Programming
Please keep an eye out on the Sirens website this month for a programming schedule grid. Before we publish it, we want to make sure that we’ve cleaned up any typos or formatting issues. Our grid will offer a reference before the conference begins; the final schedule in the published program book may look a little different.

Once the schedule is up, you can start to plan your weekend. You can catch papers and panels, workshops and roundtables, and interactive classes. Papers and panels will provide you and a larger audience with new perspectives to consider, and you’ll generally have a chance to ask questions and add to the discussion; roundtables and workshops have limited seats available so that everyone can take part in the action, have questions answered, or work with materials provided by the instructor. And, once you’ve figured out your schedule, you might be interested in volunteering as a room monitor to give presenters a hand–by closing the doors to mute that lively discussion in the hall, grabbing a glass of water, or signaling when time’s almost up–while attending the sessions that interest you most.

Online Book Discussion: Terrier
Each Monday in July, we held a discussion about Kristin Cashore’s Graceling, which recently won the Mythopoeic Award for Children’s Literature. In August, we’re discussing Tamora Pierce’s Terrier, followed by Sherwood Smith’s Crown Duel/Court Duel in September. You can add your voice to older discussions or catch the new ones by clicking here.

And speaking of good books, today is the official release of the final volume in Sherwood Smith’s Inda series: Treason’s Shore. Congratulations, and may copies fly off the shelves!

Meal Selections
All attendees should have received an e-mail regarding their meal selections for Sirens. The e-mail includes a link to a page where you may review the menus and indicate any special dietary issues. If you do not choose by September 1, you will be given the vegetarian option. We typically provide our counts for each entree to the hotel several weeks in advance in order to catch any problems, so we appreciate that many of you have already responded. It’s a huge help!

Dinner Excursions
At Sirens, you’ll find that your meals are–mostly–included. Dinner, however, is on your own. At 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 1, and 6:00 on Friday (October 2) and Saturday (October 3), you can meet at the Sirens Information Desk to find companions to eat with you, inside the hotel or out, with our Dinner Excursions program. We’ve made a list of restaurants, both at the hotel and in nearby neighborhoods, with as much information as is currently available, and you can find it on our website.

Hotel Reservations
As a reminder, hotel reservations must be made by September 7 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 than other hotels. The last day to modify, change, or cancel your reservation is September 7, 2009. Also, your first night’s stay will be charged to you on September 7, so if you intend to share the room’s costs with others, you may want to plan for this now!

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.

Quick Links
The Sirens Website and Tell a Friend Link
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.

See you in Vail!