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COLING/ACL 2006 NEWSLETTER NO. 5
June 30, 2006
This is the official newsletter of COLING/ACL 2006
The 21st International Conference on Computational Linguistics
and
The 44th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics
Sydney, Australia
July 17-21, 2006
For complete details, visit the conference web site at:
www.acl2006.org
www.coling2006.org
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:: Important Dates
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REGISTRATION DATES:
Deadline for late registration: June 30, 2006 (Fri)
(Those who miss the late registration deadline will be able to register
on-site)
CONFERENCE DATES:
Pre-conference workshops/conferences: July 15-16, 2006 (Sat-Sun)
Tutorials: July 16, 2006 (Sun)
Main conference: July 17-21, 2006 (Mon-Fri)
Post-conference workshops/conferences: July 22-23, 2006 (Sat-Sun)
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:: Table of Contents
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1. Registration Details
2. Sponsors
3. Invited Talks and Panels
4. Conference Program
5. Local Map of Sydney
6. Lunches during the Conference
7. Conference Dinner
8. Monorail Passes
9. Excursion
10. Extra Activities
11. Student Accommodation
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:: 1. Registration Details
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Registration closes at midnight USA West Coast time on June 30
(i.e. **TODAY**), after which the only registration option will be onsite
during the conference (at a higher rate than for online registration). If
you have yet to register, we strongly recommend you complete online
registration ASAP at:
http://www.acl2006.org/registration
VERY IMPORTANT: if you are a presenter at a workshop, you MUST register to
attend it, to ensure sufficient seats and coffee. Do NOT assume that because
you are a listed speaker you are automatically registered - check your
registration, and email the conference secretariat (acl@welldone.com.au)
immediately (before the cutoff date of 30/6) if you need to add your
attendance at a workshop or tutorial. Note that tutorial presenters have all
been registered to attend at no charge, to ensure catering is correct.
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:: 2. Sponsors
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We gratefully acknowledge the support of the following COLING/ACL 2006
sponsors:
- HCSNet (Platinum)
- Macquarie University (Gold)
- CSIRO (Gold)
- Microsoft Research (Gold, incl. wireless)
- Appen (Student Volunteers)
- Google (Silver, incl. cocktail reception)
- XRCE (Bronze)
- AFNLP (Student Support Fund)
- ELRA (Student Support Fund)
- DSTO (Glass)
- Australian Computer Society (Supporter)
- NSF (student support for the Student Research Workshop)
COLING/ACL 2006 is also supported by ALTA (Australasian Language Technology
Association).
For further details, see:
http://www.acl2006.org/sponsorship
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:: 3. Invited Talks and Panels
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The COLING/ACL 2006 program will include two invited talks and a panel
discussion.
INVITED TALKS:
- Language, gender and sexuality: Do bodies always matter?
Sally McConnell-Ginet, Department of Linguistics, Cornell University
Abstract and biosketch:
http://www.acl2006.org/invited/McConnell-Ginet
- Argmax Search in Natural Language Processing
Daniel Marcu, Information Sciences Institute, University of Southern California
Abstract and biosketch:
http://www.acl2006.org/invited/Marcu
PANEL DISCUSSION:
Challenges in NLP: Some New Perspectives from the East
- Diversity and Universality: Are Asian languages special?
- Some critical linguistic differences in Asia and implications for NLP.
- Can the availability of detailed linguistic information (for example,
morphology) help in ameliorating the scarcity of large annotated corpora?
Panelists:
- Jun'ichi Tsujii, Professor, University of Tokyo, Japan and Professor of
Text Mining, University of Manchester and Director of National Center for
Text Mining (NaCTeM), UK
- Benjamin Tsou, Chair Professor of Linguistics and Asian Languages,
Director, Language Information Sciences Research Centre, City University
of Hong Kong.
- Pushpak Bhattacharyya, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at
the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India
Moderator:
- Aravind Joshi, Henry Salvatori Professor of Computer and Cognitive
Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Further details and biosketches:
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:: 4. Conference Program
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Thanks to work by Veselin Stoyanov and Yejin Choi at Cornell University, we
now have an HTML version of the ACL-Coling conference program available at:
http://www.acl2006.org/program/regularpapers
which includes convenient links to each paper abstract from within the
schedule guide.
Also now available is an HTML version of the poster program, with thanks to
Eric Breck, also at Cornell University:
http://www.acl2006.org/program/posters/byauthor
The details of the main conference session scheduling are also available as
PDF files:
http://www.acl2006.org/program/main
For the final program of the workshops and co-located events, see the
individual web pages, listed at:
http://www.acl2006.org/program/workshops
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:: 5. Local Map of Sydney
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Menno van Zaanen and Simon Zwarts at Macquarie University have produced a
Google Maps mashup that shows you all the key locations and
accommodation. The map is available at:
Three places of particular interest that may be your first point of call to
the conference are:
1. University of Technology, Sydney (UTS): the location of the workshops and
tutorials on the weekend of July 15-16, and also the place to collect your
monorail pass early so you can use it on Sunday July 16. Registration will
be open from 7:45am on Saturday July 15, and close at 3:00pm on Sunday July
16. Come to the UTS precinct, Quay Street Haymarket - enter at Building C.
2. Convention Centre, Parkside Ballroom Foyer (level 1): the location of the
welcoming cocktails on the evening of Sunday 16 July, sponsored by
Google. The cocktail reception will commence at 6:00pm and run until
8:00pm. It will also be possible to register here, from 7:00pm. Enter via
the Harbourside main reception area, at the northern end of the convention
centre (the main entrance if coming from the Novotel or via the monorail).
3. Convention Centre, Bayside Foyer (level 1): the location of the
registration desk for the duration of the main conference. Registration
will be available from 7:30am on Monday July 17. Enter via the
Harbourside main reception area, at the northern end of the convention
centre (the main entrance if coming from the Novotel or via the monorail).
The Convention Centre and UTS are marked green on the map.
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:: 6. Lunches during the Conference
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As part of your conference registration, we are offering the option of lunch
boxes for those who wish to eat onsite or outside in the sunshine of Darling
Harbour. While there are plenty of eateries in the Darling Harbour precinct
there will likely be queues for the cheaper ones, and they are certainly not
as convenient as a lunch box -- short queues, and plenty of places to network
and enjoy lunch while you use the wireless facilities available in our
conference area!
Here's what you will get in a (sample) lunch box:
Marina Lunchbox
Salmon miso, green tea noodles and coriander salad
Spinach tortillo wrap with lettuce, tomato, avocado and smoked turkey
Butter lettuce hearts, egg dressing and semi dried tomato
Seasonal fresh fruit
Tetrapak fruit juice
- delicious!
If you want a vegetarian lunch box, be sure to indicate this in the special
dietary requirements on your registration form.
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:: 7. Conference Dinner
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Where else can the Scots and the French co-exist, co-operate and co-host such
an event? Our conference dinner will celebrate the efforts and inclinations of
our two local chairs in particular, and is not to be missed. The dinner will
take place on Thursday July 20 at the Star City Ballroom, against a fabulous
backdrop of city lights - and you can party on afterwards at the Casino and
nightclubs below.
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:: 8. Monorail Passes
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Another option on the registration form is the 7-day monorail pass, which is a
must if you are staying at any of the conference hotels in the precinct, or
moving between the Workshops / Tutorial venue (UTS) and the main Conference
(Convention Centre). A monorail runs every 10 minutes, and the pass allows
you to jump on and off as often as you wish for the 7 days of Sunday July 16
through Saturday July 22.
A single day monorail ticket costs $9.00, compared to $25.00 for our 7-day
pass - exceptional value even if you are only planning to use it for 3 days!
It will also get you to and from the Conference Dinner, the starting point of
the Wednesday Excursion, and the UTS precinct. A map of the monorail route can
be found at:
http://www.metromonorail.com.au/StationLocatorFlash.asp
On-site, the monorail pass will cost you $30 - still a great saving.
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:: 9. Excursion
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According to the COLING custom, Wednesday July 19 is a conference-free day for
delegates to really enjoy the beauty of Sydney. We'll collect you in ferries
at Darling Harbour, transport you to the famous Taronga Park Zoo for a tour
particularly of our Australian native animals, and morning tea; then to Manly,
a wonderful seaside beach suburb, where you can browse, shop, take lunch, even
swim, and take a coach to North Head, the entrance to Sydney Harbour, with a
spectacular view back to the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House; late
afternoon the ferries will take a leisurely cruise back to Darling Harbour,
with drinks and canapes to finish a wonderful day. All this is included in
your registration, so we expect everyone to enjoy this networking and
sightseeing opportunity -- and bring your partners, families and friends.
Tickets need to be booked for any additional guests.
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:: 10. Extra Activities
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You can STILL BOOK any of the extra activities, even if you've registered for
the conference or workshops. Either go back to the online registration and
work your way through and select just these extras, or take the registration
form available on the web and complete the details and fax it to us with your
credit card details. Note on the form or in the comments that you've already
registered for other activities. We'll send you confirmation of your update.
A reminder also of the two partner excursions:
(1) July 17, 2006 (Mon): Departs 2.00pm, returns 5.30pm
Sydney Highlights Tour
(2) July 21, 2006 (Fri): departs 8.15am, returns 5.45pm
Blue Mountains Day Tour, incl 2 course hot lunch
For full details:
http://www.acl2006.org/social/partner
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:: 11. Student Accommodation
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There are plenty of cheap options around the Darling Harbour area, as listed
on the bottom of:
www.acl2006.org/accommodation/listings/
You can book directly with any of the listed options.
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Contact details for the various COLING/ACL organisers can be found at:
http://www.acl2006.org/contact
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