Updates will be posted here as they become available.
Updated 3:12 pm PT / 6:12 pm ET on Friday January 22:
Dear Attendees,
We’ve decided to postpone the Cyberlearning ‘16 conference.
We regret that this will cause some lost travel money and preparation time, although we are aware that airlines are currently offering full refunds and our hotel will offer partial refunds.
As our team analyzed the situation, and consulted with Chris Hoadley at the National Science Foundation, four considerations led to our decision:
- Major disruptions to Sunday travel are already a given: the Metro is closed, many flights cancelled, worries about downed trees and powerlines are high; our hotel is worried about whether they can have enough staff available to run the meeting. It appears certain that the region will be in an emergency mode on Sunday and not yet running smoothly on Monday.
- To run this meeting, CIRCL staff must arrive a day early, that is, on Sunday. We’ve already had flights cancelled for about 50% of the team and our staff are rightly concerned that they will not be able to get to the hotel safely on Sunday. We want attendees and staff to be safe.
- Our attendees want to come to this event as a very “special” signature meeting experience; we feel we will not be able to produce that experience. Inevitably this meeting, if held on Monday, would be about people’s stories of getting there (or not) — not about the research. If held as only on Tuesday, we don’t think we can approximate the signature conference experience we planned for you all and what we hope the meeting can achieve.
- Our poll revealed that a significant number of attendees already cancelled — even at this early time. Almost all attendees want to come to rescheduled meeting.
We trust that you understand our decision, and hope you will make every effort to join us at the rescheduled meeting (more details will be forthcoming).
If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to be in touch with us: circl-convening@sri.com.
With our best wishes,
Jeremy Roschelle, PI (Jeremy.Roschelle@sri.com)
Sarita Pillai, co-PI (spillai@edc.org)
Wendy Martin, Program Chair (wmartin@edc.org)
and the CIRCL Team
Posted 1 pm PT / 4 pm ET on Thursday January 21:
Dear Cyberlearning 2016 Attendees,
As we’re sure you are now aware, a major snowstorm is expected in the Washington DC area for Friday and Saturday this week. Above all, we want everyone to be safe and to adjust your travel plans accordingly. We encourage you to check on airport conditions, particularly at National and Dulles, as well as the status of ground transportation options in the DC area. (Washington Post article about DC Metro closing at least until Monday morning).
We also ask that you share your plans with us, by updating (as often as you like) a form via the link immediately below. We may not be able to respond to individual emails.
We have prepared three possible plans and will send an email specifying which plan we are going with by Saturday evening around 6 pm EST. We will also highlight the selected plan on the this page. The possible plans are:
- (less likely) Meeting starts 8 am Monday as planned.
- Meeting has a 1 pm or later start on Monday to accommodate flight delays; schedule may be adjusted to continue somewhat later into the evening. Tuesday schedule may also be adjusted to go somewhat later.
- Meeting is completely cancelled; rescheduled for approximately 6 months later.
In case 1 or 2, we will be leveraging Webcast and other virtual participation options strongly. Also, in either case 1 or 2, please note that all Sunday activities have been cancelled (early registration, buddy dinner and birds of feather dinners).
The Westin’s room cancellation policy:
- If your flight is cancelled and you wish to cancel your room you should call the hotel directly and provide your flight information. Your room will be released without penalty to you.
- If your flight is not cancelled and you wish to cancel your room you should also call the hotel directly. You will be charged the penalty of one night’s stay plus taxes.