There's been a lot of working going on behind the scenes to ensure that the Alliance 2012 will be a great conference. Approved session presenters are at the moment being contacted to accept the invitations to present at the Alliance before the Track Chairs start checking for spelling mistakes, adding tags and then ... assigning room schedules - which session will open the track, which will close it - ooohhhhh??
Specifically on the EBS Track, we've had an outstanding response to the call for sessions this year and have lobbied the conference organisers persistently to get more sessions allocated to us ... and we have. We have managed to get more sessions this year to give you more choice on what you want to see. 'So what sessions are there?' I hear you cry ... well I'm not allowed to tell you at the moment ... its a secret - sshhhhhh!! But guaranteed as soon as I can you lovely people will be the first to know.
So to the Alliance itself - registration is open at the moment - http://www.heug.org/e/in/eid=118 and the early bird rate applies until 6th Jan 2012 so you've got plenty of time to register to ensure best value for money for your institution. Remember though to book your accommodation first before you register as you will need your booking number to get your early bird discount.
For those of you wanting to stay until the Thursday, I have been notified that when you do your booking it says you cant stay at the Gaylord until then (I'm assuming all the allocated rooms for the Wednesday night are gone) but you can go to the Gaylord Hotel website itself and book for the Wednesday night separately i.e. book until Wednesday via the HEUG and book the Wednesday night via the Gaylord site (or any other site if you can find it cheaper).**
For those of you already starting to plan your attendance, please note that I will be in Nashville from Wednesday 14th March so if anyone wants to meet up to discuss anything I will be around to help out. The other members of the Product Advisory Group (PAG) will normally be in Nashville for the Friday and Saturday for the annual Summit so if you are coming on you own, feel free to contact me by email, the blog or twitter (@HEUGeBS) to meet up.
Thats all for now - any issues etc please dont hesitate to contact me.
Matt
** Please note this is not official HEUG recommendations - this is purely my own personal thoughts and all extra bookings should be made at your own risk