Come along to next year's conference

Dear CUG members,

Well, ORNL have certainly set the bar high by doing such a great job with CUG2009 in Atlanta. It was a fantastic conference, and superb location. I was slightly disappointed not to have been personally greeted by Anderson Cooper and Wolf Blitzer when checking in to the hotel at the CNN center, but the facility and surroundings more than made up for this. The organisers were comprehensive in advertising the local attractions, but they did miss one event: I reckon that attendance could have been even better had they pointed out that we would be able to help break a world record by eating free pancakes!

At EPCC, we are really looking forward hosting CUG in Edinburgh next May, and warmly invite you to join us. For those of you who have already been to Edinburgh, I'm sure you will need no persuading to return. For the rest, here is your chance to visit one of the best cities (if not the best city) in the world! Of course I am biased, but I'll try and back this up with some pictures and links. Edinburgh, built on a dramatic landscape shaped by ancient volcanos, has as it's most famous landmark Edinburgh Castle, perched on top of Castle Rock, as seen here from Princes Street Gardens. CUG2010 will be located in the heart of Edinburgh's Old Town at the Apex Waterloo Hotel which, directly adjacent to castle rock, boasts views such as that from the breakfasting restaurant. Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags also dramatically rise from the city, as can be seen in this banner. Edinburgh is rich with historical and architectural attractions. It is hard to date Edinburgh Castle since the building has gradually changed over the years but, as can be studied here, first archaeological evidence of settlement dates around 900BC. Medieval buildings to be found in Edinburgh include St Giles Cathedral, for which the history is described here. My local pub was established in 1456! The Hub, constructed in the 1840s, will feature as the location for the CUG2010 night out.

Of course there is much, much more to see and do in Edinburgh and Scotland than can be described here, so please take some time to browse tourism sites such as www.visitscotland.com, www.edinburgh-inspiringcapital.com and www.visitingedinburgh.com. In particular, this short movie gives a nice overview of what Edinburgh has to offer.

As far as I am aware, there are no haggis eating or whisky drinking world record attempts planned for May 2010 in Edinburgh, but perhaps there is still time to organise!