Region 3 Conference Report Region 3 Committee Members, Your region is planning three top notch conferences for your members, students, and volunteers over the next three years. Please read below about how each team is preparing for your education and enjoyment. See you at SoutheastCon! SoutheastCon 2006 from Allan Long As anyone who has run a conference before can attest, we've been busy and time has been flying! Here is an update on where we stand right now: Registration: PAID 16 full conference non-authors 49 member authors 7 non-member authors 6 life members 66 EXCOM/Region 3 Committee 136 basic students 44 full conference students NOT PAID 1 full conference non-author 1 member author 5 EXCOM/Region 3 Committee 23 basic students We have 27 companions, but are getting a LOT more as parents are now wanting to come watch their offspring compete. The EXCOM/Region 3 Committee numbers should include special presenters, such as IEEE staff. Hotel: All deadlines have passed on our room block. The hotel is also sold out. We have 568 room-nights booked with the hotel, although we have not confirmed the list. Our contract was for 505. Thank you to all who worked so hard to get reservations made! Student Competitions: PAID 12 papers 40 t-shirt 68 hardware 24 software 20 website 29 ethics 21 resume 9 Elvis NOT PAID 3 t-shirt 12 hardware 5 software 3 website Technical Program: We have the CD's of the conference proceedings in hand, along with several hard copies. Hard copies may be ordered at the conference, but we aren't printing many in advance. We have had a very professional crew running this part of the conference, and I want to start congratulating them well in advance of the event! Exhibits: Exhibits from IEEE (2 tables), the Life Members (1 table), Public Information Committee (1 table), and SoutheastCon 2007 (1 table) are planned. At this time, the number of firms participating in the career exhibition has been very low, largely due to another large job fair in the area this past week. Budget: We are working very hard to pull off a good conference and make money for the Region. Due to the substantially lower registrations, we have scaled back on several things, especially on breaks. However, we continue to pursue income and have been able to provide some really nice functions despite the uncertainty. We are concerned about a lot of on-site registrations, but we are currently being conservative on our head counts. This has been a problem because we were not meeting the minimum food guarantee with the hotel. That has been resolved. Special Events: We are now inviting all the students to the opening reception on Friday. We will have an authentic rockabilly piano player and his combo perform. Mr. Jerry Lee "Smoochy" Smith was a studio musician who recorded with many of the big names in early rock 'n roll at Sun Studios. I think you will be very pepped up by his performance! The reception will run from 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM. On Saturday, we have been able to swing the "out of the hotel experience" we wanted, after some tough negotiations. The awards program will begin at 5:00 PM at the hotel. This will not be a food event, but it will be preceded by a break for all attendees. We will take the time needed for the ceremony, but we will expedite the "miscellaneous" awards such as participation certificates as much as possible. Following the ceremony, we will board buses to go to Graceland, Elvis's home, for a BBQ dinner (with good BBQ, not what you find in restaurants) and tours of the mansion, automobile museum, airplanes, and museum. We think this is a top-notch way to wrap up the conference! To Be Done: 1) Massage the budget and hotel arrangements every day 2) Accumulate the audiovisual equipment 3) Work out the details of on-site registration 4) Prepare detailed schedule of events that will be distributed at registration 5) Make some signs 6) Find someone to coordinate VIP's and the awards arrangements 7) Eat right and get some sleep SoutheastCon 2007 from Adeeb Hamzey Preparation, planning, and organizing activities are underway to hold the SoutheastCon 2007 in Richmond, Virginia March 22 Ð 25, 2007, at the Richmond Marriott. The Conference Committee held its first on-site information meeting at the Richmond Marriott, Saturday/Sunday March 11-12, 2006, with Jim Beall and Charles Lord representing the Region 3 Conference Committee. The following activities were accomplished: 1. Walk down of the hotel facility. General Sales Manager Bob Hudson provided a guided tour of the conference area including the ballrooms, banquet facilities, and the breakout rooms. As a prelude to the tour, Bob responded to many questions from committee members regarding hotel registration, union issues, hotel emergency evacuation plan, communication, food services, and student meals, among others. 2. Status of the conference registration software and associated cost. 3. Committee assignments. 4. Action Item list. 5. Conference theme. 6. Call for Papers document has been issued. 7. Budget revision and update. 8. Finalize conference overall agenda for all tracks. 9. Web site design. 10. Conference marketing and advertising. 11. Promotional brochure. 12. Sponsors and exhibitors. 13. General rules established for student hardware competition. SoutheastCon 2007 key Committee representatives will attend the SoutheastCon 2006 in Memphis to prepare for next year's conference. SoutheastCon 2008 from Keith Jadus The SouthEastCon 2008 Committee is holding monthly meetings planning. The venue looks to be very exciting, as the anticipated location is under new construction. The Section is supporting the UAH Student Branch at the SouthEastCon in various competitions. Thanks, don Don Hill Region 3 2006 Conference Committee Chair