Sixth Meeting on Hot Subdwarf Stars and Related Objects
19-24 May 2013 in Tucson, Arizona
The online registration form and registration payment link are up and
running, ready for you to begin your registration (obviously some of
the pages will continue to evolve as people register and the details
of the scientific program are developed.)
Further details and additional links for the topics below may be found
under the registration and program tabs at the top of the sdob6 website.
Additional descriptions and suggestions for hotels and transportation
are included further down in this announcement.
If you have questions or wish to provide feedback on the website,
registration process, conference arrangements, etc, please email
Anyone who needs an invitation letter for a visa, funding, etc, may
also send email to sdob6@gmail.com, including your full name,
institution, postal address and, if you wish them to be included as
part of the invitation letter, the title and abstract for your
presentation. (These can be preliminary versions; your actual title
and abstract don't need to be submitted until mid-April.)
Meeting Location:
The meeting will be held in the large auditorium in the Steward
Observatory building complex on the campus of the University of Arizona
(933 N. Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721). On the conference website
home page, the auditorium is the multiple story brick building just to
the left of the big white dome in the righthand picture. The Cherry
Avenue entrance to Steward is on the far side of the brick building.
The welcome reception, coffee breaks and posters, etc, will either be
in the lobby of the Steward building and/or the courtyard between the
lobby and the auditorium.
Registration and Deadlines:
Early Registration ($400) by 14 April 2013
Late Registration ($450) 15 April to 15 May 2013
Registration fees must be paid online with a credit card.
Registration will not be completed without payment.
Title and Abstract submission before 20 April 2013
Participants may choose to present a talk or a poster. Subject to
available space, people giving talks may also present a poster,
and poster presenters could have a second poster. Availability
status for a second poster will be determined following the deadline
for title and abstract submission.
Hotel booking before 01 May 2013
See below for additional descriptions of conveniently located hotels.
Note that the deadline is 18 April to get the reduced Marriott rate,
and Aloft doesn't start accepting reservations until May 2.
Also, note that some of the hotels listed have comprehensive no
smoking policies.
Application for financial aid before 10 May 2013
(see below)
Registration for the meeting participants includes:
- conference meeting costs
- welcoming reception
- conference program, local maps, restaurant list
- a thumb drive containing abstracts of the talks and other info
- morning and afternoon coffee and refreshments
- afternoon tour of the University of Arizona Mirror Lab
- transportation and admission to the Desert Museum, for a special
behind-the-scenes tour and the conference banquet
- the conference proceedings volume
Depending on the number of conference participants, the registration
fee may also include one or more catered lunches at Steward. Aside from
those possible lunches and the conference banquet, participants will be
expected to find their own lunches and dinners. A map and list of local
restaurants will be provided in the welcome packet at check-in.
You may sign up additional guests for the Mirror Lab tour ($8/person)
and/or the Desert Museum tour and banquet ($90/person) by filling in the
necessary information on the registration form and payment form when you
register. (It is also possible to edit your registration to add guests
at a later time.)
Financial Aid:
We expect to be able to provide a small amount of financial assistance
for students and others in financial hardship situations. The
estimated amounts will be about $250 to $500, to be reimbursed during
or after the conference. Please submit requests for financial aid and
a brief explanation of your circumstances to Paula Nielsen at
pnielson@as.arizona.edu before 10 May.
Registration cancellation policy:
Cancellations must be emailed to pnielsen@as.arizona.edu
90% of registration fee can be returned for cancellations prior to April 15
50% of fee can be returned for cancellations prior to May 10
10% of fee can be returned for cancellations prior to May 15
Hotels and Ground Transportation:
Contact information for the hotels and ground transportation is
listed on the sdOB6 website (under Registration, Accommodation and
Travel to Tucson). Participants should deal directly with the hotels
and ground transportation companies. (The rates quoted on the the
conference website are the ones we were recently quoted, but we can't
100% guarantee that they still be exactly the same when you register.)
The closest hotel to Steward Observatory, ALoft, is brand new. Its
website says the hotel will open April 4 and will be accepting
reservations after May 2, thus there might be a bit of a gamble
involved. (After May 2, it will very probably still be possible to
get the UA rate at River Park Inn and the Radisson Inn (see below),
but the Marriot price will be considerably higher than the negotiated
rate prior to 18 April.)
There are two very small, very nice, bed and breakfasts and the
Marriott Hotel within easy walking distance of Steward Observatory,
but since they have so few rooms, it will be necessary to book early.
A special rate was negotiated at the Marriott for a block of ten
rooms, if you use the link on the website and make your reservations
made before April 18. Ten was the largest number of rooms we could get
without a binding contract, but if people who are interested in the
Marriott will make their reservations as early as possible, it's
very possible that we might be able to negotiate additional rooms at
the same rate.
Two other hotels, the Radisson Inn and River Park Inn are several
miles away, but both offer free shuttle service to the University,
given advance notice. Both indicated that morning and evening
shuttles directly to Steward Observatory could be arranged to
coordinate with our conference schedule. The River Park Inn is in
a less desirable location, right on the frontage road for the I-10
freeway, but otherwise seems to be a nice place; it is by far the
cheapest hotel. A third hotel, the Windmill Inn, would be best for
those with rental cars (parking garages on the UA campus are $8 per
full day.)
To get from the Tucson airport to the hotels, we recommend the Arizona
Stagecoach (click on shuttles and limos under ground transportation
on the Tucson airport website). The Stagecoach is a shared-ride
door-to-door van service with a counter in the airport baggage claim
area. The cost from the airport to university area hotels is about
$18/person one way or $29 round trip. They suggest you make a
reservation online, but it's often possible to just show up at the
counter after picking up baggage. Taxis are somewhat more expensive
(roughly $21 to $25 one way). At least one of the larger hotels also
has its own airport shuttle for $15 each way, if you reserve it with
the hotel in advance.
If anyone decides to fly to Phoenix instead, it takes about an hour
and 45 minutes to drive from the Phoenix airport to Tucson. Alternately,
Tucson Airport Shuttle (http://www.arizonashuttle.com/schedule) will
pick you up at the Phoenix airport and deliver you to three locations
in Tucson, one of which is on the southwest side of the University of
Arizona campus. The Phoenix to Tucson shuttle cost is $30 to $45 each
way, depending on the number in your party and whether you book online
at least a day in advance.
Car Rental
If you decide to rent a car, either for more flexibility while in
Tucson, or to visit the Grand Canyon or other places in Arizona before
or after the meeting, there is a link on the sdOB6 conference website
that will allow you to get the cheaper University of Arizona rate with
Enterprise Rental Cars. (Choose the option for Non Arizona Business
Travel.) Enterprise has a counter in the Tucson airport (and also
the Phoenix airport).
Social Programs
Welcome Reception 19 May, Sunday 16:00 to 18:00
A casual welcoming reception will be held in the lobby and courtyard
of Steward Observatory (same location as the meeting). Participants
are invited to check in and receive their welcome packet at this time.
Light finger food will be available.
Mirror Lab tour 22 May, Wednesday 14:00-16:00
https://www.as.arizona.edu/research/mirror_laboratory.html
The University of Arizona's innovative Mirror Laboratory produces
large high quality mirrors for some of the world's largest telescopes
using a unique spin-casting technique and cutting-edge optical
technology. The lab is currently working on mirrors for the next
generation of telescopes, including the Large Synoptic Survey
Telescope (LSST) and the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT).
Note: the Mirror Lab requires all guests to wear close-toed shoes
during tours for safety reasons. Cameras are permitted, but smoking
is not.
Desert Museum/Conference Banquet 23 May, Thursday 15:00-21:30
http://www.desertmuseum.org/
The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum is a world-renowned zoo, natural
history museum and botanical garden, all in one, specializing in the
biology, botany, and geology of the Sonoran Desert. We will charter
a couple of buses to get to the Desert Museum (about a 30 minute
drive from Steward Observatory). Once there, we will have a special
behind-the-scenes tour either before or after the conference dinner
(details are still being worked out), and there should be some time
afterwards to stroll through other sections of the Museum before the
buses take us back to Tucson.
