Adrian Ionescu (AI) (Chair)
Stephen Block (SB)
Lawrence D'Antonio (LD)
Lonnie Fairchild (LF)
Frank Ford (FF)
Ingrid Russell (IR)
Jim Teresco (JT)
Karl R. Wurst (KW)
Richard Wyatt (RW)
&bull Hilton -- $150 plus tax.
&bull Holiday Inn -- $88 plus tax.
&bull Staten Island Hotel -- $119/$120 plus tax.
&bull Conference Attendees can also stay in New Jersey at any of several hotels in the price range: $69--$80. Information on such hotels is to be put on our web site.
&bull Reservations are to be made by March 11.
&bull We have reserved blocks of rooms, but have not made any commitment to fill a specific number of them. There are 50 rooms reserved for the Thursday, 70 for Friday, and 20 for Saturday.
&bull There are no lodgings within walking distance of Wagner College.
&bull The Holiday Inn has a shuttle to Wagner College.
&bull Vendors chair should try to make the initial contact with potential vendors by February 1.
&bull Adrian will contact vendors to remind them "of several matters", including the existence of our mailing list, on which they might want to included.
&bull Frank Ford needs the bios of presenters of panels/workshop/tutorials by, preferably, the date of the camera-ready deadline.
&bull The schedule times for 2008 are the same as they were for 2007.
&bull David will email the schedule ASAP.
&bull Adrian will test the grading s/w.
&bull The programming languages to be provided are C++ and Java only. Both will runs in windows.
&bull The contest registration date is March 24.
&bull We can accommodate 28-30 teams this year.
&bull Frank will send reminders to all of the "old" teams.
&bull Ingrid will send reminders to the presenters to register, etc.
&bull Ingrid suggested that speakers arriving at JFK could perhaps be picked up by Steven Block, as he is close by.
&bull The early registration cut-off date is (post-marked by) March 24.
&bull The last day to register by mail is April 4.
&bull The registration fees for 2008 are to be the same as for 2007. (It was reported that we lost money in 2007, though we do not, even at this late date, know how much as Bill Myers has not yet let us know. It was further suggested that, in view of the unsatisfactory nature of this, we in the NE region should keep a detailed check on our finances, both as a check on Myers as well as to keep ourselves informed of our own budget details.)
&bull The attendance fee for regular members is to be the same as for 2007. Larry will email Bill Myers for details of the 2007 expenses, and it is possible that we will adjust some or all of the 2008 attendance fees as a result. The point made above -- that we need to keep track of our own NE finances was reiterated.
&bull Lonnie suggested that we try to build more flexibility into our budgets. Other suggestions along these lines were made.
&bull There was an interesting discussion on whether there should be 18 or 20 papers. It was noted that one of the current NE Board polities implies that there can be only 18 papers this year. Larry suggested that the Conference Committee should decide. After some discussion, it was agreed that there are to be 20 papers this year, there being a general feeling that the Board policy of accepting at most 50% of the submitted papers should be interpreted as meaning that "on average" (over a number of years), at most 50% of the submitted papers should be accepted.
&bull Neither Posters Chair was present, so no information was delivered.--------------------------------------------------------
Respectfully submitted,
Richard Wyatt
(CCSCNE Secretary)