Adjoint Workshop participants: We have more than 70 expected participants and 60 submitted presentations (oral and poster). All abstracts have been accepted. A draft program will be posted on the website later this week: http://gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/events/adjoint_workshop-8/ Please check this program draft for errors regarding your presentation. Note that this program is only a draft so that you can see who is coming and what topics will be presented. Dates and times of sessions or presentations may change. Also a few additional presentations are expected and some other people plan to attend but not present. Abstracts will also be available at a later time and you will have a chance to make changes before their posting. Applicants for funding support will receive notification of decisions by 28 Jan. If not contact Ronald Errico. PLEASE READ ALL OF THIS CAREFULLY! Registration/reservation procedure and information: The hotel will be collecting payments from participants that will include room (5 nights, starting Sunday 17 Feb.), all meals (Sunday dinner through Friday lunch), conference fees (covering breaks and meeting space rentals), gratuities, and taxes. The total cost will be US$750 for the duration of the workshop for single occupancy. If you choose to share a room with someone, the cost for each person will be approximately $570. In accordance with our hotel contract, we are asking everyone to reserve their rooms by 22 Feb. A reservation form is attached. It should be sent to the hotel using phone (1-570-629-5900), fax (1-570-688-9271) or email (saldibarp@chateauresort.com). At the time you make your reservation, an initial payment to the hotel of U.S.$400 will be required. Your remaining $350 will be required when you depart on Friday 22 Feb. If you later decide not to come and notify both the hotel and Ronald Errico at least 2 weeks before the start of the workshop, this initial payment will be fully refunded after the workshop concludes, unless the number of participants drops below 60 (i.e., more than 10 people cancel). In the latter case, only a partial refund may be available for each request. It is important that you register by 22 Feb. so that the workshop organization does not suffer financial penalties, which would require us to withdraw some students' support. Do not make a reservation if you are receiving funds and have been told that the workshop organization will be doing that for you. Local transportation: The hotel is approximately 70 miles from Newark Liberty International Airport (airport code EWR) with a good motorway between. There is no useful public transportation to the the hotel or its vicinity and taxi would be very expensive. Instead, I suggest car-pooling with rental cars. Enterprise rental car has cars for the week for about $250 plus optional insurance. I will help coordinate that as we get closer to the workshop date. EWR is one of 3 airports around New York City. If you use JFK instead, you must essentially go through New York City to get to Pennsylvania. If you decide to spend an extra night in New York City be aware that hotels there are generally expensive and that very cheap hotels may be unpleasant. Optionally, you can stay near the airport where they should be cheap, but be aware that there will likely be nothing nearby except for car rental parking garages, old factories, and a prison. When Americans want an example of an ugly place in the U.S., the area around EWR is often the number 1 choice. For $8 each way, you can get a bus and train combination between EWR and New York City. Traffic and parking in NYC can be terrible, but probably less so on a weekend. Carpooling will be arranged solely from EWR to the hotel on Sunday, with return Friday. Please try not to arrive late at the airport, since most participants will want to arrive at the hotel by dinner time, and carpooling may become difficult afterward. Two possibilities for taxi service that would require advance reservations are: Pocono Limousine www.poconolimousine.com 1-800-537-4667 Merhi Transportation www.merhitransportation.com 1-732-249-4443 Other general information: The hotel is in a region of Pennsylvania called the Pocono Mountains or simply the Poconos. The closest "city" is Stroudsburg. It is very small, although the Greyhound bus company connects it with New York City. Philadelphia is another major airport, but the drive will be longer in time, if not distance. Wilkes-Barre is another option for domestic flights. It is much closer, but being small, it may be more expensive. In April I will be checking on activities for a free afternoon to be scheduled. One possibility may be canoeing on the Delaware River. There is also some good shopping and a casino nearby. In April, I will also help arrange carpooling and meal menus.