18 November 2009
14–18 December
Moscone Convention Center
San Francisco, California, USA
Press Room Update; Book Hotels By 19 November; Searching Abstracts by Affiliation; Blog roll
Contents of this message:
- Press Room update
- Abstract finder by affiliation or location
- Reminder: Hotel reservation deadline THIS THURSDAY – 19 November
- Reminder: Field trip to California Academy of Sciences museum, Sun., 13 December
- Save the Date: NCSWA holiday dinner, Wednesday, Dec. 16, with Science Comedian Brian Malow
- NEW! Blog roll
- News Media registration information
- News Media Registration Form
- Who’s coming
For important information regarding visas for international reporters and hotel bookings at meeting rates, please see: Media Advisory 1
For additional information about the new scientific-program search engine, please see: Media Advisory 2
1. Press Room update
Upon arrival at Fall Meeting, please go to the News Media registration counter in the main registration area (Moscone West, Level 1). You get there by going through the lobby and entering the registration area via its main entrance; the counter will be toward the left. At the counter, pick up your News Media badge (if preregistered) or fill out the News Media Registration form to register on site. Please be prepared to show identification and press credentials (if not preregistered). News Media registration is complimentary.
The Press Room is Room 3010, Moscone West. It is located at the rear of Level 3. It provides working space for reporters, including two phone lines (with no charge for business calls), two computer terminals and printer, wi-fi for use with your own laptop, and space for socializing.
The Press Room is open daily from 0730 to 1800 (earlier closing on Friday). Phone number: +1-415-348-4432. Press releases and related materials provided by scientists and their institutions will be available in the room.
Meals and other refreshments will be provided in the Press Room for News Media registrants (on a limited schedule compared to prior years). Breakfast (from 0730) will be available on Monday and Tuesday only. Lunch (from 1130) will be available Monday-Thursday only. Coffee, tea, and soft drinks will be available all day, Monday to Friday.
The Press Conference Room is Room 3012 Moscone West. It is located on Level 3, next to the Press Room.
As of this Fall Meeting, AGU will no longer provide CDs of the full scientific program (i.e. including abstracts) nor the downloadable-to-CD file of the full program that was available in prior years on the Fall Meeting website. (Printed books of the full program were eliminated in 2008.) At this 2009 meeting, the full scientific program will be accessible only by means of the search engine on the Fall Meeting website.
Please note that this new search engine enables you to create and download a customized itinerary of meeting talks (with or without abstracts). Also, the Fall Meeting website will soon offer on the Scientific Program page a PDF file of all information, except abstracts, for all sessions of the meeting.
For those of us who like to hold paper in our hands, there will still be one printed book available to all meeting attendees and members of the press. It will contain a summary schedule, session overviews (‘Meeting Highlights’), an author index, maps, floor plans, and other general information about the meeting. You can pick up a copy of that book at the News Media registration counter or in the Press Room.
2. Abstract Finder by affiliation or location
The new search engine for searching or browsing the 1,287 sessions and 15,788 abstracts for the 2009 Fall Meeting does not search by affiliation or location of authors. To be able to do so, please use the Abstract Finder.
3. Reminder: Hotel reservation deadline THIS THURSDAY – 19 November
Please note that the deadline for booking hotel rooms at preferential meeting rates has been extended until this Thursday, 19 November.
For full information on available hotels, rates, amenities, and a map of the area see Travel Information.
4. Reminder: Field trip to California Academy of Sciences museum, Sun, 13 December
Come join us for a free, behind-the-scenes tour of the fabulous and recently renovated California Academy of Sciences museum in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. The museum reopened in September 2008 in a completely new building renowned for its airiness and natural light, environmentally-friendly construction (especially its green roof) and spectacular exhibits.
Our morning excursion on Sunday, 13 December will include a guided tour of the museum’s green roof and its exhibits on evolution and climate change plus visits to areas usually closed to museum visitors. There, scientists conduct research in fields as diverse as genomics and geology. The guided tour will be followed by a planetarium show and a complimentary lunch.
The field trip is expected to depart by bus from Moscone Convention Center (West Building) at 8:45 am and to leave the museum at 12:45 pm, returning to the convention center by around 1:30 pm (timing is subject to change). Those field-trip participants who prefer to remain at the museum after the official field trip activities have ended are welcome to stay and visit more of the museum (also at no cost). However, they will be responsible for their own return transportation.
To register for the field trip, please email Maria-José Viñas ([email protected]) with the following information:
- Name
- Title
- Media outlet or other affiliation (“freelance” is fine)
- Work address
- Work email address
- Phone number
- Whether you have registered as a member of the news media for the 2009 AGU Fall Meeting
- Why you wish to participate
- (If you are a vegetarian, please also mention that dietary requirement in your email.)
Space is limited for this field trip. Priority will be given to working journalists. Before signing up, please give careful consideration to whether you will be able to attend. (Last year, far too few of the people who signed up for the field trip actually showed up.)
Confirmations of your place on the field trip or on the waiting list will be emailed to you. If a place has been reserved for you on the field trip but you find you cannot attend, please email Maria-José immediately to let her know.
(Note: Any field-trip participants arriving from afar are advised to be in town by Saturday, 12 December, as the field-trip bus will depart early on Sunday.)
5. Save the Date: NCSWA holiday dinner, Wednesday, Dec. 16, with Science Comedian Brian Malow
[The following notice is provided on behalf of the Northern California Science Writers Association (NCSWA). This is not an AGU event.]
HOLIDAY DINNER: Science Comedian Brian Malow & annual science trivia contest —all at the New Delhi Restaurant
Mark your calendars for Wednesday, Dec. 16, to join NCSWA at the New Delhi restaurant in downtown San Francisco for the annual holiday dinner. Prepare to have your funny bone tickled by “The Science Comedian” Brian Malow, who has brought his stand-up routine to the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS), Tech TV, Discovery and A&E. Also, enjoy the opportunity to mingle with news media colleagues in town to attend the meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Of course, festivities will include NCSWA’s own annual science trivia contest with door prizes. More information coming soon.
Location:
160 Ellis Street (near Union Square)
San Francisco, Ca.
Phone: (415) 397-8470
For directions and parking information see New Delhi.
6. NEW! Blog roll
AGU has set up a blog roll for blogs that will be covering topics related to the 2009 Fall Meeting. Please see theblog roll.
7. News media registration information
Eligibility for press registration is limited to the following persons:
- Working press employed by bona fide news media: must present a press card, business card, or letter of introduction from an editor of a recognized publication.
- Freelance science writers: must present a current membership card from NASW, a regional affiliate of NASW, CSWA, ISWA, or SEJ; or evidence of by-lined work pertaining to science intended for the general public and published in 2008 or 2009; or a letter from the editor of a recognized publication assigning you to cover Fall Meeting.
- Public information officers of scientific societies, educational institutions, and government agencies: must present a business card.
Note: Representatives of publishing houses, for-profit corporations, and the business side of news media must register at the main registration desk at the meeting and pay the appropriate fees, regardless of possession of any of the above documents. They are not accredited as Press at the meeting. Scientists who are also reporters and who are presenting at this meeting (oral or poster session) may receive News Media credentials if they qualify (see above), but must also register for the meeting and pay the appropriate fee as a presenter.
News Media registrants will receive a badge that provides access to any of the scientific sessions of Fall Meeting, as well as to the Press Room and Press Conference Room. No one will be admitted without a valid badge.
8. News Media Registration Form
The News Media Registration Form is set up for online submission only.
The last day for advance News Media registration, assuring that your badge will be waiting for you when you arrive, is Friday, 4 December 2009. You may also register onsite.
9. Who’s coming
The online list of journalists who have preregistered for the Meeting is updated daily.