| Conference Events |
This will be held at the Castle of Good Hope in central Cape Town, on the evening of 28th November. The Castle of Good Hope is the oldest surviving building in South Africa. Built between 1666 and 1679, this pentagonal fortification replaced a small clay and timber fort built by Commander Jan van Riebeeck in 1652 upon establishing a maritime replenishment station at the Cape of Good Hope for the Dutch East India Company. It has been a National Monument since 1936. The function will include a complimentary welcome drink, half a bottle of wine, a finger fork buffet, and music by local groups. Additional drinks will be available at a cash bar. For security reasons, you will have to show your conference badge (which will be given to you at registration) to obtain admission to the event. Although the Castle is only a few km from the Convention Centre, delegates will be bussed to and from the event, starting and ending at the CTICC. Buses will leave the Convention Centre, and return buses will commence leaving the event, at set times to be announced.
As an innovation, this Biennial intends to feature sponsored sundowner events every evening from 29 November-2 December. These events will start just after the last spoken presentation for the day and last for 1 to 2 hours. They will be held in Hall 1. Their purpose is to provide a more relaxed atmosphere for the viewing and discussing of posters with their authors, as well as an opportunity for further informal discussions between delegates. Depending on the level of sponsorship, one or two free drinks plus finger food will be provided for all delegates; tickets to these events will be given to you at registration. For those who feel the need to be topped up, a cash bar will probably be provided.
On the evening of Friday 30 November, there will be a screening of videos of marine mammal interest in Auditorium 1, starting at 19h00 and lasting for a maximum of 2½ hours. There will be no associated charge. Those of you who feel you have some images of interest to the Society are requested to submit them for pre-screening by the video committee by October 8, 2007, at the latest (see the Video Evening page for more details). Please remember that time at the screening will be limited, so unless your epic can be edited down to a reasonable length (10 min is ideal), you may find a shorter presentation has been preferred. The decision of the committee as to which ones should be included in the programme will be final. If successful, we would like you to give a (very) brief introduction to your presentation at the evening.
On the evening of 3 December, a 3-course sit-down dinner will be held in the ballroom at the CTICC, starting at 19h00. It will be followed by dancing to a local band until midnight. Tickets can be purchased via the website at the time of conference registration, at R350 for non-students and R175 for SMM Student Members. |
