Programme update: new speaker for Wednesday's session, "Surveillance Society"

We have just heard that Hugh O'Donnell MSP (Member of the Scottish Parliament) will be speaking in place of Ivor Goddard in Wednesday's session, "Surveillance Society".

Edinburgh rocks!

Darius Blaszczak, a local volunteer on the conference team, reports 14kg of Edinburgh rock has weighed down conference delegates' bags. But there is still plenty of rock underneath the Castle supporting it for tonight's reception hosted by Jim Mather MSP!

And, a weather update - sunny with occasional light showers.

Joining instructions etc now available for attendees

If you're coming to conference then some important information is now available on the RSS web site:

• Joining instructions (reproduced below)
• Abstracts Book
• Conference Directory

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Registration for the Pre-Conference Short Courses:

All pre-conference courses and workshops are taking place in buildings on the Pollock Halls site participants will be advised separately which building their activity is taking place in and where they should register. 

Registration for Courses A and B plus the Young Statisticians' Training Day will open at 9am and registration for Course C will be from 12.30pm.

Registration for the Main Conference:

The registration desk will be open at the following times:

Monday 7^th:            3.00pm to 6.30pm

Tuesday 8^th:           8.30am to 6.00pm

Wednesday 9^th:      8.30am to 6.00pm

Thursday 10^th:        8.30am to 6.00pm

Friday 11^th:             9.00am to 12 noon

On Monday registration will take place in Chancellors Court on the Pollock Halls site; for the rest of the week it will be in the foyer of Appleton Tower on Crichton Street.

University accommodation

For those pre-booked into University accommodation these are the arrangements for collection of keys:

Keys should be collected from the main reception at Pollock halls from 2pm on the day of arrival. Luggage can be stored in the Reception centre if required until rooms are available.

The Reception centre will be open until 11pm daily and keys can be collected from security after this time.

Please note you must be checked out from your room on the day of departure by 10am at the latest.

Getting to/from Appleton Tower from Pollock Halls:

The No 2 bus runs from opposite the Commonwealth Pool to Bristo Place running every 12-15 minutes.

Monday evening reception

For those attending the evening reception at Edinburgh Castle this will begin at 7pm.

Tickets will be issued at registration, however do not worry if you cannot make it to registration first you will still be able to gain admission to the castle.

Please make your way to the main gate of the Castle at the top of the Royal Mile. Please ensure you wear sensible shoes.

Ceud Mile Failte an Dùn Èideann [A hundred thousand welcomes to Edinburgh]

RSS 2009 – Local Co-ordinating Committee Welcome

..but you don’t need to be bilingual to enjoy the RSS 175th Anniversary Conference here in Edinburgh!

As well as a packed programme of sessions covering Statistics in a Changing Society over the last 175 years, we have strived to give delegates a taste of our Scottish Heritage.

We start with the reception in Edinburgh Castle with spectacular views out over Auld Reekie [Scots for ‘old smoky’], where 300 delegates will be welcomed by the Scottish Minister for Enterprise, Energy & Tourism, Jim Mather. (His portfolio covers Official Statistics).

We end up at the foot of the Royal Mile (and round the corner) at Our Dynamic Earth for the Conference Dinner. In between we’ll have some fun and dance at the Ceilidh to Bella McNab Band (guidance provided), a sail on the Forth, tracing Scottish roots at Register House, or one of the many walking tours in the ‘auld toon’.

Finally a few words you may hear while at the conference and not be sure what they mean:-

• Dreich – what the weather is likely to be while we are in the sessions. No chance of an Indian summer this year.
• Bevied – hopefully few of the young statisticians will get to this state on Wednesday night after partaking of beers, wines and spirits
• Stocious – another word for the above state
• Birl – twirl your partner in Strip the Willow at the Ceilidh
• Smashin – awesome – how you’ll describe the conference on Friday

Members:-

Mary Sweetland, NHS Scotland, ISD (Chairman)
Katy Barratt, Scottish Government
Darius Blaszczak, NHS Scotland, ISD
Natalia Bochkina, Edinburgh University
Anthony Fielding (retired, Birmingham University)
Alan Forrest, Royal Bank of Scotland
Scott Heald, NHS Scotland, ISD
Cecilia MacIntyre, General Registrar’s Office Scotland
Brian Miller, Institute of Occupational Medicine
Gillian Raab, Statistical Consultant
Jill Sales, Biomathematics & Statistics Scotland
Mairi Spowage, Scottish Government
Jill Tefer, Statistical Consultant

Blogging RSS Conference 2009

So here we go with the first post on the RSS Conference blog for 2009.

We hope it's going to make conference an even better experience for those attending. And we also hope it will allow those who cannot join us to both follow what's going on and interact with those who are here.

Each day, at the very least, there will be a post on the plenary session or sessions taking place. And there will be a second post rounding up all the other sessions.

But we hope that speakers will put forward their own 'guest posts'. And if there is particular demand for a separate posting on any session then we hope to be able to do that.

Readers' comments are strongly encouraged.

There are two rules...

The first is that any comment should be in polite and acceptable language.

The second is that the moderator's verdict is final, though moderation will be light touch.

We hope you enjoy following this blog and we look forward to reading your comments.