1. Location
A. Accessibility:
Edinburgh is in the central belt of Scotland, and
is accessible by air (non-stop flights from all major airports in
Britain, as well as from Paris, Brussels, Copenhagen, and
Frankfort), by rail (4.5 hours from London, hourly service), and
by road. There are trans-Atlantic flights to London and Glasgow
(with surface transportation on to Edinburgh).
B. Conference Venue:
Two in-town sites are being considered:
- the Edinburgh International Conference Center (EICC: 15 minutes
from E. airport, 5 minutes from either Haymarket or Waverly train
station, 5-10 minutes from a full range of hotels, 15 minutes
from the University)
- the University of Edinburgh (20 minutes from E. airport, 5 minutes
from Waverly station, 10-15 minutes from hotels). Because of
on-going renovations to the George Square Lecture Theater, if
the conference is held at the University, sessions for over 500
attendees will require a video link to smaller but close-by lecture
theaters (200-300 seats each).
C. Hotels:
14,000 bedrooms in a variety of accommodation. Many 3,4
and 5-star hotels are within walking distance of EICC and the
University of Edinburgh. The Sheraton Grand is adjacent to the
EICC and could serve as the conference hotel if held there.
During the summer months (high tourist season), hotels in
Edinburgh range in price from 40 pounds/night for a 3-star bed
and breakfast, to 150 pounds/night for the most expensive
5-star hotel.
D. Student dorms:
The University of Edinburgh has 2000 dorm rooms in
Pollack Halls. 350 spaces have been tentatively reserved for the
proposed dates of the conference. Dorm room prices in 1999 range
from 23 pounds/night for a single room with shared bath (plus full
Scottish breakfast) to 58 pounds per night for a double-bedded
room with private bath, plus full breakfast.
2. Local CL Community:
There is a large VERY local CL community, with
people at both the University of Edinburgh and Herriot-Watt
University. There is also a strong Scotland-local CL community,
with members at Aberdeen, Sterling and Dundee. All support this
bid from Edinburgh.
3. Proposed Date:
We have tentatively picked the week of 22-28 July
2001 for the conference. The CogSci'01 conference will also be
held in Edinburgh in July, and we would like to coordinate with
them as well. If ACL/EACL did not have a preference for the week
of 22-28 July, this might mean having ACL/EACL'01 the previous
week (15-21 July) to accommodate constraints on CogSci'01.
4. Meeting Space:
Space for plenary sessions, tutorials, workshops,
posters, exhibits, demos and small meetings are all available at
both sites we are considering. I have noted the problem with having
large plenary sessions at the University site.
5. A/V equipment:
At EICC, this is included in the room hire,
including a technical person in the projection booth. Separate
arrangements for technical support would be made with the
University of Edinburgh.
6. Food/Entertainment/Banquet/Receptions:
Edinburgh has plenty of good
restaurants, as well as fast food services. We are considering
several places for the banquet and receptions, including the
Edinburgh Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh Castle, the new Museum of
Scotland, and Dynamic Earth. (A downside is that food in Edinburgh
is rather expensive by U.S. standards and even by European
standards.) Entertainment Edinburgh-style would probably involve
a Ceilidh band and Ceilidh dancing (vigorous but fun).
7. Local Arrangements (chairs, committee, volunteer labor, registration
handling):
Committees are yet to be formed. If possible, we would
like the registration to be handled by the ACL/EACL treasury, to
reduce the amount of currency conversion required, where everyone
loses money.
8. Sponsorships:
We have contacted Microsoft U.K. about providing
support for the meeting. We will be contacting HP and BT as well.
The Edinburgh Convention Bureau is providing free assistance with
early palnning. LEEL (Lothian and Edinburgh Enterprise Ltd), the
local enterprise trust, can provide interest-free loans for early
costs.
9. Budget estimates:
This will depend on the venue. I think it's
important to make use of previous experience on budgetting, so
would hope that information on the previous one or two meetings
would be made available to the sites requested to submit final
bids. I can't evaluate the rough figures I have received from
the Edinburgh Convention Bureau without knowing more about
experience of recent ACL conferences. The knowledge I have from
hosting ACL in Philadelphia in 1980 is probably not very relevant.