NEWS and UPDATES

NMEA 2008 Presenters Update: April 16, 2008

All presentation acceptance email messages and confirmation forms were sent out as of April 8, 2008. If you have submitted a presentation proposal and have not yet heard from us, please contact Anne Lindsay Frick at lindsay@uga.edu.

If you have received the acceptance message and attached confirmation form, please fill out the form and return it immediately. The confirmation form offers your “last chance” to change the wording of your presentation description or to make any special requests.

Session dates, times, and room assignments will be emailed to you soon. After that time, we will be unable to make any changes to either session descriptions or schedules. If you have any further questions, please contact Anne Lindsay Frick at lindsaya@uga.edu.

Registration

Conference registration is now open! Check out full details on the Registration page.  Full Registration (including meals) ends June 1, 2008.  Late Registration rates (meals not included) become effective June 2 until July 21, 2008.  Please note:  to have your meals provided at the conference, you must register by the end of business day on June 1.  Those individuals registering after June 1 will not receive meals or be able to purchase conference organized meals at the last minute.  Non-member registration fees (both Full and Late) will be higher.

Presenters
The NMEA 2008 Call for Presentations has closed. The proposal review process is underway. Presenters will be notified of proposal acceptance by Friday, March 28. For more information or for the status of a submitted proposal, please contact Anne Lindsay Frick at lindsaya@uga.edu.

Exhibitors
Exhibitor Information is open on line.  Limited exhibit space is available.  Exhibitor Registration closes May 1, 2008 or when space capacity has filled.

Hotel Reservations
Reservations are open now. Reserve your room early!  A limited number of hotel rooms are available.  Reservation period closes when rooms have filled.

Lodging reservations are now open. The most efficient and pain free way to make your room reservations at the host hotel, Savannah Marriott Riverfront, is to use this online link. Place your request for your room now. The link will open a new window and bring you to the hotel website with the conference code pre-filled for you. The online registration window has the hotel’s code for NMEA 2008 embedded in order to provide the discounted conference rate of $149/night. To get this special rate, you must make your reservations through this link. Call the 1-800 number only to make changes to your existing reservation.

Buddies
The NMEA Conference Buddy Program is a helpful opportunity for first time conference attendees to partner with a seasoned NMEA member.  Sign up by checking the appropriate box on the registration form and we’ll match you up!

Schedule
See tentative conference Schedule at Glance.  More detailed information will be posted as it becomes available.

Why come to Savannah in July for NMEA 2008?
The Georgia Association of Marine Education (GAME) invites you to spend a week in beautiful coastal Georgia with marine education professionals from across the nation and around the world, July 21-24, 2008.  Build your core knowledge and network with colleagues during presentation sessions. Experience the Georgia coast as the locals do on fieldtrip day.  Explore nearby Tybee Island and Georgia’s wilder barrier islands or stroll through Historic Downtown Savannah.

NMEA 2008:  One World, One Water will team cutting-edge research with innovative education.  Come celebrate the exciting field of marine science and Georgia’s take on marine education and collaboration.  Plunge into The International Year of the Reef, Ocean Literacy, fisheries, and southeastern estuarine ecosystems.

Savannah, Georgia’s largest port city and crown jewel of the state’s Coastal Empire sits on a bluff above the great Savannah River, smack in the middle of the South Atlantic Bight. Our city is one of the most western points along the eastern shoreline of North America so you can sleep later here than anywhere else on the Atlantic Coast and still catch some of the most beautiful sunrises in the world.    Old and new overlap here; tradition and innovation dance together in Savannah’s diverse communities.  Founded by General James Oglethorpe in 1733, Savannah has earned her reputation as the Hostess City of the South through hospitality as deep as the Savannah River is long.  Her patchwork history includes the colonial period, cotton and rice culture, shrimp fisheries, fine arts, tourism, and historic preservation.  Savannah is the heart of marine research, education, and conservation in Georgia.  We guarantee a one of a kind conference with hundreds of your colleagues, old friends and new acquaintances.  Come learn, explore, and dance with us!