The Mycological Society of America

Developing Circular for the 2007 Annual Meeting

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

MSA Council Meeting Saturday 4 August 2007

MSA Foray Sunday 5 August 2007 (see below for the foray information)

Monday 6 August through Thursday evening 9 August 2007
Note there will be a full day of events on Thursday, concluding with the social and auction in the evening 


Why travel all the way to Baton Rouge? For MSA and for other fun as well --check it out at Clarence's site <http://www.cajunradio.org/>

Questions? Contact Meredith Blackwell mblackwell@lsu.edu


Nhu H. Nguyen
MSA –4 August through 9 August 2007
                                                             Program (Cover, Table of Contents) (Schedule) (Abstracts and Participants) (Schedule at a Glance) posted 28 July, 5:20 pm
  [posted 13 July 2007, 10:45am]

MSA Annual Meeting Arrival Information

    If you are flying to the Baton Rouge airport for the MSA meeting it is recommended that you reserve ground transportation ahead of arrival
•    A shuttle service may be contacted ahead: Reliant ($35 each way, 225-336-4814).
•    Also see list of taxis:
http://temp54.bizzuka.com/CaseStudies/CaseStudyDisplay.asp?p1=2835&p2=Y&Sort=. Note that if you arrive after 10:30 and no taxis are waiting, Yellow Cab can be phoned at (225) 926-6400.
•    MSA participants can arrange to meet others at the information desk on the first floor near the baggage pick up area to share rides. One-way taxi rides cost about $30 to the LSU campus (Zone 5) and may be cheaper, depending on the driver. Negotiate before you get in the taxi.
  * First campus stop
•    East Campus Apartments: Go to the Nora N. Power Activity Center at Campus Drive and East Campus Drive --third building on right (one-storey) at first small street on left after the 3-way stop. Our coordinator for ECA is James Brown. He will give you the keys (PLEASE remember to turn in your keys or MSA will be charged $100 for each missing key).
          OR
•    Lod and Carole Cook Conference Center go to the check in desk.

    Second campus stop  Registration area in the Life Sciences Building Annex Lobby at the corner of Highland Road and East Campus Drive. The registration desk will be open from noon-6pm Saturday (4 August) and Sunday (5 August) and 7:00-10:00 AM Monday (6 August).  Foray participants may also register before the foray (8:00-8:30 AM).

    Parking  If you will have an automobile, you will need a parking permit beginning Monday.  Please email mblackwell@lsu.edu and put “parking” in the subject line. Reserved permits will be available at registration. 
   
    Handy tip before you leave home    Search “MAP 70803” on Google for a hybrid map of the LSU Campus with landmarks and streets. Also see here for a campus street map with meeting sites marked
   
    information for speakers
•    Get to the talk ½ hour before the session begins to be certain the presentation can be loaded on the computer and so that you will know how it looks.
•    You already know not to put too much on a slide.
•    Use fonts that are easy to read. Many people find typefaces without serifs easier to read from the back of the room. Sans serif fonts include Helvetica, Arial, and several others.
•    All the computers available for use with the projectors are PCs. If you used a Mac for preparation of your Power Point presentation, try it out on a PC before you get to Baton Rouge. In case of emergency for altering a presentation, there are a number of PCs connected to the Internet in the lobby of Life Sciences Building (LSB) in the older part of building that is west of the registration area of LSB-A. Mac Quicktime format pictures will NOT work; you should convert Mac format pictures to jpgs so that they will work. Also, be certain all the Mac fonts are compatible with PC fonts.
•    Each podium has a microphone. Please use it so your voice will project to the last row (where everyone invariably sits!). You probably don’t want to have people walking out because they cannot hear you.
•    Start and finish your talk in the light so people will know who you are. Don’t be afraid to ask that the lights be turned on!
•    Keep to the time (13 minutes for contributed talks with 2 minutes for questions.)
•    Do not call for your own questions – this is why the session chairperson is there.

    information for poster presenters  
•    Posters should be set up at Swine Palace Theatre Monday morning (open at 8:00-8:30 AM)
•    Light weight poster boards will be numbered and set up on tables, so be certain to check your poster number in the program and use the corresponding number.
•    Also, check the program to find out which day you are assigned to be at your poster from 12:00-1:00 PM. If you bought the lunch package your lunch should be delivered by 11:30 AM.
•    Poster boards are 4 ft X 4 ft, although you may not use the maximum size.
•    Velcro tape will be provided to secure your poster to the board.
•    Posters must come down by Thursday at 4:00 PM or they will have to be discarded
 
    information for session chairpersons
•    Arrive half an hour early so that the talks can be loaded for your session.
•    You are the audiovisual expert in the room! Help the speaker set up the projector and microphone. We will have students who have been trained to use the equipment, but they may be in a different session. If a projector lamp burns out, change rooms quickly to any similar room at the opposite end of the building (we have reserved them as extras). Also, please phone 225-578-2601 (or the number listed in the area of the podium for bulb replacement.
•    Make certain the lights are on in the room at the beginning and end of talks so that the speaker can be seen clearly and recognized later! [The light switch may be at the back of some rooms, so delegate someone to work the lights.]
•    Be certain to time the talks and push the speaker off in time to have several minutes of questions and answers. We have arranged to have the sessions close together so that we can session hop. If you don’t keep to time these careful arrangements will have been in vain!


Thanks to many, including
Kevin B. Carman, Dean, College of Basic Sciences, LSU
Terry Bricker and Marsha Newcomer, successive chairpersons, Department of Biological Sciences, LSU
Cindy Henk, Socolofsky Microscopy Center, LSU
Michael S. Tick and Pat A. Acampora, Department of Theater
Kim Gardiner, Facility Services, LSU
BioGrads, Department of Biological Sciences, LSU
Bausch & Lomb
RCN: A phylogeny for Kingdom Fungi (Deep Hypha)
In case of problems late at night phone 225-757-0406 and during the day 225-578-2601 (weekdays).



tee-shirt
The 2007 MSA tee-shirt commerates the 75th anniversary of the founding of the society. The exerubrant design depicting celebratory puff ball fireworks is by Cara Gibson, Department of Entomology, University of Arizona. Please contact Meredith Blackwell by email (mblackwell@lsu.edu) if youwant one and did not order when you registered.

MSA AUCTION
It's never too soon to think about donating your mycological treasures to the MSA Auction! Out-of-print mycology books, historical photographs of mycologists, autographs, teaching materials (especially identified specimens and Power Point presentations), naming opportunities for new taxa, and photos and illustrations of mushrooms and other fungi are always popular -- and items ranging from mycological t-shirts to myco-kitsch are more than welcome. Remember that the auction proceeds go to the MSA General Endowment Fund, which supports student fellowships and travel to meetings. Please notify Betsy Arnold <arnold@ag.arizona.edu> of the items you plan to donate so that she can compile a catalog. Donated items may be brought to the meeting registration area or mailed to M. Blackwell, Department of Biological Sciences, LSU, Baton Rouge LA 70803 (tthat is the mailing address!). Thank you!
Register and pay at the official MSA registration site.
(Early registration ends April 13; registration closes July 18)
Submit abstracts for presentations by April 13 (new date)
The poster presentation boards are 4ft x 4ft (1.2m x 1.2m); Velcro hooks will be supplied to attach poster components

How to get to Baton Rouge by Air


How to get to Baton Rouge by Car
If you are coming from outside of the United States, you may need a visa. Please check at the web site <http://www.unitedstatesvisas.gov/whatis/typesofvisas.html> for complete information. Visitors from many countries are elegible for the visa waver program. See <http://london.usembassy.gov/cons_new/visa/niv/vwp.html>. 

DIRECTIONS TO LSU http://www.lsu.edu/about_dr.htm

Where to stay at MSA? There are three kinds of conference housing for MSA, so read carefully or better yet open a new browser page to get to the online registration form and keep this information page open:

1)    110 rooms are available in the Lod & Carole Cook Conference Center & Hotel, 3848 West Lakeshore Drive http://cookconferencecenter.com/ (0.66 miles from meeting rooms)

Special rates for our meeting are shown below. Roll away beds are not available meaning two people must share a bed if more than two people (maximum of 4) want to stay in either a suite or standard room. A substantial breakfast buffet is served each morning.  The Lod Cook Hotel is at the edge of the campus.  Other than breakfast and lunch, food is not available but it is possible to order meals. There is no bar, but there is room service liquor.


Rates:

Rooms/ $ per night with breakfast included

Double (2 double beds) suites (large single room) --$113 +10 + 10 - max 4/room, 2/bed

King (2 king-sized beds) suites (larger single room) --$113 +10 + 10 - max 4/ room, 2/bed

Standard doubles $93 - max 4/ room, 2/bed

YOU CANNOT BOOK THE GROUP RATE FOR THE COOK CENTER ON THE CONFERENCE WEBSITE

For the group rate
be sure to mention MSA
1) phone the toll free number 866-610-2665, extension 610, during business hours (8:30AM -4:30PM CST)
or
2) email jenny@lsualumni.org

2)     250 bedrooms are available in East Campus Apartments http://appl003.lsu.edu/slas/reslifeweb.nsf/$Content/East+Campus+Apartments?OpenDocument, and the price and the distance from the meeting rooms are good (the link is for observing the features of the lodging at East Campus Apartments only, not for reserving a room). To reserve a room, please go only to the MSA Registration site and complete the Registration form and payment there. Most of the fully furnished apartments have 4 private bedrooms (one single bed in each bedroom) and 2 shared bathrooms. Each apartment has a kitchen with major appliances (refrigerator, stove and oven, microwave oven, and dishwasher) and a clothes washer and dryer. Cooking utensils, however, are not supplied. Rates: Private bedroom in apartment (1 single bed) --$42/night including linens.
 
3)    10 rooms are available at the LSU Faculty Club. These rooms are reserved for those who need to be near the meeting rooms. Inquire mblackwell@lsu.edu

LSU Campus Map http://www.lsu.edu/campus/

 


Meeting Locations on the LSU campus

1.  Lod & Carol Cook Conference Center & Hotel (the map was made before the hotel was built)
2. East Campus Apartments
3. Williams Hall (sessions)
4. LSU Union (food & bookstore)
5. Life Sciences Building and Annex (registration and information center)
6. Faculty Club (breakfast and business meeting & social and auction)
7. French House (daily posters and lunch)

Where to hear those great MSA talks? All of the sessions will be in Williams Hall behind the Life Sciences Building. See the campus map above and search for Williams Hall.

Where to eat?

«Breakfast
    A breakfast buffet is included with your reservation at the Cook Alumni and Conference Center in the Shaquille R. O'Neal Lodge on the ground floor of the hotel.
    If you are in East Campus Apartments you can fix your own breakfast or use the Union facilities.
    Louie's for any meal 24 hours a day; famous for breakfasts (omelets, sandwiches, salads, home cooked entrees), 209 W. State St.
«Lunch
    The box lunch option on the registration form is highly recommended for a relaxed lunch and poster viewing every day.
    The LSU Union
    Off campus --but remember lunch time will be short so that evenings can be reserved for camaraderie.
«Dinner
There are several Tiger Town restaurants open for lunch and dinner within walking distance (see the map below):

The LSU Union is open as well
Serious dinners off campus: There are many fine resturants in Baton Rouge (see Clarence's site <http://www.cajunradio.org/> and search a Google map for 70808, then resturant name <http://maps.google.com/>)
The favorites of LSU mycologists in driving (not walking) distance include:
Where to hear those great MSA talks? All of the sessions will be in Williams Hall near the Life Sciences Building and LSU Union. See the campus map (above and look for Williams Hall).
The MSA Foray (to be announced soon)
Meet the busses at 8:30 AM in front of the Life Sciences Building. The buses will return to this location about 3:30 PM. Microscopes, simple culture media, and plant driers will be available in Life Sciences Building 118 until 10:00 PM and later if needed. We want this to be a learning experience! Encouragement will be supplied.
Get ready for the foray by looking at the following web sites:
17 January 2007