Helpful Information

This page contains a variety of information from ISBE AGM to testing your presentation at the conference! If you cannot find the answer to your question here then please e-mail secretariat@isbe2006.org for general enquriies or registration@isbe2006.org for enquiries relating to your conference booking.

The ISBE AGM will be at 17.30 Wed 1st November in the Council Chamber. All current members are asked to attend. Please see ISBE publication in your Delegate pack.

The Conference Check-in Desk can accept messages for delegates which will be displayed on a Notice-Board. Photocopying and outgoing fax services are not provided in the City Hall but should be available at your Hotel. Public telephones can be found near the Entrance Hall.

The Secretariat can be found during normal hours either at the Check-in Desk or in the Organisers Office in Room H off the Marble Hall on the first floor. In any emergency necessitating contact call 07836 537512 (Brian Dunsby) or 07816 937441 (Maggie Hall).

City Hall offers good wheelchair access. From street level a wheelchair lift gives entry to the ground floor and a further lift allows access to the first floor. Both ground floor and first floor are level throughout, with the exception of the Council Chamber and Ferrier Hall where there are steps to access the rooms. Toilets for disabled visitors are available.

The preferred dress code is informal for the Conference Sessions. The Welcome Reception and the Gala Awards Dinner are business attire NOT black tie – due to the luggage limitations of our long distance delegates. Ladies are of course welcome in whatever suits them best! An outer jacket or raincoat is advisable for walking between the Hotel and the City Hall – umbrellas will be provided in your Delegate Packs as insurance!

There will be a display of relevant publications and service providers in the Lower Hall, where all refreshment and lunch breaks will be taken. The Exhibition will be open from 12.30 Tuesday until 11.00 Thursday. In addition several sponsors, exhibitors and publishers have inserted relevant literature in all Delegate Packs. Please mention that you made contact with them through the ISBE Conference.

All Delegates will find a Discount Voucher inserted in their name badge holders entitling them to a 20% discount off drinks and dinner at the Cardiff Hilton Hotel from Monday 30th October until Thursday 2nd November. This will facilitate informal networking at any time.

Cardiff Visitor Centre is now located in the Old Library, The Hayes, Cardiff CG10 1AH Telephone 08701 211258. Website: www.visitcardiff.com  The Centre is open Monday-Saturday 09.30-18.00. There will be a Visitor Information Desk near Conference Check-in.

A FREE ten-station Internet Cafe with high-speed broadband wireless connection is being provided by ISBE on the right hand side of the Marble Hall on the first floor. They should be used only for short periods up to 10 minutes at a time, with consideration shown for other Delegates waiting for the facility. Wi-fi connection to your own laptop should operate in the Marble Hall area free of charge, subject to total capacity limits.

The Organisers, Perlex Associates, the Host University and the Institute accept no liability howsoever arising from the Conference booking or attendance. They also accept no responsibility for loss, damage or injury to persons or property during the Conference. Please take good care of all personal belongings, particularly laptops. Do not leave these unattended in any Conference Rooms. The Organisers reserve the right to make any necessary changes to the Programme and the arrangements for the Conference.

There will be one large table where registered delegates may display small quantities of relevant technical literature for other delegates to pick up if interested. This facility must not be overloaded with multiple piles of similar leaflets from any one organisation. Such piles of duplicates and any other literature lying around the Conference venues will be removed.

A multiple choice hot and cold two-course Buffet Lunch will be served in the Lower Hall on the ground floor on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday a packed lunch will be available for collection to facilitate a speedy departure – or you may stay and eat it in the Lower Hall. Delegates will be issued with numbered colour-coded lunch tickets for each day which must be handed in to get a meal.

Messages for delegates will be posted on the ISBE Conference Message Board near the Check-in Desk. Postcards for writing messages are available from the Conference Secretariat. Outbound public telephones can be found in the Entrance Hall.

Delegates may use the Lower Hall on the ground floor and the Marble Hall on the first floor for informal networking discussions during the day. The nearby Hilton Hotel offers lounge facilities with a full range of drinks and snacks available to order all day and evening.

Photocopying services are not provided in the City Hall but should be available at your Hotel if needed.

A choice of coffee, tea or water plus biscuits will be provided for the mid-morning and mid afternoon breaks each day. All breaks will be in the Lower Hall on the ground floor with several serving stations. (All non-smoking).

There are many Restaurants, Bars and Night Clubs in the centre of Cardiff, within about 10 minutes walking distance of the City Hall. A pocket guide with an illustrated sketch map of the town centre is included in Delegate Packs. Click here for City Centre map

We aim to ensure maximum security and to exclude potential gatecrashers. Therefore all delegates and all accompanying persons must wear their ISBE Conference Name Badges at all times within the Conference venue. In addition specific numbered tickets are needed for each lunch and for the evening social events. If not pre-booked, then it may be possible to buy extra tickets at the Conference Check-in Desk.

There will NOT be any shuttle buses provided this year as all Conference events take place within the City Hall or the adjacent National Museum, within a short walk of many hotels. For those who prefer to take a bus to and from their Hotel, details of bus services passing near the City Hall are given in the section headed Bus Services on the detailed Travel Information page.

Smoking is not permitted anywhere within the City Hall or the National Museum. The Conference Plenary and Parallel Sessions, the Refreshment and Exhibition areas, the Internet Café, the Check-in areas, the Welcome Reception and the Gala Dinner are all NON-SMOKING. Smoking is only allowed outside in the Car Park at ground level.

Would delegates with special access, dietary or other needs please ensure that the Conference Secretariat have details well in advance so that every effort can be made to meet those needs during the event as far as practicable.

Testing Presentations

All Speakers should bring their PowerPoint files on a CD or a USB stick to the Testing Station at least 2 hours before their scheduled presentation session so that our Technicians can pre-load each file on to the computer in the correct room. The Testing Station is located within the Internet Cafe on the right hand side of the Marble Hall on the first floor. Each Room will be equipped with a data projector and a laptop computer so that Speakers can if necessary insert their own USB sticks or CDs – but NOT 3.5 inch floppy discs. (Note: Overhead projectors will NOT be available at this Conference.)

ISBE Conference Secretariat, PO Box 888, Dept W6, Harrogate, HG2 8UH, UK
 Tel:  +44 (0) 1423 879208   Fax:  +44 (0) 1423 870025   E-mail:  enquiries@isbe2006.org