Mailing list archive
Message 21: 9 July 2013
Dear colleagues
To those who have recently signed up: welcome to the Congress mailing list! This list provides regular updates on Congress activities, and there will be regular updates in the busy period before and during the Congress.
As this mailing list will be used to carry important practical information about the Congress, we ask that everyone who has registered or intends to register remains subscribed. If you wish to unsubscribe, however, you can do so via the link at the bottom of any message.
With less than two weeks to go to the Congress, the organising group at the University of Manchester and other institutions is buzzing with activity – finalising the programme, checking venues, planning the stewarding arrangements, and in every way trying to ensure a smooth, enjoyable and informative experience for our more than 1700 delegates. This is the largest meeting in the history both of the host institution and the field, and the work of organisation entails many late nights (such as tonight: we are counting this as a regular Tuesday mailing, on the grounds that it’s still Tuesday for a part of our audience...) As part of this work, we are dealing with a very large volume of correspondence, and can’t guarantee that non-urgent queries will be dealt with immediately. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions, but please be patient in waiting for a response.
Please note also that directions and general information for presenters, chairs and commentators will be sent out later this week. These will include information about technical support, timings, and general planning.
This week’s announcements list has an unintentional theme of ‘Food and Drink’:
1. Registration and the programme
2. Lunches: advance bookings reminder
3. Guides to restaurants, pubs and cafés in Manchester
4. Public event about beer...
5. ...and Congress beers at the pub!
6. Social media, public engagement, and the history of science, technology and medicine – and another pub...
7. Mailing list archive
1. REGISTRATION AND THE PROGRAMME
Registration has now closed. In the interests of helping delegates to plan which sessions to attend, we have now removed from the programme all delegates who are unregistered. If you believe you have been incorrectly removed from the programme and are not already in contact with us, please get in touch immediately to discuss your situation.
The full version of the programme is now on the website at
http://www.ichstm2013.com/programme/guide/
This version (including abstracts) will be provided to all delegates on a USB memory stick at the time of registration. The content of the USB stick is now finalised, but if you notice any errors, please get in touch: we will update the live website with corrections, and will do our best to publicise any late changes.
Our thanks once again to all the symposium organisers, and to everyone else who helped with the organisation of the programme.
2. LUNCHES: ADVANCE BOOKINGS REMINDER
Now that the schedule of committee meetings, tours and lunchtime events has been finalised, we strongly recommend that you confirm your lunch arrangements.
It is important to note that, although the central Congress venue has a restaurant on site, lunches must be reserved in advance so that we can estimate numbers for catering. According to our estimates, the alternative food venues around campus won’t easily accommodate the number of people who have not reserved lunches. We therefore very strongly recommend buying your lunch tickets now.
For each day, you can reserve either a hot two-course meal, to be provided in the restaurant at the main venue, University Place, or a bagged sandwich lunch (useful for those attending lunchtime meetings). The cost in each case is £6.75 per lunch.
Please send details of your request directly to mcc.reg@manchester.ac.uk.
3. GUIDE TO RESTAURANTS, PUBS AND CAFÉS IN MANCHESTER
In the days leading up to the Congress, our website will be continually updated with useful information, aimed in particular at visitors who are new to Manchester or to the UK. Today, we have added a guide to restaurants in the area, based on suggestions from local staff and students:
http://ichstm2013.com/manchester/restaurants/index.html
and also a guide to recommended places to drink:
http://ichstm2013.com/manchester/drinks/index.html
The drinks guide is distinctly pub-focused – but then, so is the community of local organisers, as will rapidly become clear...
4. PUBLIC EVENT ABOUT BEER...
The public events programme at
http://ichstm2013.com/public/index.html
has been updated with a new addition. On Wednesday evening, at the Jabez Clegg pub (part of the Congress venue area), James Sumner of the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine will present a live demonstration of the alarming arts of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century ‘beer-doctors’, discussing how chemical techniques were used (or abused) in the service of brewing, and how chemists’ reputations suffered in consequence. For further details, see
http://www.ichstm2013.com/programme/guide/s/L348.html
This event will be followed directly by Bright Club, the event at which academic researchers communicate their ideas through stand-up comedy: the line-up has just been announced. And don’t forget the UK première of the Turing Machine Opera, with performances on Monday and Tuesday: tickets for the opera need to be booked in advance, so please get in touch soon.
Also, please note that the venue for David Wright’s public talk on the history of Down’s Syndrome is the Manchester Museum (next to the Congress venue) – not the Sackville Street Building as previously announced.
5. ...AND CONGRESS BEERS AT THE PUB!
In what is unquestionably a first for the international history of science, technology and medicine community, we’re pleased to announce that iCHSTM 2013 has its own beer festival. A selection of different styles from local breweries, carefully chosen to reflect Congress themes, will be available at the Jabez Clegg pub throughout the week of the Congress.
For more information, see this new post at the iCHSTM blog:
http://www.ichstm2013.com/blog/2013/07/09/ichstm-fringe-beer-festival/
In the accompanying video, Alex Hall, who is in charge of social media for the Congress, visits two local producers to talk about brews including ‘Roy Porter’ – a porter (traditional British style of dark beer) named in honour of the illustrious historian of medicine. (The editor of this newsletter wishes to point out that the reference to ‘market porters’ in the video is a little confused – see Sumner 2008, or preferably Martyn Cornell’s book – but is sure that any defects in the history won’t affect the taste...)
6. SOCIAL MEDIA, PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT, AND THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE – AND ANOTHER PUB...
New developments in internet technology and culture have given us some interesting opportunities and challenges. On Monday afternoon at 16:10, as part of the Congress special sessions programme, we will be hosting a session (event code E302) on Social media, public engagement, and HSTM:
http://www.ichstm2013.com/programme/guide/s/E302.html
The event will feature a live link up with the 8th Annual Science in Public Conference, being held at the University of Nottingham. Delegates will be encouraged to live-tweet from the venue, and the session will also be streamed live on the iCHSTM Blog for those unable to attend in person.
Joining in from afar: In addition to E302, other selected sessions during the Congress will also be live-streamed (to be announced). Those who are unable to make the Congress can also stay involved with all things iCHSTM via the blog, where there will also be daily bulletins, audio records, and soundbites from each day’s events.
Tweet-up: Following on from the social media special session (E302) there will be a ‘Tweetup’ from 6pm at the Ducie Arms, a traditional British pub just a short walk from the Congress venues. All attendees who use Twitter – or who are interested in starting to do so – are very welcome to come along, chat informally over drinks, and put faces to Twitter handles. Full details:
http://www.ichstm2013.com/programme/guide/s/R338.html
7. MAILING LIST ARCHIVE
A reminder that an archive of past messages from this mailing list is now available at:
http://www.ichstm2013.com/mailinglist-archive/
Thanks again for all your contributions to the Congress!
Best regards
iCHSTM 2013 Local Organising Committee