Mailing list archive
Message 22: 16 July 2013
Dear colleagues
To those who have recently signed up: welcome to the Congress mailing list! 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.
The Congress is nearly upon us. This message will be the last major round-up ahead of the event itself, although we will send further messages with updates and advice, and there will be daily messages during the Congress week. Today’s message contains important practical information, so please read it carefully.
Once again, please remember that we are now 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.
Today’s announcements:
1. A welcome from the Chair of the Local Organising Committee
2. Are you receiving the right information?
3. Travel to and around Manchester
4. When to arrive
5. Important: if possible, please bring a laptop, tablet or phone to access the programme!
6. Weather forecast
7. Brains: a special gallery preview at the Museum of Science and Industry
8. Reminder: Women in Science Research Network launch invitation
9. Events and tours reminders
10. Mailing list archive
1. A WELCOME FROM THE CHAIR OF THE LOCAL ORGANISING COMMITTEE
It’s warm and sunny this week in Manchester, and with just a few days to go to iCHSTM, the good weather happily seems set to continue into next week. All our plans – for the academic programme, formal receptions, the informal social programme of HSTM-related music, comedy, walks and visits, and our social media and press coverage – are now finalised.
We hope you’ve had a chance to look at the online iCHSTM timetable, and that you’ve started making decisions about which sessions and events to attend: some planning ahead will be necessary!
The academic programme covers an astonishingly wide temporal, spatial and methodological range, reflecting the 1500 papers that will be delivered at the meeting. The social programme offers everything from a formal mayoral reception, museum visits and themed walks around Manchester to sessions on music and drug culture, recreations of nineteenth century electrical experiments and the first UK performances of the Turing Machine Opera from Ooppera Skaala of Helsinki. At the main Congress venue there’ll be a good selection of publishers’ exhibitions and a bookseller specialising in second-hand and antiquarian HSTM books.
With so much to choose from, we hope you’ll have an enjoyable, informative and enriching Congress experience. We wish you a safe journey, and look forward very much to welcoming you to Manchester in a few days’ time.
Jeff Hughes
Chair, iCHSTM Local Organising Committee
PS if the good weather doesn’t hold and we revert to a more typical Mancunian summer, don’t worry – we have iCHSTM umbrellas available!
2. ARE YOU RECEIVING THE RIGHT INFORMATION?
Last Thursday (11 July), we sent an email to every session chair with useful advice and directions on chairing.
On Friday, we emailed every listed paper presenter and commentator with presentation advice.
This week, our colleagues in the conference management office have sent an email with joining instructions and other practical information to every registered attendee.
If you are expecting to attend and didn’t receive this information, your contact details may be incorrect in our database, or there may be a problem with your registration. Please contact us at enquiries@ichstm2013.com to resolve this.
You can also access the information for chairs, presenters and commentators at http://ichstm2013.com/programme/ .
3. TRAVEL TO AND AROUND MANCHESTER
Our travel pages have now been updated at
with specific pages giving directions from Manchester Airport and rail stations to the main Congress venue, George Kenyon Hall, the Victoria Park halls, and the recommended hotels in the city centre. We have also provided further general information and maps to help you plan journeys to other destinations.
If you are staying for several days, you can save money on travel by buying a weekly travel pass. If you will be using buses to get to and from the Congress, see the options at http://ichstm2013.com/travel/manchester-buses.html . If you want to explore the area independently, including train and Metrolink tram travel, see the System One options at http://www.systemonetravelcards.co.uk/ .
The venue information page at
has also been updated with a new site map, and a useful link to information for disabled and infirm participants.
4. WHEN TO ARRIVE
Please note our updated recommendations:
http://ichstm2013.com/programme/when-arrive.html
If you are attending the start of the Congress, we recommend that you register on Sunday to avoid a long wait on Monday morning. Registration is open from 15.00 to 19.00 (3pm to 7pm) on Sunday.
Also, a special request: please arrive very promptly for the opening plenary at 08.45 on Monday. Owing to the remarkable scale of this event (hosted in one of the very largest lecture theatres of any British academic institution!) it will take some time for everybody to be seated.
5. IMPORTANT: IF POSSIBLE, BRING A LAPTOP, TABLET OR PHONE TO ACCESS THE PROGRAMME!
For the 2013 Congress, the organisers took the decision not to provide a complete paper copy of the programme and abstracts for all delegates. This saves paper and printing costs (and so helps to reduce the registration fee), but another factor strongly influenced the decision. With around 1500 paper abstracts, the full programme is too large to be practically portable; and with up to 24 parallel session tracks, the schedule is not easy to navigate on paper.
We are therefore providing:
- a printed paper summary for every delegate, highlighting the most important Congress information (including all session titles) in a convenient A5 booklet
- a USB stick for every delegate containing the full programme and abstracts, in a format very similar to the website.
If at all possible, we recommend that you bring a laptop/notebook computer, tablet, smart phone or other device, and transfer the contents of the USB stick onto it to access the programme. (You can also access the online version, which will contain the latest updates; but we ask that you minimise online use when at the Congress venue, as the wi-fi bandwidth is limited.)
A limited number of professionally bound and printed copies of the full programme and abstracts will, however, be offered for sale (as souvenirs, or for institutions seeking a reference copy). Copies will also be available for reference use at the information desks.
The programme page at
http://ichstm2013.com/programme/
contains a PDF preview of both the summary programme and the full programme with abstracts. You can use these to print off details of the sessions you are interested in – but please don’t print unless you need to!
6. WEATHER FORECAST
As Jeff notes above, Manchester is currently experiencing daily warm (by UK standards) sunshine, with temperatures rising to 25° Celsius / 77° Fahrenheit in the middle of the day. According to the best estimates of the long-range weather forecasters’ art, this pattern is likely to continue into the week of 21–28 July.
This prediction is not necessarily to be relied upon. Mancunians have nasty suspicious minds where the weather is concerned; they also have kind hearts, and would not wish you to be caught unprepared. Historically, the prosperity of the Manchester region was founded on the opportunities of a damp climate, and it is an established rule that the sky has the right to rain on us whenever it chooses to.
We therefore recommend summer clothes and a precautionary light raincoat. Even if the weather is cloudy, it won’t be particularly cold, and the region does not suffer extremes of humidity.
To stay informed, check the Meteorological Office five-day forecast just before you travel:
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/forecast/manchester#?tab=fiveDay
or the BBC Weather update for the Congress location:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/m13
7. BRAINS: A SPECIAL GALLERY PREVIEW AT THE MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY
We’re delighted to announce an addition to the attractions of our social events programme.
Delegates attending the Museum of Science and Industry reception on Thursday evening will enjoy an exclusive opportunity to see the exhibition Brains: the Mind as Matter one day before it opens to the public.
This major exhibition from the Wellcome Collection explores what humans have done to brains in the name of medical intervention, scientific enquiry, cultural meaning and technological change. Featuring real brains, manuscripts, artefacts, videos and photography, Brains takes us on a quest to decipher the most mysterious of human organs, whose secrets continue to confound and inspire.
On display for the first time outside London, Brains will also address Manchester’s contribution to understanding the brain through objects and artworks previously unseen, and specially curated for the exhibition at MOSI.
Please note that this exhibition contains material of a sensitive nature, including human remains.
Capacity in the Brains exhibition is limited, so please arrive early to avoid disappointment. Alternatively, you can visit at your leisure on one of the following days. MOSI is open 10.00-17.00, seven days a week.
8. REMINDER: WOMEN IN SCIENCE RESEARCH NETWORK LAUNCH INVITATION
A repeat announcement following some problems with the registration link, which have now been fixed:
The Women in Science Research Network (WISRNet) is a project that brings historians, archivists and practising scientists together to research women’s participation in science and learned societies in Britain since 1830. Our aim is to understand women's low visibility and historic exclusion, to uncover further avenues for research and to develop strategies to improve the participation of women in science today.
We are holding our international launch reception at the Manchester Museum on Wednesday 24 July at 18.30. Congress delegates with an interest in women in science are invited to attend, but places are limited: please register via the project website, http://womeninscience.net/?page_id=297 , or email jennifer.thomas@rothschild.com .
9. EVENTS AND TOURS REMINDERS
There are still tickets left for events including the UK première of the Turing Machine Opera (Monday and Tuesday evenings) and our Thursday evening club night featuring Haçienda DJ Dave Haslam. For the full public programme, see
and for the ‘iCHSTM Fringe’ of music and comedy – including some events not open to the public – see
Also, don’t forget our huge programme of guided walks, tours and excursions, from the historic campus on the doorstep of the Congress to major museums in other northern cities. Some tours have limited numbers and will need to be reserved in advance: please see the full listing at
http://ichstm2013.com/programme/guide/m/tours.html
and contact tours@ichstm2013.com with any questions.
10. 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! We will get back to you soon with more pre-Congress announcements.
Best regards
iCHSTM 2013 Local Organising Committee