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March 09, 2006
Getting to the Hotel
Those of you new to the conference might be wondering how you get from the airport to the hotel. Thankfully, the hotel is only a few minutes away from the airport; if you have a window seat on the plane, you might be able to see the distinctive yellow building from the end of the runway.
If you want to take a cab to the hotel, it should only cost about five dollars. There's also a free hotel shuttle, which might take a little longer (sometimes it's very prompt, sometimes not so much).
When you're in the baggage claims area of the airport terminals, turn your back on the carousel and you'll see a bank of phones, with numbered ads for hotels, rent-a-car places, and cab companies. The phones also list the hotel names on a little plaque next to the phone, if you don't feel like looking at all the ads to find the right number for our hotel. You're looking for the Wyndham Fort Lauderdale Airport Hotel; once you have the number, pick up the phone and dial, and you'll be connected to the hotel desk.
Ask for the shuttle, and you'll be connected to the guy outside the hotel who handles the shuttle vans. You'll be asked what terminal you're in (or what airline you've arrived on) and will then be given directions for leaving the terminal and finding the shuttle stand (they have signposts with 'hotel' on them). Then you can watch cars, cabs, and various vans whiz on by while you wait for the Wyndham van to pick you up.
The drive to the hotel is only a few minutes long, and the shuttle is air-conditioned. You might not think you'll appreciate that at this moment, but a few minutes outside the airport terminal and you definitely will.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 11:12 PM | Comments (0)
Congratulations to our Future Guests
We're all focused on ICFA-27, but let's look ahead for a moment to ICFA-28 next year.
The theme will be "Gender and Sexuality in the Fantastic." Our Guest of Honor will be Geoff Ryman, our Guest Scholar will be Marina Warner, and Special Guest Writer will be Melissa Scott.
Geoff Ryman's novel Air (2005) has just won the Tiptree Award, while Marina Warner, who was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2005, will be granted a Degree of Doctor of Letters honoris causa by The University of Oxford later this year. Congratulations to both of them.
Next week, while we're celebrating the contributions to the field of the fantastic by our wonderful guests Charles Vess, M. Thomas Inge, and Kathleen Ann Goonan, take a few minutes during coffee or paddling your feet in the pool to think about what you'd like to see at next year's conference. You'll find proposal forms in your registration package, and a drop-off box for submitting those forms at the registration desk.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 10:59 PM | Comments (0)
What to do on Wednesday
Regular attendees at the conference will notice that we've done something a little different with Wednesday this year.
As usual, there is a set of paper sessions on Wednesday afternoon, beginning a little later than usual, from 5-6. This first collection of papers gets the conference off to a wonderful start, with titles including "The Unappreciated Monster, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love the Zombie" and "For All Your Happily Ever Afters: Fairy Tale Pastiche and Fantasy Plots." Check out the program on the web for a full listing.
What's different is that we have an opening ceremony, featuring a special panel on this year's theme, preceding the first paper session. From 3-3:30, refreshments will be available in the Ballroom Foyer, and at 3:30, after opening remarks from Vice President Farah Mendlesohn, Jeff VanderMeer will host "The Visual Arts in the Fantastic" with participants Judith Clute, Joe Haldeman, Guest Scholar M. Thomas Inge, and our Guest of Honor Charles Vess.
The Opening Reception will be held, as usual, at 8:30 in Regatta (the small building across the parking circle from the hotel entrance, for those of you new to the conference). And if you are new, or if you want to introduce yourself to some of our new attendees, the Student Caucus is hosting a Meet-up for Newcomers at 8:00 in Atlantic. If you're new and not sure of the hotel layout, there's a map in the back of the program book; if you arrived after the close of registration, check the board next to the registration desk on the second floor or check with the hotel staff for directions.
Registration will open at noon, and stay open until 8:00 on Wednesday. The bookroom will also open at noon and close at 6:00, if you want to get in a little book shopping (and pick up a T-shirt) before things get really busy.
Posted by ChrissieMains at 10:44 PM | Comments (0)