2007 ABC/ABERG Meeting
October 3-6
(Reception and Planning Workshops 9/30-10/2)
Meeting Agenda
Participants
Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, USA
The ABC/ABERG annual meeting will be held in the US this year the first week of October on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Meeting days will be Wednesday-Friday, with Saturday free for excursions. Several of us will be staying the full week (9/30-10/6) for writing and planning workshops on Monday and Tuesday.
The island: Ocracoke is a remote barrier island reachable only by ferry. Here is a nice article from the New York Times about Ocracoke. You can also google Ocracoke and Outer Banks to get a large volume of information about the area. The Outer Banks are special because they are a large barrier island ecosystem, most of which lies within two national parks, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, and Cape Lookout National Seashore, and several National Wildlife Refuges. It is one of the few places in eastern North America where you can see sand beach without houses. Indeed, in many spots you can stand on the beach and not see anyone.
Getting there:
UPDATE: We have a 15 passenger van picking up Dr Urrego and the UK Contingent. Rachel Hillyer will meet you at RDU, waiting outside the gate area of whichever airline you are flying, starting at 4:10.
To start your planning:
If you are coming from the US, we can carpool from Greensboro, or you can fly into Norfolk, Va or Raleigh-Durham and rent a car and drive to Ocracoke. It is important to make ferry reservations.
From the UK: There is a non-stop flight to Raleigh-Durham. From there you can rent a car, or we can arrange a van/carpool if we time the arrivals right.
Also, if you have colleagues at Duke, The University of North Carolina, North Carolina State University, NESCent, or SAMSI that you'd like to visit with, you can easily combine that with this trip. RDU airport is centrally located for these universities and centers.
Accomodations:
UPDATE: We have WV03, WV08, WV35, and UT13 rented for you to stay in. You'll have room assignments upon arrival. You can see them at the Ocracoke Island Realty Site.
There are several hotels on the island that can be found by googling them. Pony Island Motel is a perennial favorite, but there are several others.
Most people prefer to rent a house from Ocracoke Island Realty. They normally rent for the full week, but have several that can be rented for shorter amounts of time (3 night minimum): IR21, IR22, IR23, IR25, UT54, NP08, NP17, OC04, UT22, UT28, WV22, UT27 & SV04. All of which can be viewed on the website. Houses range from tiny to huge, so people can rent jointly and save money if they want.
Back-up In Case of Hurricane: We'll meet in Winston-Salem with field trips to the Nantahala or Great Smoky mountains.