Jeff Squyres
Cisco Systems