FLEAT III Delegate Information

FLEAT III

FLEAT III Delegate Information

Hello to all FLEAT III Delegates! This page contains tips on the following topics:: Getting to Vancouver Island, Victoria and the University; Hints about Local Conditions; Email on Campus; Conference Schedule (in brief); Shuttle from Downtown to Conference Site

GETTING TO VANCOUVER ISLAND, VICTORIA, and UVic

Arrival by air:

Victoria International Airport is 30 km. north of campus. Cab rides from the airport to campus or the downtown are approximately $40.00 CDN. An airport limo service leaves hourly from the airport to hotels in the downtown. The cost is $13.00 CDN one way. The limo service does NOT serve the University, but a cab from the downtown hotels is approximately $10.00 CDN.

If you are staying on campus, the easiest way to get to UVic from the airport is to take a cab directly there. If you are travelling with someone else, splitting the cab fare is as cheap as taking the airport limo service downtown and then taking a cab to UVic. If you do take a cab, remember to tell the driver that you want to go to the registration office of Housing, Food and Conference Services at UVic. This is right off Parking Lot #5, and right beside the UVic Residences.

If you opt to take the airport limo service downtown, you can take a city bus up to the University. The buses that are easiest to take are the 14 and the 11. You can ask the limo driver to let you off at the corner of Douglas and View, on the west side (on the same side of the street as the Eaton Centre Mall) - then you need to look for the bus stop marked 14 or 11. Make sure you stay on the west side of the street to catch the bus up to UVic. Bus fare is $1.75 CDN. When you get off the bus at the UVic Transit Exchange, follow the FLEAT III signs to the red and white Registration Tent. If in doubt, ask anyone on campus for directions to the UVic Residences.

Map of main road routes to Victoria and the University

Arrival by Car:

Unless you live on Vancouver Island, if you arrive by car you will also arrive by ferry. Any of these routes is a mini-cruise through beautiful scenery.

4 vehicle Ferries serve the Victoria area (All prices and schedules subject to change):

From Vancouver: B.C. Ferries: $30.00 CDN per vehicle / $8.00 CDN per passenger. Hourly sailings. (~95 minutes sailing from South (Tsawwassen) of Vancouver plus 30 minutes driving from terminal, or ~95 minutes sailing plus 120 minutes driving from North (Horseshoe Bay) of Vancouver.
From Seattle: Victoria Line: car and driver $49.00 US. (~4 hours) Additional passengers $29.00 US each. (Phone for reservation) Daily sailings. Phone (250) 480-5555 (All prices subject to change)
From Port Angeles: Coho: ~90 minutes 4 times daily. $27.25 US car & driver. (Phone for reservation) Additional passengers $6.75 US. (All prices subject to change) Phone (in USA) (360) 457-4491 (in Canada) - (250) 386-2202
Sidney-Anacortes:: Daily sailings between Anacortes, WA and Sidney, BC. (30 km. north of Victoria). $29.70 US for car+driver, $6.90 US add. person. (Phone for reservation) (All prices subject to change) (~2 hours)
Map of main road routes to Victoria and the University

Whatever route you choose, when you get to UVic, head for Parking Lot #5. This lot is located at the east side of the campus. You can find it on the campus map we have included with this letter. We recommend that you park here. It is just in front of the main conference venue and right beside the red and white FLEAT III Registration Tent. It is also right in front of the check-in counter for those of you who are staying on campus.

Parking at UVic costs $4.50 CDN per day Monday to Friday. Parking is free on the weekends. You may purchase your parking tickets at the kiosks located at the two main entrances to the University (off Henderson Road and off McKenzie), or right in front of the Registration Tent in parking lot #5. All of these kiosks accept Visa and MasterCard and Canadian coins.

Map of UVic campus showing routes to parking lot #5.

Other Travel Options:

If you fly into Vancouver Airport, you can bus to downtown Victoria. Go to the Airporter Pick Up area at the airport, and take the next available airporter to the Delta Hotel. The cost is $4.00 CDN. The airporter runs every 15 minutes. At the Delta Hotel, you may transfer to the PCL bus which comes directly to downtown Victoria. The PCL bus is $26.00 CDN. This includes costs for the Ferry.

If you fly into Seattle you can shuttle from the airport into downtown Seattle, ~$18.00 US. Pick up any one of the courtesy phones on the ground level of the airport and connect with SuperShuttle for pickup. From there you may take the Victoria Clipper passenger service or walk on to the Victoria Line ferry service. The Victoria Line leaves daily at 1:00 pm from Pier 48 in Seattle, $29.00 US one way. Children's fare available. The Clipper passenger service leaving from Pier #69 has 4 sailings daily: 7:30 am, 8:00 am, 8:30 am & 4:00 pm. Fares are $66 US one way, $109 US return. Children's fares available. Call 1-800-888-2535 for Clipper or Victoria Line reservations. (All of these prices are subject to change.)

Arriving by train to Vancouver. The Bus Depot is directly across the street from the Train Station. Both VIA and AMTRAK arrive at the same location. Connections can be made to downtown hotels, City bus, PCL bus, airport and taxi.

SOME HINTS ABOUT LOCAL CONDITIONS

Dress is fairly casual almost everywhere - especially at the closing dinner, which will be an ocean-front barbecue and potlatch. Don't forget to bring flat soled shoes and an extra sweater to the barbecue.
Bring a warm sweater as evenings by the water are almost always cool. Layers of clothing work well in Victoria summer evenings.
Victoria does not have a lot of air conditioners. There are none in place at UVic (unless you are a piece of computing equipment.). As Victoria is usually quite temperate, this should not cause a problem - but you may appreciate cool clothing during the day.
Victoria is a 'walking city' with lots of paths, beaches, trails and sidewalks. You are encouraged to bring comfortable footwear for exploring. There will be some walking for you at this conference - between venues, to and from lunch, and perhaps around some of our garden paths, or down to the beach. Walking at the conference is all on the level (no hills!), but consider wearing shoes that you will be comfortable in for the entire day.
A lightweight windbreaker which can also serve as a rain jacket is a good idea.
Although we do not usually get too much rain in Victoria, it is not a bad idea to bring an umbrella, just in case of a little "liquid sunshine".
Currency - Victoria's shops and merchants will be happy to take your American money, but the exchange rate will not be as good as you can get at banks or exchange offices. Indeed, you will probably find it advantageous to come with a little Canadian currency in your pocket for incidentals like phone calls, bus rides, or taxi fare. You can change more money after you get here.
UVic has two banking machines on campus. They use the Interac and Plus system and work for most major credit cards and bank cards.

EMAIL ON CAMPUS

The Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) Facility would be pleased to have you come in and use our machines to check your email. We currently support the Eudora client on both PCs and Macs, and have standard telnet and tn3270 clients on both platforms.

If you normally use Eudora,: please bring a pre-configured Eudora diskette with you. This should include your computer host name, your return address, your smtp machine, and we suggest that it should be set to leave mail on the server. With this information we will be able to help you use Eudora.
If you do not normally use Eudora,: we do not recommend that you start using it at the conference. We suggest that you log into your mail from a telnet or tn3270 application. If you have not done this before, please speak to the computer assistance people at your own institution to make sure you have all the information you will need to connect to your mail via telnet or tn3270.

Email access will be available from 10:30 am - 12: 30 pm in the CALL Facility (Room A051, Clearihue Building) from Thursday to Saturday.

THE CONFERENCE SCHEDULE (in brief - as of 29 July)

As you know, FLEAT III has lots of sessions, preconference workshops, and activities for everyone to take part in. The following is a brief list of what is on.

Map of campus highlighting FLEAT III venues
Floorplan of conference centre
Timetable of Preconference Workshops
Timetable of Conference Sessions

MONDAY - AUG 11, 1997
Register at the red and white FLEAT III tent: 8:30 am - 3:30 pm
Family programs 
  meet at tent 15 minutes before event
  Golf                        8:30 am - 3:30 pm
  Goldstream Park            10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Special Events
  meet at tent 15 minutes before event
  UVic Ramble                 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
 
TUESDAY - AUG 12, 1997
Registration                  8:00 am - 3:30 pm
Preconference Workshops       9:00 am - 5:00 pm
  meet at tent 15 minutes before event
Family Programs
  meet at tent 15 minutes before event
  Golf                        8:30 am - 3:30 pm
  Beacon Hill Park           10:00 am - 2:00 pm
  Survival English/Japanese   3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Special Events
  meet at tent 15 minutes before event
  Dinner at Butchart Gardens  6:00 pm - 9:30 pm
 
WEDNESDAY - AUG 13, 1997
Registration                  8:00 am - 6:00 pm 
Preconference Workshops       9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Vendors/Exhibitors Open House 1:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Family Programs
  meet at tent 15 minutes before event
  Royal BC Museum            10:30 am - 2:30 pm 
Special Events
  Opening Dinner, Reception   6:00 pm - 7:30pm, 7:30 pm - 9:30pm
  (Thanks to SONY for sponsoring the Reception)
 
THURSDAY - AUG 14, 1997
Registration                  7:30 am - 6:30 pm
Conference                    8:15 am - 6:00 pm
  Opening Plenary - Roger Schank, Keynote Speaker
  Sessions
  Lunch - Sponsored by SOUNDS VIRTUAL (CAN-8)
  Sessions
  Daily Demo
Family Programs
  meet at tent 15 minutes before event
  Sidney Spit Park            9:45 am - 4:30 pm 
Special Events
  meet at tent 15 minutes before event
  Walking tour                6:20 pm - 7:30 pm 
 
FRIDAY - AUG 15, 1997
Registration                  7:30 am - 6:30 pm 
Conference                    8:15 am - 6:00 pm
  Opening Plenary - Future Watch for Language Learning and Technology
  Sessions
  Lunch - Sponsored by SONY
  Sessions
  Daily Demo
Family Programs
  meet at tent 15 minutes before event
  Horseback riding           10:30 am - 2:30 pm 
Special Events
  Reception in memory of Bob Henderson and Marie Sheppard
  Queenswood/Arbutus Room     6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
 
SATURDAY - AUG 16, 1997
Registration                  7:30 am - 1:30 pm 
Conference                    8:15 am - 5:00 pm
  Opening Plenary - Lesley Ellen Harris, Keynote Speaker
  Sessions
  Lunch - Sponsored by TANDBERG
  Sessions
  Software Matsuri
Family Programs
  meet at tent 15 minutes before event
  Chinatown walking tour      9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Special Events
  Closing banquet. Held in tents on a beach overlooking Straits of 
  Juan de Fuca, the banquet is presented by the Coastal Salish 
  Nations, one of Canada's First Nations.Includes salmon barbecue 
  in traditional Native style, Coastal Salish artists (carver, 
  silversmith, weaver), Salish storyteller, and Salish dancers. 
  As well, we will have Elders and ambassadors from the Salish 
  Nations telling us about Salish life as it is now and as it was. 
 
  Buses leave from the Registration Tent at 6:15 pm.
  Buses return to UVic between 9:30 pm and 10:00 pm. 
 
  If you do not have tickets for the barbecue, you can buy them at 
  the Registration Tent, they are 20.00 US / 28.00 CDN. 
 
  Closing Dance: An IALL tradition we hope will become a FLEAT 
  tradition - a casual get together - rooms and times to be announced.

SHUTTLE SERVICE FROM DOWNTOWN TO CONFERENCE

FLEAT III will provide a shuttle service for those people who would like to take advantage of it. One pickup will be done in the morning and one drop off will be done at night. We will not be able to stop at every hotel in the downtown, but we believe that we will put you within walking distance of the pick up and delivery points.

Morning Pickup: Tuesday, Aug 12 - Saturday, Aug 16

Pick up will be from the outside the lobby of each hotel. Shuttles can not wait, so please do not be late.

The Ocean Pointe Resort Hotel: 45 Songhees Rd. 7:10 am
The Empress Hotel: 721 Government St. 7:20 am
Coast Victoria Harbourside Hotel: 146 Kingston 7:30 am
Clarion Hotel Grand Pacific: 450 Quebec St. 7:40 am

Evening Drop-off: Tuesday, Aug 12 - Saturday, Aug 16

Tuesday, Aug 12: Meet between 5:30 pm - 5:45 pm at the Registration Tent. Service departs at 5:45 pm.; If you are going on the Butchart Gardens Dinner, the bus that takes you out to the Gardens will return you either to the University, or to the downtown. However, the bus will only make one stop in the downtown. That stop will be in front of the Empress.
Wed, Aug 13: Meet between 9:30 pm - 9:45 pm at the Registration Tent (after the Opening Reception and Dinner). Service departs at 9:45 pm.
Thur, Aug 14: Meet between 6:30 pm and 6:45 pm at the Registration Tent. Service will depart at 6:45 pm. This day will also be the day for the walking tour of the downtown. If you are on that tour, you will depart a little earlier - right at 6:30 - on the walking tour bus.
Friday, Aug 15: Meet at the Registration Tent between 6:30 pm and 6:45 pm. Service departs at 6:45.
Another service departs at 7:45 pm, directly after the reception in memory of Bob Henderson and Marie Sheppard.
Saturday, Aug 16: There will be one service after the Closing Barbecue. Buses will depart from the barbecue between 9:30 pm and 9:45 pm. Buses will first go to UVic and will then carry on to the downtown. Buses into the downtown will drop passengers off at one central point in front of the Empress.

If this service does not meet your needs then you must make your own arrangements for transportation within the city. The public bus system is excellent between UVic and the downtown, with buses leaving from UVic for downtown approximately once every 20 minutes. The fare is $1.75 CDN. Have exact change because the drivers do not make change. Cab fares between UVic and the downtown are approximately $10.00 CDN one way. Shared between 4 people it is only a bit more expensive than the bus.

See you at FLEAT III

Everyone on the FLEAT III Organizing Committee hopes this conference is a success for you in every way - stimulating, innovative, and enjoyable!

All the best from everyone on the FLEAT III Organizing Committee.