ABC not in Svalbard [this time!]

Alas, thrice alas!, there will be no one attending the ABC in Svalbard in Svalbard  next April. As the travel conditions to and around Norway are getting tougher, it is just too unrealistic to expect traveling to the Far North even from Oslo. Too bad, but hopefully there will be another opportunity in a near enough future…

However, don’t give up the fight!, the mirror meetings in Brisbane and Grenoble are still planned to take place, along with an on-line version accommodating most of the speakers invited so far. Anyone interested in holding another mirror meeting?! Please contact me.

ABC in Svalbard [news #1]

We [Julien and myself] are quite pleased to announce that

• the scientific committee for the workshop has been gathered
• the webpage for the workshop is now on-line (with a wonderful walrus picture whose author we alas cannot identify)
• the workshop is now endorsed by both IMS and ISBA, which will handle registration (to open soon)
• the reservation of hotel rooms will be handled by Hurtigruten Svalbard through the above webpage (this is important as we already paid deposit for a certain number of rooms)
• we are definitely seeking both sponsors and organisers of mirror workshops in more populated locations

As an item of trivia, let me recall that Svalbard stands for the archipelago, while Spitsbergen is the name of the main island, where Longyearbyen is located. (In Icelandic, Svalbarði means cold rim or cold coast.)