If you are coming a long distance and plan to make the most of it by adding a few extra days you will be interested to know that we are less than an hour away from Niagara Falls to the east, less than an hour away from Toronto to the north, and less than an hour away from the rolling hills of Mennonite country to the west.
The shape of the convention has plans for engaging panel discussions plus, a gallery show called "Doodles to Digital", at the newly refurbished Art Gallery of Hamilton, a charitable auction of original works (supported by willing donors), and a Niagara wine tour. September is when wine festivities are in full flight, and we will be taking full advantage. While there will be scheduled events lots of time will be allocated for catching up, meeting new members and grooving to tunes. Our hotel is the downtown Sheraton, which has offered us a great rate of $129/night.
Lots of flights arrive and depart daily from Hamilton from all over Canada. A 15 minute cab ride is the easiest way to get from the airport to our hotel, and there's always lots of taxis waiting whenever flights come in. The link to the left to Tourism Hamilton provides information on getting to Hamilton by other means including train, bus, and car. Depending on highway traffic, it takes between 45 minutes to an hour and an a half to get to our hotel if visitors arrive from Toronto's Pearson airport.
As is the tradition with our conventions, a banquet dinner will cap our gathering on Saturday, the final evening with a special guest to provide us with a keynote speech.
Registration fee for the convention is set at $200 to cover cost of meals, the tour, hospitality, and room/hall rentals. Spouses and family members must register for single events if they plan to attend.
Stay tuned for more updates. If you would like more information or have any suggestions, please contact me at gmackay@thespec.com, or call (905) 526-3439. Assistance is needed to make this a successful convention, so please volunteer if you can.