FYI: Planning your trip for the conference

Dear Presenters,

At last, the news you've all been waiting for!

Our next post, planned for later this week, will give you a day by day schedule of the conference. But for now, here is what you need to know to plan your trip.

1. The conference will take place in Royce Hall 306 on UCLA campus. Here is a map: http://maps.ucla.edu/campus/. 

 
2. Please arrive no later than 8:15am for registration on Thursday, October 11. Coffee, tea, and breakfast will be served at 8am. We hope to begin promptly at 9am. Thursday lunch will be catered, no need to buy your own. There will be light snacks served Thursday evening and a wine and cheese reception on Friday evening, Oct 12. A detailed schedule of these evening events as well as your panel assignment and co-panelists will be provided soon. We recommend that you book your flight so that you will arrive in LA Wednesday evening. A flight arriving Thursday morning would be risky.

 
3. For those using audiovisual equipment (Powerpoint presentation, film clips, etc.),  bring both your laptop and USB key with your presentation on it in case your system is incompatible with ours. 

 
4. Since we have an especially full schedule, we ask you to please limit your presentation to 15-20 minutes. This means papers should be no longer than 6-8 pages. We will have to enforce this rule in order for the conference to run smoothly.  If possible, please send us your paper in advance so that our panel moderators will be able to better assist in fielding questions from the audience and generating a discussion among your fellow panelists.

5. We recommend reserving accommodations at the UCLA Guest House, located on campus. To book a room, call (310) 824-2925. The Claremont Hotel offers reasonable rates ($77/night) and is located within walking distance of campus. http://www.claremonthotel.net/index.html. They do not accept reservations by email. You can reach them by phone at: (310) 208-5957. The blue line bus (locally known as "the big blue bus") based in Santa Monica provides easy access to campus if you want to stay near the beach. Lines 1,2,3,8, and 12 serve UCLA. To map your route, visit http://bigbluebus.com/. The Best Western Gateway Hotel (http://www.gatewayhotel.com/) and Hotel Carmel (http://www.hotelcarmel.com/) are good options for staying in Santa Monica. There is also the American Youth Hostel (http://hiusa.org/santamonica/directions/), only two blocks from the boardwalk.

6. Cab fare from LAX airport to UCLA and Santa Monica typically runs about $40-45 one way. There is a shuttle called the Westwood Flyaway that picks up passengers at LAX a one to two times every hour depending on the time of day. It costs $10 (one way) and drops you off near Kinross Ave and Westwood Blvd. http://www.lawa.org/welcome_lax.aspx?id=4698. From there, UCLA is only a ten minute walk up Westwood Blvd in the direction of Weyburn and LeConte Avenues. 

7. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us via e-mail: uclafrenchgradconference2012@gmail.com. There is a small possibility that graduate colleagues within our department would be willing to be hosts if for whatever reason hotel accommodations near UCLA are not an option for you. In case of an emergency or last-minute cancellation, please contact one of us directly (Lauren, 843-801-2031).

We look forward to having you with us very soon!

Sincerely,
The 2012 UCLA Graduate Student Conference Organizers