Introduction - Who do you think you are? A rocket scientist? If you answer usually - Yeah, you know, kind of ... this site may be of use for you. So, you are a scientist. It means that from time to time you go to scientific conferences (congresses, workshops etc.). Sometimes they are held in civilised touristic places - you have no problem with hanging around. But sometimes you go in the middle of nowhere. Scary questions pop up in your head. Can I find something to eat if I arrive one day ahead of the conference? Where do I go if a session is so boring that neighbours drove me out because I were snoring too loud and waking up the others? Do the locals speak English or any other languages I know? Conventional tourist guides keep silence about those places because no sane tourist will go there. But do you have a choice? I collected some observations from the conferences I visited. I am, obviously, not going to tell you what to do and where to go in Paris, but what about Szklarska Poreba, Poland? Or Castle Vaalsbroek, the Netherlands? You may say: "What's a chance that I'll go to the same place?". Well, the chance may be not so high, but who knows? I've got to start from somethig - send me your comments about the conferences you visited - the guide for conference-goers will grow!

Experimental description Description of every conference site (based on a personal opinion of an attendee) includes the following points: The conference place (the conference hotel - if any, sessions rooms etc.) The conference food Other hotels and restaurant in the area Sightseeing Public transport Spoken languages Known conferences The more remote the conference site is the more detailed description is provided.

Results and discussion I divided all the conference sites by countries. Belgium Canada France Netherlands Poland Sweden Switzerland USA

Conclusions Did you recently visit a conference? Was it an unforgettable experience (good or bad)? Send me a description! Unlike in a conference, all contributions will be accepted and published. Please follow the outline of the descriptions already presented here. Don't forget pictures! Did you notice that scientists are like children - they are very curious and they are fond of books (well, papers) with pictures! Currently I ran out of free page limit on this site. If I get a lot of feedback, I'll upgrade this small site to a normal one. My e-mail is Denis_Shamiryan@hotmail.com My webpage is http://www.freewebs.com/shamiryan

Acknowledgments I'd like to thank IMEC, the organization where I work, for paying my conference expenses. I also acknowledge free web hosting provided by FreeWebs.com Though they have a promotional message at the botom of the page it's nothing compared to all those annoying pop-up windows and banners with (semi)naked women you are sick of at other free web hosting sites.

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¿Denis¿hamiryan

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