Dear Media Giraffe Summit Attendee/Participant:
Welcome to the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Mass., and to the Democracy and Independence: Sharing News and Politics in a Connected World summit/conference. In this packet you will find numerous items to help you navigate through the following days’ activities.
This note covers some additional information which may not have been included in the emails you all received:
Included with the physical copy of this letter please find:
Ø This letter with important information regarding dorm housing, parking etc…
Ø A copy of the conference schedule (please note all events listed as Campus Center 10th Floor have been moved to the Campus Center Auditorium)
Ø An Amherst & Area Restaurant List
Ø A campus map with areas pertaining to you circled for easy viewing
Ø A list of all participants in the conference
Ø A campus map that shows the wireless connectivity areas
LATE UPDATES
For program updates, to network with other attendees on your plans for traveling home or for post-conference recreation, and for links to all other resources, please bookmark the summit home page:
http://www.mediagiraffe.org/
From there will be key links to the conference blog, to other bloggers, to the summit wiki, and to specific pages for each session.
BLOG AND WIKI
The MGP2006 conference blog is active and we invite you to add comments to the posts. The address is: http://newshare.typepad.com/mgp2006/
There is also an interactive wiki for all attendees to use and edit. The address is:
http://www.mediagiraffe.org/wiki
Every summit and conference session has its own page to add speaker/participant information, and for links and citations to resources. You can also add comments and suggestions on the session. Link to any session from:
http://www.mediagiraffe.org/sessions
We ask that you to tag your Flickr pictures and blip.tv videos with "mgp2006". Also please tag your del.icio.us links and blog posts with "mgp2006" to help organize the content and media produced at the conference, so that it is searchable on the web.
BOOKS/EXHIBITORS/LITERATURE
The Campus Center Store is staffing a book table in the Campus Center Lower Concourse (outside meeting rooms) including books for sale authored by some of the summit participants.
In the Campus Center Reading Room, on the Concourse level next to the Media Café, we’ve established a zone for exhibitors to display services and literature. In addition, if you have literature or handouts you would like to leave behind following a session, there is a bookshelf in the front right of the CC Reading Room where you may leave materials for other participants to find.
MESSAGES / PHONE CONTACTS
Please use the conference online message board, reached from the home page above, to post and receive messages among fellow conference participants. If you have an emergency or urgent message you may try any of these numbers and we’ll do our best to help in any way we can:
Media Giraffe Project office: 413-577-4370
Bill Densmore, MGP director/editor 617-448-6600
Emily Moses, conference manager 617-332-3625
Mike Deehan, A/V tech specialist 781-974-7878
Conference Registrar 413-545-0172
Gorman Hall dorm (emergency only) 413-545-3270
Campus Center Hotel 413-549-6000
Conference Services 413-545-2591
DORMITORY LODGING
If you have chosen the dorm option you will be staying in the Gorman Hall dormitory found on the map included. You may check into the dorm beginning at 12 p.m. Wednesday, June 28th. Checkout is Saturday, July 1st by 5 p.m. (If you need earlier access, or want to stay after Friday night, options are available – contact conference registrar Shelley Gibbons at 413-545-0172.) Please visit the Housing table at registration to receive your room key and access card. The desk at your dorm is manned 24/7 so please see the desk clerk with questions regarding your room.
WIRELESS AND WIRED INTERNET
Your temporary ID for using wired/wireless Internet on campus is available now if you submitted an access-request form earlier. If not, you can obtain access by filling out a short form during conference check-in periods at the registration desk. Wireless access is available throughout the Campus Center and most campus buildings. Only WIRED access is available in the Gorman dorm. Please see Yvette at the OIT table in order to receive your username and UMAccess password. The UMass Daily Collegian student newspaper is providing a number of terminals for checking email during the daytime. Enter The Collegian newsroom from the west end of the lower concourse where most meetings are taking place.
FOOD OPTIONS
We’ve established the Media Café, with coffee, teas, juices and soft drinks, plus pasteries, cookies, sweets and some light sandwiches, on the Campus Center Concourrse Level across from the BlueWall Café. Food and drink is available for a la carte cash purchase in a café-style environment for discuss and meeting. There is also a computer station for viewing websites or playing multimedia, or for checking email.
For conference participants who chose a NO FOOD registration option, the following Campus Center Retail Dining Options are available during your stay:
Wednesday, June 28th – Friday, June 30th
Market Place Café 8am-2pm Breakfast & Lunch
Bluewall Café 7:30am-2pm Coffee, Pastries
Bluewall Café Eatery 11am-8pm Lunch & Dinner
Saturday, July 1st
Bluewall Café Eatery 8am-8pm Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
PARKING
There are multiple options available to you for parking while attending the conference. At registration, at the dorm check-in desk or from the conference chairperson you may pick up a Goldenrod Lot pass. This pass is free of charge and is good for 6 different lots on campus. You need only to fill out your name and license plate number and leave the pass on your dashboard. Please see the enclosed maps for the lots closest to Gorman dorm and the Campus Center area. If you don’t mind a walk this is the option for you.
For those that are staying in the hotel as well as those staying in the dorms that prefer to park in the garage there are discounted passes available at registration and hotel check-in. These passes discount the garage rate to $5/day per car in the garage. The pass is punched for the conference dates. When you exit you will show the parking attendant this pass as well as the ticket you received upon your arrival at which time you will pay the full amount due for the number of days punched. The attendant will give this back to you with a receipt attached, you may come in and out as you please but retain the ticket until the last day you plan to exit the garage.
- “No-fee” ATM machines maintained by Bank of America are available in the Campus Center Lower Level (near meeting rooms).
- The local PVTA buses will be running during your conference, schedules can be found at the information desk on the 2nd floor.
- Peter Pan Bus tickets can be purchased on the 3rd floor at the Hotel Desk from 8am-8pm. for bus service to Springfield, Mass., Boston and other points.
- For ground van transportation to and from airports you can contact The Valley Transporter at 413-253-1350.
Please enjoy your time here at UMass and best wishes for an enjoyable and enriching conference. If there is anything we’ve forgotten which will make you rstay more pleasant, please call or email me.
Sincerely,
Molly M. Hudson (413-545-2591)
Conference Coordinator
University Conference Services
mhudson@mail.aux.umass.edu
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