Meetings


IVS TOW 2007 Logo   

Fourth IVS Technical Operations Workshop

April 30 – May 3, 2007
Haystack Observatory, Westford, MA, USA

Objectives    Location    Registration    Class Sign-up    Class Assignments

   Program    Program Committee    Invitations    Transportation    Lodging

   Local Information    Local Organizing Committee    Evaluation

   Notebook    Pictures

Objectives

The intended audience for this meeting is the technical staff of the stations. The meeting will be oriented towards hands-on training and problem resolution in VLBI operations. We hope that all VLBI stations will be able to send technical representatives. This meeting represents a rare opportunity for both training and communication with personnel from other stations, the coordinating center, and the correlators.

Attendance at the TOW will be limited to two people from each station. If you can send two people, we recommend that the best pair of people would be an experienced station operator plus a new operator. If your station would like to send more than two people, please have the additional people also fill out the registration form. Then, send a message to the with the priority order of the people from your station. Attendance for only two people per station is guaranteed. The limit of two will be raised only if it does not cause the meeting and classes to become too large.

Location

The workshop will be held at Haystack Observatory in Westford, Massachusetts, USA.

Registration

Everyone who plans to attend must register. Please use the registration form to do so. Registration deadline was March 30. Registration is closed. Contact the if you missed the deadline and want to attend the meeting.

The registration fee is $300. This covers morning refreshments, coffee breaks, lunches, and two dinners (Monday and Wednesday) during the meeting, and course materials. The fee will be collected at the registration desk at the meeting. Only cash or checks (made out to "MIT Haystack Observatory") in USD can be accepted.

Class Sign-up

Everyone who registered must sign up for classes. To do so please fill out the class sign-up form with the aid of the list of class descriptions. The deadline for signing up for classes was April 18, 2007. Class sign-up is closed. If you did not sign up for classes and still need to do so, please contact the .

Class Assignments

The draft class assignments are ready. Class assignments have been made based on the class selection forms. On the Class Assignments page you can find a link to your individual form as well as schedules of all classes. Note that changes are still likely due to the draft status. If you want to add or change any classes, please contact the .

Program

There will be an icebreaker reception at the meeting hotel on Sunday April 29, 2007. The reception will take place in the 'Ashwood Court' area of the hotel and will start at about 6 pm. Please be prepared to pay the registration fee of $300 at the icebreaker reception.

A class feedback form has been prepared in order to determine the class interests for this year's TOW. The deadline for submitting class interest feedback was March 6, 2007. Submission of feedback is no longer possible.

Program Committee

The Program Committee is responsible for deciding on the topics to be covered at the workshop and setting up the sessions. Please send comments or requests for classes to the TOW Program Committee.

Members of the program committee are:

Invitations

Although IVS cannot provide financial support for attendance at the workshop, we will send a letter of invitation to attend the meeting. If this would be of assistance for your travel plans, please contact the a letter.

Transportation

Haystack Observatory is about equally distant from two airports: Boston, MA and Manchester, NH. The Manchester airport is closer to the meeting hotel.

There are several choices for ground transportation to the Sheraton Nashua Hotel from Logan Airport. Use the phone numbers below to reserve a seat.

Service Contact Information Price Comments
Flight Line 1-800-245-2525
http://www.flightlineinc.com
$59 (Boston)
$42 (Manchester)
This is for a shared ride. Both Boston and Manchester airports are served by Flight Line.
C & L Limo 1-800-247-7080
978-692-9303
http://www.clairlimo.com
$54 for 1 person
$60 for 2 people
$66 for 3 people
$74 for 4 people
This is for a shared ride from Boston Logan Airport to the meeting hotel.
C & L Limo 1-800-247-7080
978-692-9303
http://www.clairlimo.com
$54 for 1 person
$64 for 2 people
$74 for 3 people
$84 for 4 people
This is for a shared ride from Manchester, NH Airport to the meeting hotel.

If you prefer to rent a car at either Manchester or Boston Airport, you may follow the hotel's driving directions page in order to get from the airport to the hotel.

Lodging

A block of rooms has been set aside at the Sheraton Nashua Hotel in Nashua, NH. The hotel has a full-service restaurant and bar. Room rates are $99 + 8% state tax (group) and $90 + 8% state tax (government). The government rate will only be given with Gov Id shown at arrival.

Participants are requested to make their own reservations if possible. Please follow the links given in the table below to get right into the block of rooms at the negotiated rates ($99 group rate, $90 government rate). Guests can access the site to learn more about the event and to book, modify, or cancel a reservation from March 08, 2007 to May 04, 2007. Rooms will be released from the block after March 29, 2007; please make your reservations before then. A credit card is required to guarantee your room.

Sheraton Nashua Hotel
11 Tara Boulevard Phone: +1-603-888-9970
Nashua, NH 03602 Fax: +1-603-888-4112
United States  
 
Online reservation
Group rate ($99 + 8% tax) MIT HAYSTACK OBSERVATORY
Government rate ($90 + 8% tax) GOVERMENT MIT HAYSTACK

If you need assistance with your reservations, please contact .

Local Information

To reach Haystack Observatory, please follow the map and text based driving directions.

Weather in early May in the northeastern US is usually wonderful. Participants can check the local weather conditions before leaving home.

Other links to local information:

Local Organizing Committee

Members of the local organizing committee are:

Please feel free to contact any of the committee members with any questions.

Evaluation

Evaluation forms were filled out by meeting attendees. A summary of the comments and ratings is available at the link below. After the meeting, the teachers met to share their experiences and evaluate the meeting and their teaching. Notes from this meeting are are available at the link below.

Notebook

Most of the hard copy material provided in the notebook distributed at the meeting is now available in PDF files. The notebook page has links to the files.

Pictures

Several people took pictures during the meeting and made them freely available. Please use the following links to pages with thumbnails. Some thumbnail pages allow downloading of the full size pictures by clicking on them.

You can also browse and download picture files on the ftp server.

You can also download two Video Clip files and one QuickTime movie file (huge files):