Geneva Arrangements (If You Are Going)
An 83-page Pocket Programme is now being mailed to those who have registered for the conference. This booklet has travel and conference details, useful telephone numbers and office hours, maps, and other practical information. It also has the conference program (but not the titles and authors of the individual presentations), and lists times and locations of special programs and satellite sessions (which are mostly in the two days before the conference itself).Starting on June 15, the titles and authors of the abstracts can be read or searched on the official conference Web site, (website no longer available) attendees to begin planning their schedules in advance.
We asked the staff for other information which we did not find in the Pocket Programme or on the early Web site:
Telephones, laptops. If you want to connect your computer, note that both the power plugs and the telephone jacks are not the same as those of France or Germany. (The electricity is 220 volts, 50 cycles.) While it is best to bring any adapters needed, there will be a place to buy them at the conference. (Be aware that some hotel phones must not be attached to a computer, because they use a digital system with a higher voltage which would damage the modem or the computer; check with the hotel to be sure.)
Cell phones. If you want to use a cell phone, one can be rented at the Geneva airport; we do not know how well it will work at the conference center. U.S. cell phones will not work in Geneva.
Messages and email. This year the conference message system should be more useful than at previous meetings, since it will be accessible through computers located around the halls (which will also have access to the World Wide Web). In addition, it may be possible to send Internet email from anywhere to someone at the conference through this message system, using their badge number as part of the email address.
Even if you have no computer equipment or email account, you can set up a free email address through the World Wide Web (using one of the many such services available, such as http://mail.yahoo.com/, or MailCity, http://mail.lycos.com/); then you can send and receive email through that site, either from the computers at the conference, or using other Web access through friends, public libraries, or other organizations. The main disadvantage of free email is that your messages are likely to have advertisements attached.
If you already have email and want to check your messages from Geneva, ask your service provider how to do so. If you bring a portable computer, there may be a local number to call. If you do not bring a computer, you may be able to check your email at home by using Telnet software; we do not know if this can be done from the public computers at the conference.
Press. The computers in the press room have Microsoft Word, and Windows 98--which includes Telnet, which some reporters can use to check their email at home. The press room will have a limited number of lockers for storing equipment.
