[tei-council] logistics for Council meeting in Chicago

[Kevin Hawkins]

Hi folks,

Allow me to give a bit more context on plans for the Chicago meeting.

I saw Laurent in October and mentioned to him that if he wanted to hold 
the 2011 Council meeting in North America, I could get us free space to 
meet near Chicago (thanks to my affiliation with the University of 
Michigan), which would be fairly easy for Council members to get to. 
While Council meetings have often included a pre-meeting event that 
provided outreach to the local institution, in this case there is no 
local institution but rather some nearby institutions as well as general 
proximity to much of the population of North America.  We had some ideas 
towards a program involving guest speakers who might provide some food 
for thought for Council memebers and for other speakers or even outside 
attendees.  However, from our recent discussion on the list, we weren't 
confident that we could all formulate a worthwhile program, and it has 
become increasingly clear how much work the Council needs to accomplish 
since it has been so long since we had either a conference call or an 
in-person meeting.  So we should now plan on three days of working 
meetings: April 11-13.

I realize that some Council members have conflicts with these dates 
(including, very unfortunately, Martin, who was unable to make last 
year's meeting either), but as usual, it is difficult to find dates that 
will work for everyone.  In the future we might be able to begin 
planning earlier and attempt to survey Council members about available 
dates.

I believe this year's incoming Council members were never welcomed to 
our group, so let me extend a welcome to you as local organizer of the 
upcoming meeting.  James and Sebastian are incumbants, but Piotr Banski 
and Stuart Yeates are new to the group (or at least new within my recent 
memory).  As Stuart and I discussed off list, travel expenses for 
Council meetings are reimbursed by the TEI-C, as explained at 
http://wiki.tei-c.org/index.php/TEI-Council-FAQ along with many other 
useful things.  So Stuart is working on joining us in Chicago, and I 
hope the rest of you will be able to make it as well.

The recommend place to stay is the Marriot Chicago O'Hare ( 
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/chiap-chicago-marriott-ohare/ ). 
This hotel has a free shuttle from Chicago O'Hare International Airport, 
is near a station on the "L" (Chicago's above- and underground transit 
system), and is only two blocks away from the Big Ten Center (where we 
will meet).  While the hotel offers a special rate for people attending 
meetings at the Big Ten Center ($134 per night, not including taxes), if 
enough of us will stay there, I might be able to get an even better 
rate.  I hope (but am not positive) that this rate would extend to any 
extra days that you wanted to stay in Chicago (say, the previous 
weekend).  While only expenses for the time of the meeting are 
reimbursable (that is, Sunday through Tuesday nights at the hotel), you 
could take advantage of the discounted rate for a personal stay in Chicago.

*Could I get a count of how many people would be willing to stay at this 
hotel and which days you would be arriving and departing?  Please email 
me directly by Feb. 3.*  If there is at least 10 of you, I will attempt 
to negotiate a better with the hotel, and in any case, I will provide 
further instructions.

Please let me know if you have any questions,

Kevin