Sudbury 1996: AESE’s 30th Annual Meeting

Great City

Great Surroundings

Great Program

Great Displays

Great Field Trips

Great Social Events

Great Value

Great City

Sudbury is famous as a mining community that has produced copper and nickel, and a dozen other metals, for over a century. Today, the 18 active mines in the area yield more than 55,000 tons of ore each day. The world’s largest integrated mining complex, including the world’s largest smelter and the world’s tallest smokestack, is located in the city. Also located in the city are the headquarters of the Ontario Geological Survey, two colleges and a university offering studies in geology, and exploration offices of a number of major mining companies.

With attractions like Science North and its IMAX Theatre, the Big Nickel Mine, dozens of lakes, and other scenic features, Sudbury has become a very popular tourism destination.

Great Surroundings

Sudbury is located at the junction of three of the geological provinces that make up the Precambrian Shield and is close to outcrops of the Paleozoic rocks that overlie the Shield. It shows evidence that glaciers repeatedly advanced across the area during the past 100,000 years. Unique features indicating the area was struck by a huge meteorite almost 2 billion years ago, and a smaller one just 37 million years ago, have drawn visitors—including Apollo astronauts—from around the world.

Great Program

Meeting organizers have planned a full program that addresses the new work environments and product standards of today’s editors. All sessions will be at the Willet Green Miller Centre (WGMC), home of the Ontario Geological Survey and its editorial and cartographic support units. On-site resources will be integrated into the sessions to illustrate some of the issues being discussed.

Monday, Sept. 23, a.m.
Session 1: Digital Cartography

The majority of AESE members are involved in editing and producing geological maps and illustrations by partial or full digital means. This session will focus on the digital production of maps and illustrations, and will compare and contrast the different production methods and hardware/software used.

Monday, Sept. 23, p.m.
Session 2: On-Demand Printing

The high cost of offset printing of books and maps, coupled with advances in computer and printing technology, make alternative methods of information dissemination viable for those publications that don’t require a large print run. Avenues such as on-demand printing and making publications available on Web sites for downloading by the public will be discussed.

Session 3: North American Commission on
Stratigraphic Nomenclature

Use of the 1983 Code, revisions to the Code, and other activities of the NACSN will be discussed by the Chairman of the Commission.

Session 4: The Author/Editor Relationship

Authors and editors are often caught in an adversarial relationship. This session will focus on strategies to smooth the way to an understanding that the author and editor are partners while looking out for the interests of the reader. Improved communication between the two camps can show the authors that we do what we do for specific reasons: budgetary constraints, conflicting time priorities, adherence to style guidelines, etc. Information flowing in the opposite direction can help us understand and respond to authors’ concerns.

Tuesday, Sept. 24, a.m.
Session 5: Defining Levels of Edit

When time is short and staff is scarce, something’s got to give. This session will look at ways to determine the levels of edit needed for different publications in order to publish them quickly and to a consistent, acceptable level of quality, using methods like style sheets and editing checklists.

Session 6: Quick Computer Fixes

We all have our favorite computer shortcuts that help us when editing to a deadline. This session will focus on sharing timesaving tips for work including on-line editing; using e-mail for project tracking, faxing copy from computer to author for queries; and using macros for repetitive tasks.

Session 7: Outsourced Editing

When facing the double whammy of lack of staff and lack of time to produce many reports and/or maps, outsourcing the editing and/or the typesetting/map production is an option. This session will address the pros and cons of letting your publications out of your hands. Speakers will be from both sides of the fence: those responsible for the outsourcing, and those providing the service on a freelance basis.

Tuesday, Sept. 24, p.m.
Field Trips:

Delegates will have their choice of two field trips in the Sudbury area. Field trip details are outlined on page 5.

Wednesday, Sept. 25, a.m.
Session 8: WWW Homepages

WWW homepages are the ideal venue for introducing ourselves to new customers for our products. The multimedia aspect of the homepage allows both private- and public-sector publishers to show off their publications to the world as text, graphics and sound; take orders for publications; link readers to other information, etc. This session will focus on creating your own vs. hiring a homepage builder; targeting the contents of your homepage to market your publications; and avoiding pitfalls by following solutions offered by people who have done it successfully.

Session 9: AESE Editorial Guide

The author of the new AESE editorial guide will give a detailed progress report on the project and will take questions and comments from the members present concerning the content of the guide.

Session 10: Surviving in a Digital Environment

Learning to cope with digital editing and production tools and the new pressures that they create in the workplace is more important than the acquisition of these tools. In a business environment increasingly constrained by scarce financial resources, editors are increasingly having to do more than just edit. How can staff members of an editorial organization, or freelance editors, respond to the pressure to become specialists in digital systems as well as editors? Training strategies, coping strategies and success stories will be shared by speakers.

Great Displays

Displays and demonstrations of digital cartographic software by representatives of the major vendors, and staff at the Willet Green Miller Centre, will be featured on Monday, Sept. 24. Firms that have confirmed their participation include Intergraph, ESRI (ARC/INFO), Autodesk Inc. (AutoCAD), and Pen Systems. Vendors of geologically related souvenirs of Sudbury and the area will also be on hand that day. Delegates are invited to bring examples of their maps, publications, and other products, or posters depicting their production methods, for display throughout the meeting.

Great Field Trips

All delegates will have a choice between two field trips in the Sudbury area on the afternoon of Tuesday, Sept. 24. One is geologically based, while the other focuses on the successful communication of science to members of the public at two local attractions. A third, optional field trip is offered on Sunday, Sept. 22, as a way for delegates to travel from Toronto to Sudbury.

Field Trip 1: Sudbury-Area Geology
Follow in the footsteps of Apollo astronauts and examine outcrops with geological features unique to the Sudbury area, including the breccias and shatter cones that are related to meteorite impact and the region’s famous copper-nickel deposits.

Field Trip 2: Science North and the Big Nickel Mine
Replay the visit of Britain’s Prince Charles and Princess Diana to Science North, Sudbury’s world-renowned science centre, and to the Big Nickel Mine, its associated mining interpretive centre. Immerse yourself in Science North’s hands-on style of science communication and learn about mining in Sudbury under the shadow of the Superstack.

Field Trip 3: Delta Toronto Airport Hotel to Sudbury
This optional daylong pre-conference field trip will leave from the Delta Toronto Airport Hotel at 10:00 a.m., Sunday, Sept. 22, and arrive at Sudbury by 5:00 p.m. Participants will view a wide range of geological features spanning more than 2 billion years of earth history as they travel through the varied and beautiful autumn scenery of Ontario’s vacation areas.
There will be stops to examine glacial features, fossiliferous Ordovician rocks from the margin of the Michigan Basin, and Proterozoic gneisses and metasedimentary rocks from the Grenville and Southern provinces of the Precambrian Shield. Delegates taking this tour will return to the Delta Toronto Airport Hotel and the Toronto airport on the afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 25. The trip to Sudbury will be 6 to 7 hours long, while the trip back to Toronto will be between 4 and 5 hours long. Please note that anyone who wishes to participate in the field trip between Toronto and Sudbury must preregister by Sept. 1.

Great Social Events

Registration and Welcoming Reception
Enjoy the informal discussions with fellow editors from agencies and organizations across Canada and the United States during a welcoming reception at the Travelway Inn on the evening of Sunday, Sept. 22.

Lakeside Barbecue
Cross the road opposite the Willet Green Miller Centre to Robertson Cottage, lakeside on Ramsey Lake. It’s the biggest lake in the heart of any North American city! The evening of Monday, Sept. 23, will offer a northern-style pig roast and barbecue and plenty of opportunity for continuing discussion about the sessions and for socializing.

Banquet and Multimedia 3-D Presentation
Start the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 24, by enjoying the waterfront ambience at Science North and then enter an underground cavern carved from Precambrian rock where the annual AESE banquet will be held. After the dinner, learn about Sudbury’s geological past through a 3-D spectacle involving film, animation, and lasers. It’s the only show of its type in the world!

Great Value

The deadline for preregistration is Sept. 1. Conference registration for members and nonmembers includes technical sessions, displays and demonstrations, welcoming reception, all breakfasts and coffee breaks, a luncheon/business meeting, committee meetings, icebreaker/barbecue, local field trip with boxed lunch, and banquet. Guest registration includes welcoming reception, icebreaker/barbecue, local field trip with boxed lunch, and banquet. Registration fees are offered in both U.S. and Canadian funds for the convenience of delegates.

Delegates from the United States will find hotel accommodations reasonably priced, especially when considering the differential between the U.S. and Canadian dollars. Special room rates in Sudbury have been negotiated for delegates: make your bookings before Aug. 30, and mention the AESE meeting to ensure that the rates apply. The conference hotels are the Travelway Inn, on Paris St. (800-461-4883) and the nearby Travelodge Hotel, on Paris St. (800-578-7878). Some events will take place at the Travelway Inn.

The Toronto to Sudbury field trip leaves from the Delta Toronto Airport hotel, on Dixon Road, Etobicoke (416-675-6100). Special rates have also been negotiated at this hotel for delegates who plan to stay in Toronto before and/or after the bus trip. Make your bookings before Aug. 21, and mention AESE to ensure you obtain the special rates in Toronto.

To obtain a registration form, contact Ruth Debicki at 705-670-5785 (phone), 705-670-5770 (fax), debicki_r@torv05.ndm.gov.on.ca (e-mail), or write to her c/o MNDM, 933 Ramsey Lake Road, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, P3E 6B5. 

For more registration information, see Session and Schedule file.

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