Hi Jim, it’s really nice to see you here. You came to talk to my class when I was in 3rd year at Emily Carr. It was fascinating (and thanks again to your souvenir, which I still treasure). I’ve always wanted to contact you and visit your press/foundry but never had your contact info. I’ll contact you off list.

Tiffany,

You’re just a darn fine person — once again, gallantly spearheading pre-meeting talk and such! And I hope that this thread is at least as long as the last one of this nature, as I am eager to see plans and arrangements fall into place (aren’t we all?).

I will arrive in Vancouver on the evening of the 24th and will depart at noon on the 29th; right now, I aim to stay at the Westin.

Looking forward to it!

Jon

Hi, Tiffany and John Granville Island Hotel would be a great place to stay. It’s right next to Emily Carr. But it’ll depend on where everyone else is staying as well I guess…

Sorry, I was meant to say Jon…

Since in appears that I will be sitting in on another type marketing panel discussion, I suppose I will be in attendance as well. It’s looks like I will be arriving the evening of the 24th. Since Veer is picking up the tab, I’m at the Westin. It’s going to so nice to actually know more of you right off the bat in Vancouver. I felt a little bit like a lost sheep during the first day or so of TypeCon…

Nathan wrote: If there are any Vancouver natives who know of interesting ways to kill time, I’d be grateful for the knowledge.

Some general information for visitors is available at http://www.atypi.org/40_conferences/28_Vancouver/10_venue/vanguide

Most of the ‘In and around Vancouver’ section is tailored for people who are bringing their families or who have interests beyond type, so there isn’t any ‘Go to this corner and look northeast to see a really interesting W’ stuff

Thanks John and Jim. Those links at ATypI are great. And I’ll definitely email you about your shop Jim. That’d be amazing!

Cheers

I finally stopped waffling. I’m doing the same as you, Tiffany, but taking off on the 28th instead…

I’m still waffling on the Gala Dinner. Does anyone have advice on that?

I’ve only been to one gala dinner (not that I’ve been to a dozen conferences or something), and I only went to that one because somebody sold me their ticket for half-price. It’s not that it’s too expensive (plus the money really helps ATypI), it’s that I personally enjoy wandering around strange towns at night. Except that one time I decided to give it a shot (especially since the venue seemed pretty unique), and it wasn’t bad: my table had a mixture of old-school pros and sharp young techies.

I guess for Vancouver you’d have to figure out if it’s different enough from where you already live to justify a night on the town versus spending social time with type folks you’d otherwise rarely meet [in person].

hhp

Hrant, to clarify: the money for the gala dinner doesn’t ‘really help ATypI’ in the sense that the association makes a profit on the gala dinner. The price is designed to cover the cost of renting a dinner venue for an entire evening for an estimated number of people; so it helps the association not lose money if lots of people come.

At the gala dinner in Vancouver, there will be unlimited beer and wine, which has not been the case in recent years in other cities.

PS. Hrant, have you changed your mind about not coming? I was at Microsoft this week, and Kevin Larson was disappointed to hear that you were planning not to attend.

> Kevin Larson was disappointed

Well, that’s nice to hear. Sadly it just makes me regret
more not being able to make it. :-( That and the unlimited
beer and wine thing, of course. ;-) What’s really ironic is
that my sister will be attending an Accounting conference
in Vancouver in [early] September, all the way from Beirut!

hhp

Does anyone find it strange that the conference is scheduled during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year & probably the most important of the Jewish holidays? Especially given the track on Hebrew typography, I think it’s a startling oversight. It would be like scheduling a conference over December 25. Has anyone raised a fuss about it?

—Meredith (first post here)

I came to the conference obviously, and to the Gala dinner too. I just received my payement confirmation for it. Yes, I’m board member, speaker and paid as any other people, everything.

The document say about the gala dinner:
“The $75 charge for the Gala Dinner covers unlimited beer and wine, dj and dancing, Bridges world-famous cuisine, and an outstanding view of the Vancouver bay and mountains. Not to mention awards, both serious and not-so-serious. It

Meredith,

you’re right!!!


“has anyone raised a fuss about it?”





David Hamuel

Meredith and David, yes we’re aware that the conference is scheduled during Rosh Hashanah. This is very unfortunate but was unavoidable due to the availability of the conference venue. The next available dates were well into October, and there was nothing available earlier. A decision was made, on this basis, by the former ATypI executive director; I think she made the right decision, despite that fact that it has made it impossible for some people to attend, including a couple of prospective speakers. The only options — rescheduling the conferences later than usual or opting for a less suitable venue — would have inconvenienced a greater number of people. I should note that one Jewish speaker, Martin Mendelsberg, will still be attending and speaking because I have scheduled him on the Sunday afternoon (which is also when my own presentation on Hebrew type design takes place). I’ve provided Martin with a list of Vancouver synagogues, so he can spend Saturday in observance of Rosh Hashanah, and would be happy to provide similar information to anyone else.

ATypI is very much aware that this needs to be avoided in future. We were not expecting conference space in Vancouver to be so heavily booked so far in advance.

> At the gala dinner in Vancouver, there will be unlimited beer and wine, which has not been the case in recent years in other cities.

i can (only just) remember that there was unlimited booze in Leipzig too…

I’m going, be in Seattle then the CT/OT at the Westin, leaving to Seattle to see the final MLB Mariners v A’s on Sunday.

I’ve been to many Gala dinners.

Best I was at was definitely Barcelona.. remember Se

John,

thank you.



David Hamuel

Best I was at was definitely Barcelona.. remember Se

> go around and remove all the dinner plates.

Maybe they thought it was a Greek convention.  ;-)

Actually, I was witness to that once or twice, but since the Olympics that’s become increasingly
less common. I guess the Catalans have become more… confident? Even more, that is.

hhp

John, thanks for your response re: Rosh Hashanah. I know how hard it can be to schedule a large event like that. I still think it was a bad idea, but I suppose the conference isn’t for my benefit alone. Anyway, you might want to put some of that info on the conference website — f’rinstance, the list of Vancouver synagogues, and an acknowledgment that ATypI was aware of the conflict, regrets it but found it unavoidable, and will avoid it in the future. That might go a long way toward not seeming inhospitable to Jewish members and attendees.

—Meredith

Thanks for the suggestion Meredith. We will be adding more information to the Vancouver city guide next month, and will probably include a list of places of worship (it is on the list of things to do, but so are a lot of other things that are more important to the conference itself, so I can’t promise it). We would certainly note the regretable situation re. Rosh Hashanah.

In the meantime, you might roll you eyes at this piece of stunning cultural and religious insensitivity: evite.com, an online invitation service, recently included Yom Kippur as one of its ‘reasons to party’.

Well, what do you think would happen if they didn’t include a Jewish holiday in there?
But maybe they could have chosen a better one?

hhp

Yes, they could have chosen a better one than the Day of Atonement (during which one fasts all day). Fun party theme!

Thanks for the laugh, John.

—Meredith

I’m curious:
1) What’s a better one?
2) Is there a “party” immediately after Yom Kippur, like in Ramadaan? If so, what is it called?

hhp

After sundown there is a “breaking the fast,” and it’s a happy event, but “party” is really pushing it — it’s really not “a reason to party”. (There’s probably a Hebrew word or phrase for breaking the fast, but I’m not a good enough Jew to know it.)

A better occasion would be Purim, which is all about partying. Chanukah (a minor Jewish holiday, despite how it’s treated in the stores & media) would also be a partying holiday.

Hey — I just read John’s announcement: does that mean we have to choose between the Opentype thing and the FontLab thing? Can’t do both? Oh, man … what a choice to have to make.

Of course, if my owners don’t let me go at all, I won’t be forced to make that choice … [sigh]

and so, which one have you selected?

Its true, but for regular of type conferences, you always have seen the three guys before, and the choice is made not on the name but on the subject of their talk. I’m sure you are.

well the Hague was great for choices since it separated the techy from the uni lectures… good old Type Lab. I spent all my time in the Type Lab and their lectures at the Hague and Barcelona..

But at Reading I changed to go to all the ‘other’ lectures as in non-techy ones like ‘Type book publishing’ which had people involved in that only.. and I had people saying.. what are you doing in here? Which I would respond.. ‘I get that TrueType stuff everyday so why do I have to sit through it in Reading’..

It use to be a great Us v Them or Ties v T-shirts… Now that is all gone.

Folks,

I am thinking of coming to Vancouver. I am worried that someone might blacken my eyes though. What’s your thought?

Gerald Giampa

No problem, Gerald. Just grow a beard, wear an Afro wig and introduce yourself as Hrant …

[very big grin]

Jay,

You mean a five-o-clock shadow?
http://www.lanstontype.com/GiampaHat.html

With my hair in a perm? I mean work with me here?
http://www.lanstontype.com/GiampaLunenbergBoat.html
Is that your way of telling me I need a hair cut!

Tiffany

I am afraid to ask! I am not sure what this means ;^D?

Are you recommending I bring along my grand dad?

Gerald Giampa

Tiffany,

What do you mean age?

;^D

Gerald Giampa

Tiffany,

The barber’s tongue?

Gerald Giampa ;^D

Oh yeh, I thought everyone knew that story about my grandfather. Everyone called him “Pops”.

He was a member of the family, not just my own. Cut my barbers tongue out of his head with a straight razor. It was after my 4th birthday party haircut. He told me the barber talked to much.

Maybe “Pops” was trying to tell me something. What do you think? ;^D


Gerald Giampa

Yippee! My owner just slipped my leash. I’m off to Vancouver!!

I’m going to be staying with friends; this is going to be expensed as “Misc. Parking” or something, so I got to do it on the cheap.

The funny part is that we are in the process of buying a house on Saltspring Island, 1.5 hours away from Vancouver by ferry. If it were a little closer, I’d stay at the new house.

I’m going to try to stay up there all week.

Oh, hot-diggedy! Now I have to decide what I’m going to not miss!

.

Jay, great to hear that you can make it. In order to make the decision what not to miss even more difficult, FontLab Inc. have just announced that they will be launching and demo’ing three new products at this year’s conference.

John, is there a schedule somewhere that shows the programs day-by-day? I see the list of programs by track, but not by when they take place.

We’ll be staying at the conference hotel starting on the evening of Tuesday the 23rd (to work on the Wed/Thurs workshops), and leaving on Sunday night the 28th.

We may actually be getting into town a few days earlier and visiting friends (TBD).

For those who don’t know her already, my wonderful wife Veronica will be with me. I’m thinking she’ll get on really well with Tiffany in particular.

Cheers,

T

Thomas —

Glad to hear Veronica will be joining us! I guess your dance card will be filled, eh? ;-)

— K.

Kent,

I sure hope so! Always hard to find enough people for dancing….

T

Meredith,

The actual schedule should be online very soon. All the information is in the database, so it just need to be displayed appropriately. I believe the good folk at Text Matters are working on a table of some kind, so that it will be easy to see overall structure. Most of the time there will be three tracks in progress.

For those looking for a less-expensive place to stay… Here are a few hotels that are near Granville Island (where ECIAD is), not too far from the Westin, and a damn sight less expensive:

Century Plaza (“Hotel and Spa”) is close to both venues, the rooms have kitchenettes, and it’s US$70/night.

Sandman Hotel in downtown Vancouver, between the 2 conference venues, US$60/night.

Howard Johnsons, between the 2 venues, US$68/night.

Not as comfy & beautiful as the Westin, of course, but that’s the trade-off.

However, don’t underestimate the “geosocial” value of an “official” conference hotel.

hhp

The dates and times of the various sessions of the ATypI conference are now online at
http://www.atypi.org/40_conferences/28_Vancouver/40_timetables

Please note that this schedule is still subject to change, but most of it is pretty solid.

I didn’t see the programme sorted by day and time so I made a spreadsheet. As far as I know it is correct based on the website. But it would be nice to have the website it sorted by day as well.

vancouver2003 Vancouver 2003.xls (23.0 k)

Thanks for that Vincent, useful idea until the ATypI website will propose similar layout.

Thanks, John — and Vincent, big thanks for taking the time to make the spreadsheet — very useful!