News updates

12th February 2024 – 1 day to go
Well here we are, just one day away from the start of the conference.
There have been a few last minute cancellations, so please keep an eye on the Conference Handbook for sudden changes in the programme.
If you can all make sure you’re registered well before 9:45 tomorrow morning that will make the Pōwhiri briefing more streamlined.
The registration desk will be in the Foyer of the WG (Sir Paul Reeves) Building, 2 Governor Fitzroy Place, Auckand. Here’s a link to the site on Google Maps if you need it.

And see you all tomorrow morning!

5th February 2024 – Just 1 week to go
The conference handbook is now finalised and can be viewed here. Even if I do say so myself, it’s a beautiful thing, with hyperlinks between the workshop timetable and people’s abstracts which I didn’t realise was even possible until a week ago. We’ve been working hard for months on the conference welcome and giving you a sense of place when you come here. We don’t want this to be just another generic conference that you fly in and out of, and that all begins with the mihi whakatau. Although it won’t be the full pōwhiri you would experience if were on the marae, it will at least give you a sense of how important these moments are for us. All of this to say that the conference organising is now all but concluded, and we’re just waiting now for you to arrive. Many of you will be travelling this week. If you are, stay safe, keep your face masks on, and get some sleep… you may need it.

25th January 2024 – Getting closer
We’re close to finalising the conference programme now, and the abstracts are being copy edited into the Handbook. We’ll produce this as a Google Doc and will share the file on this site. I sent a message out via ParaDoxa (link) about the conference Pōwhiri (formal welcome) and your role as participants in joining in the waiata (song). There’s a link to some teaching videos on the message if you want to get some practice in. Lots of final tweaks are being made and plans confirmed now, so the next couple of weeks will be busy, but the conference is really taking shape and looks like it’s going to be a great occasion.

15th January 2024 – Step away from the Google Form!… There’s nothing to see here
The deadline has passed now to tell us about your conference preferences and potential abstract buddies. Almost everyone replied, so thank you all for that. We started building the conference programme this morning and untangling the spaghetti. It’s actually a lot more fun than it sounds!
As soon as we’ve got a draft programme together, we’ll publish it on the site and let you know, so you can tell us if you think we’ve made any terrible mistakes.
Many of you will be travelling in a couple of weeks time. If you’ve not been to Aotearoa New Zealand before I can’t stress enough how important it will be to have good quality, high factor sunblock (Factor 50 or more ideally). It’s been hotter this year than normal, so expect temperatures from 25-32ºC most days. It’s also quite humid so pack some cool, loose clothes.
As to the dress code for the conference, if you’re wearing anything more formal than a t-shirt, shorts and a face mask, you may be overdressed 🌴🌴🌴.

11th January 2024 – Of bags and booklets
We’ve been mulling over the question of conference ‘collateral’ for months (is there a more asinine phrase in the English language than “conference collateral”?), weighing up the benefits of a conference tote bag and printed handbook against the costs both in terms of money and material resources, and we’ve finally decided not to lay out for a bag or a printed book.
Instead, our full conference booklet will be produced as an online Google Doc that we can update live (in the event of room changes or cancellations, for instance), and we’ll print a single page programme for you each day and put it on the registration desk.
We’re also going to trust that people can bring their own carry-alls/laptop bag, etc. with them. We will be giving you some ‘things’ at registration (things we’re not telling you about!) but we really want to keep the normal conference clutter to a limit.

9th January 2024 – AV update
All of the workshop rooms will have computers and projectors/datashows with audio/video capability if you need them.
Bring your presentations with you rather than sending them in in advance. Remember to bring any connectors if you need them.
But we’ll have AV technicians on hand if anyone gets into any trouble.

8th January 2024
The conference programme is coming together.
Presenters have one week left to complete their planning requests before we begin building the conference programme proper.
A draft version of the programme showing start and end times is now online (click Programme tab in top bar above).
Registration will remain open until the Friday before the conference (Friday 9th Feb 2024).
There’s new info about good food and drink in Auckland on the site as well now (go to Hospitality > Visiting).