Meetings

Overview

The IVS holds a technical meeting, called the General Meeting, every two years. The purpose of the meeting is to assemble representatives from all IVS components to share information, hear reports, and plan future activities. The meeting also provides a forum for interaction with other members of the VLBI and Earth science communities.

The keynote of the sixth GM is the new perspectives of the next generation VLBI system under the theme "VLBI2010: From Vision to Reality". The vision of the VLBI2010 system is gradually being realized. The unprecedented new capabilities of 1-mm positional accuracy and station velocities of 0.1 mm/yr, continuous observational time series for station positions and Earth orientation parameters, and fast turnaround time from observation to geodetic and astrometric result will foster new science and applications.

The content of the meeting will be of interest to the broad spectrum of IVS members as well as to the wider VLBI and Earth science community. All IVS Associate Members and individuals who have interests in the various applications and research fields of VLBI such as geodesy, astrometry, Earth sciences, and related fields are encouraged to attend the meeting and to make an oral or poster presentation. Non-IVS members are cordially invited to attend the meeting and to make a presentation.

Poster

The official poster of the General Meeting is available in various resolutions: IVSGM_2010_Poster_thumb.jpg (thumbnail, 141x200 pixels, 25 KB): IVSGM_2010_Poster_lowres.jpg (low resolution, 800x1132 pixels, 369 KB): IVSGM_2010_Poster_hires.jpg (high resolution, 2806x3969 pixels, 3.1 MB): IVSGM_2010_Poster_vhighres.jpg (very high resolution, 6024x8521 pixels, 9.1 MB):

Location

The meeting will be held in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia and will be hosted by the University of Tasmania, School of Mathematics and Physics. The venue will be the Physics Building (No. 13) of the Sandy Bay Campus. The student accommodation is building no. 47. A map of Sandy Bay is, for instance, available through Google maps or Google earth by searching for "Sandy Bay, Tasmania, Australia". An icebreaker reception (Sunday, 16:00-18:00) is planned as a cocktail party at Zero Penthouse of Zero Davey. Zero Davey is located in Sullivans Cove on Hobart's waterfront.

Schedule

The overall schedule of the week includes the General Meeting sessions plus related meetings.

(*) The VLBI2010 Developers and Analysis meeting is a joint meeting of the Analysis groups (Analysis Workshop), Working Group 4, and the VLBI2010 Committee and VLBI2010 developers.

mini-TOW

A day-long Technical Operations Workshop (mini-TOW) is being organized by

This workshop is intended to provide an opportunity for station personnel attending the General Meeting to discuss issues and problems. It will provide hands-on training and problem resolution in VLBI operations. Topics covered will include, among other things, VLBI basics, experiment pre-checks and operations, RFI, phase calibration, and FS remote control.

There is only limited space available; hence only limited attendance is possible. The current list of mini-TOW participants (teachers and students) encompasses 20 people. Please contact the organizers about the option to be included.

Related Meeting in Auckland, NZ

Following the General Meeting week, a VLBI-related full-day workshop will be held in Auckland, New Zealand. Prior to the SKANZ2010 Conference, a workshop "VLBI and GNSS: New Zealand and Australian Perspectives" will be organized on Monday February 15, 2010. This workshop is logistically tagged on the SKANZ2010 Conference and includes the option to participate in the site visit of the new VLBI station at Warkworth on Tuesday February 16. Please check the SKANZ2010 Web site for more information and make your travel plans accordingly.

Accommodation

General. The local organizing committee has blocked a number of rooms in the on-campus housing facilities and in a selected hotel. These two options should be requested together with the registration. Please use the registration and accommodation form for this action. The form is available in PDF and in Word format. Please fill in the appropriate parts and send it to the local organizing committee. The deadline for arranging accommodation through the local organizing committee is January 7, 2010. If you prefer to seek other lodging options, please feel free to make use of the recommended accommodation for the Sandy Bay area given below.

On-campus option. Accommodation for the conference is available at the new University Apartments, completed in August 2004. The University Apartments boast spectacular views over the city of Hobart and the Derwent River and is only a short walk from the campus (5 min). Single rooms with shared facilities are available for $40.00 AUD per night. Each room is in an apartment of six reserved for conference delegates, the apartments each have two bathrooms, a shared kitchen and lounge/dinning room. Bookings can be requested as part of your registration. Please let the local organizing committee know if you would like to share your apartment with any particular people.

Hotel option. A limited number of rooms have also been reserved at Wrest Point Hotel & Casino and can also be requested as part of your registration. Wrest Point is 7 minutes walk to the University. 4.5 star hotel accommodation with city and harbour views. Rooms range in price from $156 AUD to $184 AUD per night. Note: As of January 6 the Standard Room for $156 AUD is sold out.

Further options. For participants not wishing to stay at the provided accommodation we recommend several other hotels and lodging options in Sandy Bay which are all within walking distance of the University. If you are having trouble booking accommodation for the meeting, please contact the local organizing committee.

Registration

The registration fee includes conference materials, conference dinner, coffee breaks, and catered lunch breaks. There is an early bird rate of $280 AUD and a regular rate of $380 AUD. The early bird rate is payable via credit card by the early bird deadline. The regular rate is payable by credit card by the regular registration deadline or in cash at the meeting.

The deadline for registering for the early bird rate was November 30, 2009. Deadline for the regular rate was January 7, 2010. Please use the registration and accommodation form to register for the meeting. The form is available in PDF and in Word format. Please fill in the appropriate parts and send it to the local organizing committee. Note: Pre-meeting registration is now closed. Potential participants who want to register late should get in contact with .

Once your registration has been processed, your name will be added to the registration list.

Program

The draft program of the meeting is available for download in PDF format. Please send a note to if you discover any mistake. The book of abstracts is currently being worked on and will be available in the third week of January.

• Draft program (A4, 15 pages),
• Book of abstracts: not available yet

Hard copies of the final program and book of abstracts will be provided to particpants at the meeting.

The Program Committee and session conveners prepared the following session descriptions.

Submit an Abstract

The extended abstract submission deadline was December 2, 2009. Abstract submission is now closed. If you want to submit a late abstract, please contact Dirk Behrend.

The Program Committee and conveners has reviewed all contributed paper submissions. All contributed papers have be accepted. Due to the large amount of submitted oral presentations about ten contributions have been changed from an oral to a poster presentation after consulting the authors. A draft program is available in the Program section.

Travel Information

Visa. In order to enter Australia you will need a visa, an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA), or an eVisitor—depending on your nationality. Either of these must be obtained before travelling to Australia. The ETA and eVisitor are applied for electronically. eVisitor is available to passport holders from the European Union and a number of other European countries; there is no fee for the online application of eligible passport holders. An ETA can be applied for through a travel agent, airline, specialist service provider or an Australian visa office outside Australia. Eligible passport holders have to pay a fee (currently $20 AUD). If your country is not listed in the ETA or eVisitor eligibility lists, please check with the Australian Embasssy/Consulate in your country on the required visa procedure.

Tourism. Tasmania is a favorite vacation spot boasting 18 National Parks which protect the largest area of temperate rainforest remaining on earth, a World Heritage Area. The local organizers have assembled a Web page with suggested tours and destinations from short trips to longer journeys. Please visit the GM2010 Tourist Information page to get inspired.

Time. Tasmania observes daylight saving time during the (southern) summer months and is then 11 hours ahead of Univsersal Time: Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) = UTC + 11 hrs.

Money. Australia's currency is the Australian dollar, made up of 100 cents. There are 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, $1, and $2 coins, and $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 notes. Although the smallest coin in circulation is 5c, prices are often still marked in single cents. and then rounded up to the nearest 5c when you come to pay.

Electricity. Plugs have three flat pins; the electricity supply is 220-240 V AV at 50 Hz.

Invitations

IVS will send a letter of invitation to attend the meeting as a means of support. If this would be of assistance for your travel plans, please contact the IVS Coordinating Center to request a letter. If you need a letter from the Australian meeting host, please contact .

Program Committee

The members of the Program Committee were named by the Directing Board. Members are:

Local Organizing Committee

Members of the local organizing committee are:

Please feel free to contact any of the committee members with any questions.