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Current – February 2012

Our 2012 annual meeting is just around the corner.  This year SCAPA and the EMISIG will be meeting on May 13-17 in Seattle, Washington at the downtown Marriott Renaissance Seattle Hotel.  The hotel offers stunning views of Puget Sound, the mountains, and the Seattle skyline.

Downtown Seattle Pike Place Market
Downtown Seattle, Space Needle, and
Mt. Rainier (as photographed from Queen Anne Hill)
The Pike Place Market.

It is only a short stroll from the hotel to scores of restaurants, upscale shopping (including the original Nordstrom’s store), the Seattle Art Museum, and the Pike Place Market.  You can walk, catch a low-cost city bus, or take the Monorail to the Seattle Center (site of the 1962 World’s Fair), which features the Space Needle, Pacific Science Center, several theaters, the International Fountain, and the Experience Music Project (EMP) Museum. 

View Downtown Seattle from Marriott EMP Museum and Space Needle
View of downtown Seattle from the Marriott with Puget Sound in the background
EMP Museum and Space Needle

There is little need for a car at this meeting—numerous options exist for traveling from SeaTac airport to the hotel (including taking the new, low-cost, light rail train) and all of downtown is in the ride-free zone for city buses.  Parking at the hotel and at other downtown locations is expensive. 

Rooms at the Marriott Renaissance (515 Madison Street, Seattle, WA 98104) can be reserved online or by calling the hotel at 800-546-9184. Persons calling for reservations should identify themselves as EMI SIG Annual Meeting attendees. The room rate is $137 per night plus tax (currently 15.6 percent). The deadline to make hotel reservations is April 23, 2012; however, reservations should be made as soon as possible to ensure the government per diem group rate.

The SCAPA meeting will be held on Monday, May 14. Our program begins at 10:30 a.m. with a joint session with the DOE Meteorological Coordinating Council (DMCC) and the Hazard Assessment Subcommittee (HASC).  It continues after lunch, with a program that will feature more technical presentations and less administrative chatter than in past years.   The SCAPA meeting will conclude just before the start of the 5:30 p.m. EMISIG Reception Dinner.  

SCAPA working groups will meet on Sunday evening, May 13; in the morning, at midday, and in the late afternoon on Tuesday, May 15 during breaks in the EMISIG conference; and in the morning on Wednesday, May 16.  An all-day HotSpot training class will be held on Thursday, May 17.  The specific schedule for subcommittee and working group meetings can be accessed on the EMISIG Annual Meeting Agenda webpage. 

The 2012 SCAPA-DMCC-HASC dinner will be held on Tuesday, May 15, at Benihana, 1200 5th Ave, at 6:30 p.m.  The restaurant is only three short blocks from the hotel.  Enjoy the company of your colleague as our meals are prepared fresh and served by performing chefs right at our tables.  Please join us for this entertaining no-host event!