Menu for the Reception

Food and drink at the reception will be scattered throughout the two buildings. Each person will get ONE drink ticket, which is good for a single beer or wine, or two soft drinks. (Your bartender will tear your ticket in half, so that you can use the other half to get your second soft drink.) You may purchase additional drinks at any bar, which are located near the food.

In the main lobby of River Journey

Baby Black Bean Burgers

Provencal White Bean Soup Shots

Tenderloin of Beef Canapes

Samosas (beef and vegetarian)

By the Seahorses in River Journey

Carved: Pork Tenderloin-mini rolls, blackberry marmalade, grain mustard

Baby Steak and Mushroom Kabobs

Roasted Turkey-cranberry mustard, red pepper aioli

Twice Baked Baby Potatoes

Fresh Vegetable Display-spinach dip, hummus

Top of Escalator in River Journey

Fried Green Tomato Canapes -local corn relish and goat cheese

Little Grits Bites with Onion and Mushroom Ragout

Black Eye Pea Cakes, Collard Green Pesto

Pecan Crusted Chicken Tenders-honey drizzle

Fresh Seasonal Fruit Display

"Rivers of the World" in River Journey

Peel and Eat Shrimp

Baby Crab Cake

Grilled Fresh Salmon; capers, onion, baguettes

Marinated Crab Claws

Smoked Trout Canapes

Lobster and Artichoke Dip

Mezzanine Level in Ocean Journey

Spicy Thai Noodles-served in baby Chinese togo boxes with chopsticks

Assorted garnishes and sauces

Chicken Satay Plates-peanut sauce and marinated cucumbers

Vietnamese Pork Meatballs, Currant Sauce

Vegetarian Spring Rolls

Assorted Sushi Rolls-some vegan

Butterfly Area in Ocean Journey

An Assortment of housemade “bites” of dessert including crème brulee, toffee brownies, chocolate cups with peanut butter mousse, dipped berries, lemon squares, tea cakes and more

Locally Roasted Stone Cup Coffee Station

How to Find the Tennessee Aquarium

The SIGCSE 2009 reception will be at the Tennessee Aquarium, an amazing two building aquarium with both wonderful fish and other animals from both fresh and salt water.

The reception begins at 7 pm and lasts until 10 pm. You have three choices on how to get there.

MOST IMPORTANT: You MUST wear your badge to enter the Aquarium and Reception!

• We will have four buses on a continuous loop from Carter Street, in front of the Conference Center and Marriott. They will start at 7 pm and run until 11 pm. On the return trip from the Aquarium after 8:30 pm, the buses will stop at the Sheraton, Marriott, and Chattanooga Choo-Choo so that attendees can get off right at their hotel.
  
  
• The Electric Shuttle that picks up on 11th Street next to the Marriott will have extra shuttles running during the times of the reception. Just pick one up and get off at the Aquarium.
  
  
• Your third option is simply to walk. It's less than a mile (around 15 minutes) to walk from the Conference Center down to the Tennessee Aquarium.

For those who choose to walk:

1. Walk out of the Conference Center or Marriott lobby and take a right on Carter Street. (You're at the blue marker at the bottom of the map on the right.)
   
2. At MLK Blvd., hang a right.
3. At Broad Street, hang a left. Keep walking until you reach the Aquarium. (Indicated by the orange marker at the top of the map on the right.)

All three sets of directions (bus, Electric Shuttle, or walking) take you to the same place.









The building on the left (green arrow) is River's Journey, a five story freshwater aquarium. The building on the right (red arrow, obscured by trees) is Ocean's Journey, a three story saltwater aquarium. The spot where this picture is taken is approximately where you will be dropped off by the buses, and where you will pick up the buses to return

To enter the aquarium for the receptions, walk between the two buildings. You will reach a plaza where you will have a choice.


















You can enter River's Journey to the left through the Member's Entrance.


Or you can cross back over the bridge and go to the Member's Entrance in Ocean's Journey.


You may go back and forth between the two buildings as much as you'd like. You may not carry any alcoholic beverage between the buildings, though. (Strangely enough, the bridge is state property, and you cannot have open alcohol on state property!)

Travel issues for International Visitors

Allison Young reports:

As of 12JAN09 it is mandatory that anyone travelling to or via the USA, as part of the Visa Waiver program, must apply for a travel authorisation online prior to departure. Please refer to the following website for more details http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id_visa/esta/"

It is for countries that have the visa waiver program which NZ does, I have copied the countries from the website.

Which countries participate in the Visa Waiver Program?

Andorra	France	Luxembourg	Singapore	Czech Republic
Austria	Germany	Monaco	Slovenia	Estonia
Australia	Iceland	Netherlands	Spain	Hungary
Belgium	Ireland	New Zealand	Sweden	Latvia
Brunei	Italy	Norway	Switzerland	Lithuania
Denmark	Japan	Portugal	United Kingdom	Slovakia
Finland	Liechtenstein	San Marino	Republic of Malta	South Korea

I have filled in the form and got a number which I assume I give to the immigration officer when I arrive in the US. It is also very important now to give the immigration people a street address so delegates will have to have the street address of the hotel they are staying at ready at immigration

Thanks, Alison!

Extra Shuttles

As seen previously in this blog, there is a really nice Electric Shuttle service around the Downtown Chattanooga are, including all three of the conference hotels. (The shuttle even has WiFi!) The walk from the Chattanooga Choo-Choo is only about 10 minutes and is quite pleasant. Nonetheless, the Chattanooga Visitors' Bureau has arranged for extra shuttles for moving people between the Convention Center and the Choo Choo, and between the Convention Center and the Aquarium on Thursday night (the night of the reception). The shuttles on Thursday are in addition to the four buses that we're renting to move people around.

Here's the schedule for the extra shuttles.

Thursday, March 5, 2009:
Time: 7:30am – 8:30am
Route: Choo Choo to Marriott ONLY (these buses will just stay on this loop)
Request: 2 Diesel Buses

Time: 4:30pm – 6:30pm
Route: Choo Choo to Marriott ONLY
Request: 2 Diesel Buses

Time: 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Route: Marriott to TN Aquarium/Bijou Garage
Request: 2 Electric Shuttles

Friday, March 6, 2009:
Time: 7:30am – 8:30am 4:30pm – 5:30pm
Route: Choo Choo to Marriott ONLY
Request: 2 Diesel Buses

Saturday, March 7, 2009:
Time: 7:30am – 9:30am 1:30pm – 2:30pm
Route: Choo Choo to Marriott ONLY
Request: 2 Diesel Buses

Mmm. Steak.

We did get to try out two steak houses when we were in Chattanooga.

• Porter's Steak House is in the lobby of the Sheraton, so it's easily reached from everywhere, especially if you're staying in the Sheraton. We took the program committee there the first night of the PC meeting (when there weren't so many people there yet :-). Porter's is definitely a high-end steak house. They take great pride in explaining their cuts of meat and how each is prepared. Nice side dishes with ample portions for sharing.
  
• Hennen's doesn't advertise itself as a steak place, but by the measure of square-inches-on-menu, this is a steak place. We had our big (everyone there, including Jack Thompson, our local arrangements chair) program committee dinner there. They handled the large party just fine. The food was quite good, and the setting is terrif -- right across from the Aquarium, just a block from the River. We took a nice walk along the river after dinner. Good food, great location.

More Hotels in Chattanooga!

Our room blocks are completely full already. (I think there are some spots left on Saturday night.) Some people have already said to me, "You never save enough rooms!" We did increase the block from last year, but honestly -- would you have laid money that the SIGCSE Symposium would grow this year, in these economic times? We thought that we were being risky by growing the block. We were pleasantly surprised that the blocks already filled up!

More hotels are preparing special SIGCSE rates. The Chattanoogan (really nice, higher-end hotel about a 10 minute walk from the Convention Center), Days Inn (right across the street from the Marriott and Sheraton), and La Quinta all have posted SIGCSE rates. The Chattanoogan wants a rate code of 318237, and the others just want you to request the SIGCSE rate. Details are available on the conference website.

Big River Brewery

So maybe most people wouldn't recommend a brew pub as a fun family restaurant. I will say that my family has visited the Big River Grille and Brewery in Chattanooga most times we've visited the town. Even when the kids were little, we've always enjoyed the place. Sue, Bob Beck, and I were taken there our first night in Chattanooga when we were considering the town for hosting SIGCSE 2009.

It's right across the street from the Aquarium, about a 10 minute walk from the conference hotels. As one of the on-line reviews says, "It's big. It's loud. It gives the place a lot of energy." There is a good selection of food for the whole family, ranging from the kids' ubiquitous chicken fingers, to some really fine ribs and carrot cake. And by the way, they serve good beer! It would be a great place to stop by after the reception, or when exploring the downtown and riverfront areas.