For those of you who attend EGU, and for those of you unhappy with the news
that for this year’s General Assembly 2007 they “will not have the "big"
programme book in which every session is listed in detail” it is maybe
worthwhile to voice your complaints to EGU. If not, move on, sorry to
disturb you, etc.
This is my open letter to the Programme Committee members. Yes the tone is
a little heavy but I am disappointed.
Dear EGU Gen. Assem. Programme Committee members.
Can you read this email and forward it on to the relevant decision-making
authorities.
I quote from the email I just received from EGU meetings:
BEGIN QUOTED TEXT
This year, it is the first time that we will not have the "big"
programme book in which every session is listed in detail. But, of
course, you will receive an "Information & Schedule" book in which you
find the schedule of the sessions and other important information.
Therefore, you are kindly requested to prepare your personal programme
online on
http://www.cosis.net/members/meetings/view_pers_programme.php?m_id=40&p_
id=233&day=0&view=schedule. Hereby, you can select the oral and poster
presentations of your personal interest and generate a PDF file and/or print
your personal programme.
END OF QUOTED TEXT
I find this decision very, very disappointing! I do not have the time
before the meeting to trawl through vast lists of names, sessions, etc. I
like to see "who is up next" at any given time when I am at the meeting.
Your decision is to not inform the conference attendees of what is going
actually on, who is presenting what. This is massively irresponsible and
almost not credible. Despite the “paperless age”, unless there are
electronic terminals located every 5 metres throughout the Austria Center
Vienna (and when I last looked there were not!), you have an obligation to
inform paying conference participants all about what they are paying to see.
We here in Vienna have encouraged a great number of people to attend EGU, we
are convening special sessions totalling over 300 presentations; for this
poor decision I will only be able to apologise to these people on behalf of EGU!
I consider this decision the equivalent of an airport saying "we choose not
to inform, you at the airport about the destinations, and departure times &
gates of flights but we do list the continents that the airlines fly to.
Thanks, and don't forget to check in on time."
But, this decision is made for 2007. Can someone at least configure the
programme schedule info server/applet to allow one to print out the entire
conference programme (without compiling a “personal programme by clicking in
every single “Select complete timeblock” field of all the disciplines and
all the sessions). I wish to do this so that when I am at the conference I
actually know what is taking place; who is presenting which science, where
and when.
Yours sincerely
Dr. Michael Edwards, Vienna, 05 April 2007
END OF COPIED LETTER
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