The Open Meeting was held at the Hotel Wyndham Montréal, 1255, rue Jeanne-Mance, CP130, Montréal (Québec) H5B 1E5, Canada (Tel. 1-514-285-1450)

Rates per room, per night (guaranteed until September 14, 2003)

Single occupancy: Can $155
Double occupancy: Can $155
Triple occupancy: Can $175
Quad occupancy: Can $195

A lodging tax of $2.00 per room, per night, is applicable on the room rate. A 7% federal tax and a 7.5% provincial tax are applicable on room rates and the lodging tax.

Note: As of 17 September the Wyndham has no more rooms available. For those still in need of accommodations, please try the following hotels, which are within walking distance of the Wyndham Hotel, or try the Wyndham to see if there have been any cancellations.

Days Inn, Tel. +1-514-393-3388 (215 Rene Levesque Street East)

Holiday Inn, Tel. +1-514-878-9888 (99 Viger Street West)

There may also be rooms available online through http://www.hotels.com/ or other Internet hotel-booking services.  

Making reservations
Reservations should be made directly with the Wyndham Reservations Department at 1-514-285-1450 or through the toll free number at 1-800-361-8234 (within Canada and the United States). In order to receive preferred rates, telephone requests must identify their affiliation with the “IHDP Open Meeting” (Group Code # 1014440MCG). Rates cannot be changed at check-in or check-out times for guests who fail to identify their affiliation at the time the reservation is requested. Reservation requests received after September 14th, 2003, will be accepted on a space available and rate available basis.

If you choose to fax your reservation request, you must send the following information in your fax. The fax number is 1-514-841-2069. Please sign your fax.

Family name:

First name:

Your fax number:

Gender: Male/Female

Arrival date:

Departure date:

Group code: 1014440MCG

Number of guests in room:

Bed type: King size/Two doubles (choose one)

Credit card #:

Type of credit card:

Expiration date:

Guaranteed arrival
In order to guarantee room reservation for arrival after 6:00 pm, a deposit equivalent to the first night’s stay is required either by check or credit card. In the event of a “no-show”, the delegate will be charged to first night’s stay. Should the room reservation be cancelled before 6:00 pm the day of arrival, the deposit will be reimbursed. However, should the cancellation occur after 6:00 pm, the deposit will not be reimbursed.

Arrival and departure procedures
Check-in time for all guests is 3:00 pm. Groups may be checked-in earlier depending on the occupancy of the hotel and the availability of clean rooms.

Check out time is 12:00 noon. Any room not vacated by this time will be assessed a half-day late check-out charge until 6:00 pm, after which a full day’s charge will be applied.

In some cases, individuals attending the Open Meeting may need a visa to enter Canada. Those coming from these following countries do not need visas:

Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Bermuda, Botswana, Brunei, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Denmark, Dominica, Falkland Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Grenada, Hong Kong (but only passport holders, not Certificate of Identity Holders), Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel (but only citizens holding the blue-coloured national passport), Italy, Japan, Kiribati, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Montserrat, Namibia, Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn, Portugal, Saint Helena, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, United Kingdom, United States (including permanent residents), Vanuatu, Vatican City, British Virgin Islands, Western Samoa, Zimbabwe.

If your country of residence is not on the above list, please consult the following website for further instructions on obtaining a visitor visa and other logistical information. It is recommended for participants to make the necessary arrangements for a visa as soon as possible:http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/visas.html

Visa application on the web: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/applications/visa.html

For further information or help in obtaining a Temporary Residents Visa, contact a local Canadian Embassy or Canadian embassy, high commission or consulate for information on what documents you may need before coming to Canada.

If you require a letter of invitation for visa or other purposes, please contact Jeanne Adeland at conference.mse@mcgill.ca. Note that only participants whose papers or posters are included on the official program and who have paid their registration fees (or received a scholarship) are eligible to receive invitation letters.

Ground transportation from the Dorval Airport to downtown Montreal:

1. Aerobus: Leaves the airport every 30 minutes on weekdays.
   Cost: $11.00 Canadian Dollars one way, $19.75 return. For children under 12: $7.50 one way, $12.50 return.
   For more information: 1-800-465-1213 (within US and Canada)
   
2. Taxi: From Dorval Airport to Hotel: Flat rate of CAN$28.00

Ground transportation from Mirabel Airport to downtown Montreal:

1. Aerobus: Leave the airport every 30 minutes on weekdays. Cost: $20.00 Canadian Dollars one way, $30.00 return. Children under 12: $7.00 one way, $9.75 return.
   For more information: 1-800-465-1213 (within US and Canada)
   
2. Taxi: From Mirabel Airport to Montreal: Flat rate of CAN$69.00

Traveling by car:
A comprehensive map of downtown Montreal can be found at:
http://www2.ville.montreal.qc.ca/mtlcarte/anglais/pdf/cville4.pdf

Traveling by train:
If you plan to travel by rail, you will arrive directly into Downtown Montreal at “Gare Central” (Central Station). From this point, you may choose to take a taxi to the Wyndham Hotel. Cost of taxi should be approximately CAN$5.00.

Clothing/Weather
Suggested dress for the conference is business casual. Weather in Montreal during October can be variable, ranging from nighttime lows of 1ºC to daytime highs of 10ºC. October weather is usually pleasant with a considerable amount of sunshine, but be prepared for showery conditions as well. Therefore, a rain jacket and/or wool sweater or fleece may be a good thing to pack.

Tourism
General information on getting about Montreal can be found at http://www.montreal.com/tourism/general.html#Agences.
This website includes currency exchange rates, maps of Montreal, information on languages, tipping, taxes, etc. For transportation in and around Montreal, visit the STM website.

Local (within 15 minutes waking distance of the hotel)

• Redpath Museum: McGill’s own museum displays collections of ancient and modern organisms, minerals and ethnological artifacts.
  
• McCord Canadian History Museum: Canadian and Native History Museum. 690 Sherbrooke St. West. (514) 398-7100.
  
• Museum of Archaeology: Situated in historic Old Montreal features the old city’s original walls and a collection of other archaeological artifacts. 350 Place Royale. (514) 872-9150.
  
• Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Free Admission to the museum’s permanent collection. 1379-1380 Sherbrooke St. West.

Montreal Tours

• GreyLine Montreal offers a variety of city tours and tours to Quebec City starting at $21.50CAN. Their main office is located at 1140 Wellington St. For bookings and availability: Within Canada and USA: 1-800-461-1223 or email: montreal@grayline.com. Website: www.coachcanada.com/montreal
  
• Guidatour conducts guided bus tours within Montreal stopping at the main attractions. Located at 477 Saint-Francois-Xavier St. For booking and availability: Within Canada and USA: 1-800-363-4021. Or by e-mail: info@guidatour.qc.ca
  
• Imperial Autocar (tel: (514) 871-4733) offers a three-hour tour for $29.00 CAN, as well as a hop-on hop-off circuit for two days for $29.00 CAN.

PAPER PRESENTATIONS

Panel sessions are one-and-one-half hours long. For five-person panels, or for panels with discussants, paper presentations should be no longer than 15 minutes. For four-person panels, the length will be 20 minutes. This will allow approximately 2-3 minutes discussion per paper. (Chairs of organized sessions have the right to adjust these guidelines.) Rooms will be equipped with LCD projectors and overhead projectors, but there will only be four laptops available on a 'floating' basis, so you may need your own laptop or to share laptops for your presentations. It is best to bring your presentation on a CD and to have a full set of transparencies in case of technical difficulties.

POSTER PRESENTATIONS

Each poster will be allotted a space of 4' x 4' (1.2m x 1.2m). Thus your poster must fit within these dimensions. Further suggestions on font size and formatting are provided at the bottom of this message. Bear in mind that only posters that are fully legible when printed on letter-size (or A4) paper will be accepted for dissemination on the Open Meeting web site after the meeting. If in doubt about this, print your poster to a letter-size piece of paper and see if you can read it.

Although the content of your poster is the most important determinant of its success, your poster presentation can significantly enhance or detract from the impact of your study. One of the most important considerations in creating an effective poster is its central theme: it is best if it is direct, focused and supported as concisely as possible for maximum visual impact. Condense the theme of your poster so that a casual observer can grasp its overall message within a few seconds and its significant methodology and conclusions within one to two minutes.

Content: Your poster needs to tell a story by itself, as people might visit the poster area when you are not near your poster site. Since the most effective poster is a concise one, include only essential data and text.
Design: A poster is basically an visual expression of a scientific idea. Posters should have eye-catching yet simple drawings, diagrams, graphs and/or photographs with clean and attractive layouts. Simple black and white presentations are encouraged; use color only when necessary for clarity or understanding.

Additional instructions:
1. Poster material must be prepared in advance and must be large enough to be viewed from a distance of approximately 1 meter (~3.5 feet).
2. All posters must be written in English. Lettering should be at least 10 mm (approximately 0,5 inch) high for good visibility.
3. Each poster must have a top banner indicating the title of the paper, the names of the authors and their affiliations. The characters in the banner must be at least 2.5 cm (approximately 1 inch).
4. Drawings and graphs should be simple with bold lines.
5. Do not use special lighting (the lighting in the poster area will be more than adequate for overall viewing).
6. Do not use films, videos or slides.
7. Mount material flat on your poster board with pushpins. Pushpins will be provided by the Conference staff.
8. Do not fold posters: roll them up and carry them in a cardboard container. Do not mail poster presentations in advance; bring them with you to the Conference.
9. Authors are responsible for setting up and removing their posters themselves. Poster sessions begin at 9 a.m. and end at 5:30 p.m. on your assigned day (see the program if in doubt), so please ensure that you arrive before 9 a.m. to set up your poster, and that you return at the end of the day to remove it.
10. Poster presenters should stand by their posters during the coffee breaks following the morning and afternoon plenaries.

Co-Chairs
Peter Brown, McGill School of Environment, Canada
Marc A. Levy, CIESIN, Columbia University, USA

Host

McGill School of Environment
3534 University Street
Montreal, Quebec H3A 2A7
Canada
Tel. +1 514-398-6835
Fax +1 514-398-1643
Email: conference.mse@mcgill.ca
http://www.mcgill.ca/mse/