2009 Annual Conference

Scaling the Heights
April 23–25, 2009
DoubleTree - Lloyd Center Hotel
Portland, Oregon

Portland News and Notes
December 2008

An occasional report on ASI conference planning
for our Portland meeting, April 23–25, 2009

IT'S HERE! Thanks to the extraordinarily hard work of Lina Dennison and Annette Rogers at ASI headquarters, and the imagination and creativity of our many program presenters (and their willingness to respond to my finger poking), ASI is proud to present the preliminary program for Portland. (How's that for onomatopoeia?) With thirty-six sessions, over fifty speakers, and multiple extracurricular activities, there's something for every indexer here. You can see for yourself by visiting www.asindexing.org and clicking through to the preliminary program on the main conference page.

Need an extra tax deduction for 2008? Go ahead and register for the conference in December! You can sign up online going to the main conference page and clicking on the registration link. Early registrants who are ASI members can sign up for all conference events (Friday the 24th of April, 2009, and Saturday the 25th) for the sum of $399; there will also be pre-conference and post-conference workshops, priced separately. On the other hand, if you want to take your conference costs out of your 2009 expenses, that's no problem—just wait until after January 1 to register. You'll still get the same early sign-up cost.

The Conference Hotel is the Doubletree at the Lloyd Center (http://doubletree.hilton.com/en/dt/groups/personalized/RLLC-DT-ASO-20090421/index.jhtml). The hotel is next to the Lloyd Center Mall, with over 200 stores, 18 movie theaters, and an ice-skating rink (now, there's a good SIG or chapter activity!). The Doubletree's guest rooms and suites feature large work desks, high-speed Internet access, in-room coffee and tea, and incredible views of either the city skyline or the Cascade Mountains. We've negotiated a room price of $132 dollars per night (single/double occupancy) for a standard room, and $142 for a premium room—very competitive for a central hotel in a major west coast city. The hotel is convenient to both downtown and the airport, being right on Portland's MAX public transportation system (Red Line, Lloyd Center station).

Our Keynote Speaker will be Carol F. Saller, who will open the conference with a breakfast session on Friday. A long-time editor at the University of Chicago Press whom indexers recommend highly - our own Margie Towery, a two-time Wilson Award winner, has worked with Carol many times - she edits the Chicago Manual of Style website's monthly Q&A session, and she's also the author of an upcoming book, The Subversive Copy Editor: Advice from Chicago; or, How to Negotiate Good Relationships with Your Writers, Your Colleagues, and Yourself (it'll be for sale at the conference, and Carol will be glad to sign copies for you). Carol will conduct a "Q&A on the Q&A," discussing how Chicago answers questions about style. I know you'll all come prepared with your own queries! Meanwhile, you can check out the CMOS Q&A site at http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/CMS_FAQ/new/new_questions01.html.

We'll Have Fun & Games at this conference, as well as serious learning experiences. As an icebreaker and a way to meet people, I'm reviving Indexing Bingo, which we last played at the Galveston conference. All attendees will get a Bingo Card, and starting at the opening reception, you're charged with filling it up with the names of, and fun facts about, conference attendees whom you don't already know. And under the watchful eye of Olympic chairperson Enid Zafran, ASI will conduct the first Indexing Olympics. All the details have not yet been worked out, but at least one event will be an indexing relay race involving cross-referencing! If I can find the time and space, we may also try a round of Indexing Jeopardy. And yes, Virginia, there will be prizes.

Wishing you all a happy holiday season and a joyous new year,

Kate Mertes
President Elect, ASI

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