[mmaimcal]ALMA Week, from Jaap Baars

[Al Wootten]

For MMA ImCal as I understand the responses I have had, participation will
be Wootten, Butler, Myers, Radford and Mangum.  Conway will also come. 
Please let me know if I have misunderstood.  I will have to leave Friday
morning. -Al

Dear Colleagues,

The planning of the ALMA week is progressing well and today I like to 
present information on the program and logistic aspects.
As you may have seen in the announcement for the DH/TL telecon for 
coming Monday, Bob has put this subject on the agenda.

1. Program.

The ALMA Week will start on Tuesday, 23 April in the morning and run 
to Saturday, 27 April noon.

Major meetings will be held in the area of
Frontend Cartridges 	- 3 days	 	- 25-30 participants
Backend PDR	- 3 days 		- 25 part.
Computing & SSR	- 4 days 		- 15-20 part.

smaller sessions are planned for
Photonics		- .5 day		- 20 participants
Calibration	- .5-1.day		- 15 part.
Configuration/Site	- .5-1 day		- 15 part.
SysEng+Subsys Eng	- 1 day		- 10-20 part.
AEC		- 2 days		- 8 part.

The Week will begin with a plenary session on the Project Status
and a summarising plenary session will be placed at the end.
The planning status of the Antenna Test Facility at the VLA site will 
also be presented.
More smaller sessions may be announced by the IPT leaders.

The number of participants, mentioned above, are the estimates given 
to me by the session organisers.
On this basis the total number of participants will be around 100, 
including a delegation of about a dozen from Japan.

In the attached excel file you will find a first proposal for the 
session timeline throughout the week. [NB I will send this upon request - Al]

2. Additional activities

Our Spanish colleagues Jos=E9 Cernicharo and Rafael Bachiller are 
planning a presentation of the ALMA Project to a wider audience. A 
public lecture is planned in the Granada Science Museum as well as a 
late afternoon session for Spanish scientists, engineers and 
industry. Some of you might be asked to give a short presentation at 
this last event.

The IRAM Granada staff is helping with the local organisation. We 
expect to organise a diner in one of Granada's restaurants,  Mirador 
de Morayma with a breathtaking view of the surroundings. Also we will 
try to arrange for a guided evening tour of the Alhambra.

A visit to the 30-m telescope is a difficult undertaking in this time 
of year. The roads are still blocked because of skiing activities. 
Access to the telescope involves a ride on a cablecar and a trip with 
a snowmobile, which takes 10 people at a time. IRAM is willing to 
arrange for a few trips for those who desperately want to visit the 
telescope. This will have to be limited to 20, perhaps 40 people.
I request that you be very selective in the dissemination of this information.

3. Logistics

IPT leaders are requested to pass the following information to each 
participant.

The meeting will be held in Hotel Saray in downtown Granada. This is 
a modern hotel with sufficient conference rooms to accommodate our 
needs. IRAM has made a block reservation for a special price.
Each participant should make his reservation directly with the hotel, 
mentioning the ALMA Week.
The deadline for the special rate is 20 March.


Hotel Saray   I AM EXPECTING THE DETAILS FROM IRAM ANYTIME. BUT IN VIEW OF THE
	     TELECON OF MONDAY 25 FEB, I DECIDED TO SEND THIS MESSAGE NOW.


Granada is served by Iberia Airlines; there are several flights daily 
both from Madrid and Barcelona.
For some (European) participants Malaga might be an attractive 
alternative. It is about  a 1.5 hour drive from Malaga to Granada. 
There is also a bus connection.

I would like to ask all IPT leaders to inform me of the list of 
participants from their IPT as soon as a reasonably certain 
participation has been established. This will help us to fine-tune 
the planning of the program and the meeting rooms.
Also, please inform us of any additional, small session you might 
like to organise as soon as your planning is complete.

With best regards,
hasta pronto en Granada,,

Jaap