Programming Schedule
It’s here! You can get a downloadable .pdf here. Except for a few items–such as a bulletin board where you can leave messages for other attendees, a freebie table where you can leave items for others to take home, and signup spaces for use on a first-come, first-served basis–you’ll find this schedule includes all programming and activities for Sirens. We’re going to have a hard time choosing what to attend because it’s full of fascinating presentations! Thank you so much to all of our presenters!

Registration and Shuttle Ticket Deadline
Registration for Sirens, including registration for the Sirens Shuttle and Sirens Supper, ends on September 8, and all payments are due no later than September 18, even if this means you have less than the usual 30 days to complete your payment. Any registrations or tickets that are still unpaid on September 18 will be canceled. We will only have a handful of first-come, first-served on-site registrations available–and as we can’t hold them for any particular potential attendee, we strongly recommend registering in advance!

If you can’t make it this year, please consider purchasing a supporting registration. This support helps us present Sirens this year and offer Sirens in future years, and you’ll receive a 2010 program book following the conference. Supporting registrations cost $45; $35 of each supporting registration is a donation to Sirens, and because Narrate Conferences, Inc. is a charitable organization, that amount is eligible for tax deduction in the United States. (The other $10 covers a program book for the donor and our mailing costs.)

Sirens Supper
If you’ll be in Vail prior to the start of Sirens on Thursday, October 7, please feel free to join us for our Sirens Supper on Wednesday, October 6. The western-style buffet will start at 7:00 p.m., and we have only a handful of places still available! The buffet costs $60, which includes food, non-alcoholic drinks, and gratuity, and offerings on the buffet include barbecued ribs and chicken, Rocky Mountain trout, a baked potato bar, additional sides and a selection of desserts. You may add this option with a new registration or via the change registration link on the left side of the registration page. There are only a couple of tickets remaining for this extra activity.

Meal Information
Speaking of meals, registered attendees should have received an e-mail last week with information about our conference menus, including vegetarian options for each included meal. If you didn’t receive one, or if you need to chat about dietary concerns or request a special plate, please e-mail (help at sirensconference.org).

Hotel Reservations
Hotel reservations must be made by September 16 in order to get the Sirens rate–and as a reminder, the Vail Cascade Resort and Spa is a mountain resort with somewhat different reservation policies from other hotels. The last day to modify, change, or cancel your reservation is September 16, 2009. Also, your first night’s stay will be charged to you on September 17, so if you intend to share the room’s costs with others, you may want to plan for this now! There are a few folks looking for roommates on the Sirens forums.

And, as always, if you have issues completing your reservation or if you have problems booking the Sirens room rate for the room types we’ve asked the hotel to set aside, please e-mail us. We recommend making your reservation as soon as possible, in fact, so that we can assist should any problems arise.

Volunteering
Now is the perfect time to sign up to volunteer at Sirens. At the conference, we always need people to watch over a track of programming for a morning or afternoon, to assist with our author signings program, to help set up and troubleshoot audio-visual equipment, to be the backup rider list manager for the shuttle buses on Wednesday and Thursday, and other easy but important tasks–most of which can be done without missing a minute of the conference! Also, for each shift you work, we’ll provide a light snack. Now that the programming schedule is up, you can review the volunteer schedule and choose a shift or two here.

Afternoon Teas–and Autographs!
Sirens will again include afternoon teas on Thursday, Friday and Saturday during the conference, and we hope that you’ll use them again to chat with each other and The Bookworm of Edwards. Also, this year, we hope you’ll use the time to talk to our attending authors! Our afternoon teas on Friday and Saturday will feature many of our attending authors ready to talk about their work and autograph your books–and The Bookworm will be sure to have some of their works on hand. At this time, participating authors include Holly Black, Marie Brennan, Valerie Frankel, Ellen Kushner, Malinda Lo, Cindy Pon, Delia Sherman, and Terri Windling.

A Star Shall Fall Launch Party Contests
Have an idea for a non-alcoholic drink? You can still enter the contest until August 15. Go here to see the rules and regulations. If you’d rather show off your design skills, there’s also an at-conference competition for the best-dressed Onyx Court faery; the rules may be found at the link above.

Sirens Chat
Our last chat will be held in September, and all are welcome to chat about Sirens, books, travel, and other topics.

DATE: Sunday, September 12
TIME: 2:00-4:00 p.m. Eastern/1:00-3:00 Central/noon-2:00 p.m Mountain/11 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Pacific
LOCATION: www.sirensconference.org/chat/

You don’t need to download anything or have any special software to participate; the page will turn into a chat room when the chat begins.

Quick Links
The Sirens Website and Tell a Friend
Registration
Travel
Become a Supporter
Read the FAQ

For More Information
Please feel free to contact us at (help at sirensconference.org). We’re happy to answer any questions you might have. You can leave general questions in the comments here as well.

We hope to see you in Vail!