Proposal for Hosting APAN Meetings: Cairns or Brisbane, AUSTRALIA v1.2 28/8/2003 --------------------------------------------------- 1. Organized by: ================ GrangeNet, AARNet and APAC www.grangenet.net (Australia's Advanced Network Program focussing on Grid and Advanced Communications Services) www.aarnet.edu.au (Australia's Academic and Research Network, and AU international connectivity owner) www.apac.edu.au (Australian Partnership for Advanced Computing) 2. Time/Season & Place: ======================= Cairns, North Queensland 2004.7 5-10 Australian winter/dry season, and very nice weather. No cyclones (typhoons) and little, if any, rain. Cairns is in the tropics, and July is the dry season. If not 2004, then 2005.7, same week - location will change from Cairns to another Queensland city, to be determined. The APAN meeting would be held jointly with QuestNet. This is Australia's major research and education networking conference, held every year for well over 10 years, with around 200-300 attendees from Australia and overseas, many excellent senior keynote presenters, and many vendors contribute as well. There is also a vendor technology exhibition held with the conference. This proposal is designed for the 2004 meeting in Cairns. The 2005 location for QuestNet has not been decided yet, but is likely to also be very close to the beach. The organisation, expenses, venue style, accommodation style, climate etc will be very similar. The exact location will be decided in early 2004. 3. Accomodation and venue ========================== Venue, and most accomodation would be at the Cairns International Hotel, with any overflow in Hilton Hotel (part of the same chain). Approximate room rate is expected to be around $US120-$US150 per night - this is subject to negotiations. It's the beginning of the high season. The location is right in the centre of Cairns, close to shops, beach, jetty, casino, etc. Budget accomodation for fellows can be at nearby hotels (5 minutes walk) for around $US30, or at several nearby hostels (single, twin and dormitory style accomodation) for $US15-25 per person per night. Some of the hostels that are further from the centre have a courtesy/free shuttle bus to several locations a few minutes walk from the venue. 4. Budget of the rough estimate: ================================ To be determined. If held as part of QuestNet, we will use the existing conference organisation to do all of the work, and APAN participants could use the same facilities. Normal registration for the QuestNet conference would cover the costs. 5. Contact: =========== Markus.Buchhorn@anu.edu.au initially 6. Remarks: =========== Cairns is closer to most of Asia (than most of Australia), has good international airline access, great beaches, tropical rainforests, mountains, and the Great Barrier Reef. We would seek to organise several tourist trips as part of the conference (either with or without QuestNet). One option being considered is a conference track held out on a (large) boat on the Barrier Reef - using the trip out and back for presentations, and the time at the reef for snorkeling/diving/swimming/eating/drinking/... The opportunity to share the meeting with QuestNet is excellent. It would expose many Australian researchers to activities in APAN, and many APAN researchers to activities at Australian research organisations. We could achieve over 400 attendees. We would also work hard to attract even more overseas participants from the US and Europe. As part of QuestNet, we would have 3 or 4 parallel streams over the 4 days provided by QuestNet, and one or more streams for APAN presentations where needed, and one additional stream for WG meetings. QuestNet already provides events such as a reception banquet, an opening ceremony, and some tourism opportunities, etc. Most QuestNet meetings have 3 streams, at least, plus additional rooms dedicated for various needs. We can easily support additional streams, or additional days (like Busan meeting, we can extend by a day or two, to have sufficient capacity). We can also support training workshops. QuestNet usually runs training workshops on e.g. IPv6, multicast, AccessGrid, H.323, etc. http://www.cairns.aust.com/ http://www.cairnsconnect.com/cairns/ http://www.cairnsinfo.com/ http://www.cairnsinfo.com/accommodation/Hotels/114/ 7. Travel ========= Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong are the main travel entry ports to Cairns International airport from outside of Australia. The following airlines fly in/out of Cairns International Airport: AUSTRALIAN AIRLINES CONTINENTAL MICRONESIA BRITISH AIRWAYS (code share) CATHAY PACIFIC JAPAN AIRLINES (code share) GARUDA INDONESIA LAUDA AIR (code share) MALAYSIA AIRLINES UNITED AIRLINES (code share) AIR NEW ZEALAND AIR NIUGINI QANTAS SINGAPORE AIRLINES FLIGHT WEST AIRLINES MACAIR AIRLINES VIRGIN AIRLINES >From within Australia, Brisbane and Sydney are the major airports with direct flights to Cairns. 8. Visa requirements ==================== All visitors to Australia require a visa. If you are visiting Australia as a tourist, and to see friends (which is what a good APAN meeting is!), a normal tourist visa is sufficient for up to three months: http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/visiting_tourism.htm You can apply for most visas online at http://www.immi.gov.au/e_visa/visit.htm [There is a suggestion that conference attendees need a different class of visa, but we will clarify that shortly. We believe it is only for people who make money at conferences, and does not apply to APAN attendees: http://www.immi.gov.au/business/iecn.htm ]