SC16 March Planning Meeting in Salt Lake City

Being SC17 General Chair also means that I am SC16 Deputy Chair “shadowing” the SC16 General Chair John West which means that I watch and learn from him at all meetings and at the conference in 2016, so I am well prepared for the conference organization work “my” year.

Snow blizzard in Salt Lake City — Picture by Bernd Mohr

The SC16 Organization Committee met in Salt Lake City, where the SC conference will be this year, for a first planning meeting on March 22nd and 23rd. The first morning, a tour of the Salt Palace Convention Center (SPCC) was on our schedule.  Just in time, when we wanted to start walking to the Convention Center , it started snowing heavily 😉  Luckily, I was prepared and I had packed some warm clothing.

Salt Palace Convention Center, ready for ComicCon — Picture by Bernd Mohr

When we arrived at the Convention Center we saw that preparations were in full swing to get ready for Comic Con Salt Lake which was scheduled to open just a few days later.

SPCC main ballroom — Picture by Bernd Mohr

When we toured the Convention Center, we could also watch the preparations in the main ball room which seats up to 4900 people. We will use it for the keynote and invited talks at SC16.

There is not much to report from the actual meeting: the progress in the different areas of the conference (technical program, finance, infrastructure, local arrangements, communications, student@SC, SCinet, and exhibition) is discussed. About 60 people, almost all volunteers from all other the world, typically attend such a meeting.