IEEE VIS 2024 will now be fully virtual
Posted on Tuesday, October 8 2024 at 3:20pm EDT
IEEE VIS Community,
Thank you all for your patience as our conference organizing committee has been discussing the developing emergency situation for Tampa. Given Hurricane Milton’s trajectory and potential for catastrophic impacts to the Tampa area, the Visualization Executive Committee (VEC), in consultation with the VGTC and IEEE, sadly feel that it is best to convert the conference to fully virtual. We believe that the safety of those traveling to the conference, those working at the hotel, and those in the area who run the greatest risk of being adversely affected by the hurricane is at the crux of this decision. As such, IEEE VIS 2024 will now be fully virtual.
For all speaker registrations, the registration rate remains the same. For all others that were registered as in-person attendees, these registrations will be converted to virtual participants and refunded the difference.
Please move ahead with canceling your travel plans and stay tuned for further details. We look forward to seeing everyone virtually on October 13th - 18th. More details will be forthcoming and we appreciate your patience as we work to pivot. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Florida. Please be safe during this severe weather event.
Sincerely,
Visualization Executive Committee
IEEE VIS 2024 New Venue Revealed / Prompt Action Required
Posted on Friday, October 4 2024 at 11:00am EDT
Dear IEEE VIS Community,
We are very happy to announce that the IEEE VIS 2024 Conference will now take place at the wonderful Hilton Tampa Downtown!
Hotel Information: The Hilton Tampa Downtown is located at 211 N Tampa St, Tampa, FL 33602, 20 minutes from the Tampa International Airport in the heart of downtown. Although not by the beach, it is nearby by many wonderful activities, including a beautiful riverwalk, the Museum of Art, the children’s museum, the aquarium, and so much more! We are actively working to update the Destination page with additional information.
Hotel Rooms: You must make a NEW HOTEL RESERVATION. We have negotiated a price of $199 per night + 13.5% tax for rooms within our room block. Please visit the site below to book your room. Additional information about reservations can be found on our Hotel Information page.
Changes to Program: We have been able to preserve the conference program in its entirety. All events will occur at their previously scheduled time. The full schedule will be posted soon on ieeevis.org.
Existing Reservations at TradeWinds Resorts: TradeWinds representatives informed us that all reservations, whether in our block or not, will be automatically canceled, and any deposit will be refunded. However, the refund may take several weeks to process. If you have questions, contact them at +1 800-360-4016 or GroupReservations@twresort.com.
For those with non-refundable hotel reservations elsewhere: Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do to help with your reservation directly. The Hilton is an approximately 40-minute drive from the TradeWinds property. We recommend you try to get a refund from your hotel by contacting them by phone and contacting any travel insurance or credit card company you have used.
Finally, we want to acknowledge the amazing work that went into making this move happen. In particular, the team at the IEEE Computer Society, the Program Chairs, the Finance Chairs, the Publicity Chairs, the Web Chairs, and the Hilton staff who helped us pivot in what has to be record time. We are grateful to them for saving IEEE VIS 2024. We also want to thank you for your patience during this process.
Pack your shorts, swimsuits, and a sweater (seriously, the a/c), and we’ll see you in Tampa!
Sincerely,
IEEE VIS 2024 General Chairs
Good news for IEEE VIS following Hurricane Helene
Posted on Tuesday, October 1 2024 at 5:00pm EDT
Dear IEEE VIS Community,
We have great news to share! After a busy weekend, we just completed an emergency site visit at a new conference venue in the Tampa/St. Pete area. We are happy to announce that we are moving ahead with the new location. It is a great venue in a great location, but unfortunately, we can’t provide specifics until the contract is finalized, which should be the end of the week.
The new facility will be able to hold our entire originally scheduled program on the originally scheduled dates, Oct 13-18, and is readily accessible from the Tampa airport. Therefore, we do not anticipate it impacting anyone’s travel plans. As soon as the contract is signed, we will provide further location details and a link to book rooms in the conference hotel block.
Again, thank you for your patience during this challenging time. We hope to have information for you by the end of the week. See you in less than 2 weeks!
Sincerely,
IEEE VIS 2024 General Chairs
Developments on the impact of Hurricane Helene
Posted on Friday, September 27 2024 at 8:45pm EDT
Dear IEEE VIS Community,
This evening, members of the core committee, VEC, and IEEE met with the TradeWinds Island Grand Hotel manager for an update on the status of the damages. Unfortunately, the damages are significant enough that we will be unable to hold IEEE VIS 2024 on their property, and we have invoked force majeure to cancel the contract.
Our team at IEEE is currently searching for an alternative venue in the Tampa/Orlando area that would still allow us to hold an in-person event around the same time. However, switching to a completely virtual event remains an option. We hope to have information about this by the middle of next week.
For those who booked hotel rooms at the TradeWinds Island Grand or RumFish through our room block, these rooms should be canceled automatically. However, if you have questions, you can contact the hotel at +1 800-360-4016 or e-mail at GroupReservations@twresort.com.
We realize this impacts flights, registration, and potentially many other things. However, we don’t have any more information than what has been shared above. We will do our best to communicate updates as they become available.
Sincerely,
IEEE VIS 2024 General Chairs
Update on the impact of Hurricane Helene
Posted on Friday, September 27 2024 at 12:42 EDT
Dear IEEE VIS Community,
As you may have heard, Hurricane Helene had a significant impact on Florida. Although Tampa / St. Pete did not receive a direct hit, the storm surge caused significant flooding. The good news is that they are used to dealing with these situations in Florida. At this point, we still plan to go ahead with the in-person portion of the conference at the TradeWinds Island Grand.
However, the situation is still evolving, and we wanted to share the information we have with you at this time.
- The RumFish Hotel had no significant damage.
- The TradeWinds Island Grand Hotel has endured flooding. However, a flood mitigation team is already on site assessing and repairing the damage. As soon as we know the extent of the flooding and/or damage and if it affects the in-person conference, we will let everyone know.
- As a precaution, all reservations at the TradeWinds Island Grand Hotel before Oct 11 have been canceled. If your plans had you arriving before Oct 11, we will follow up with additional information.
We will continue to update you with additional information as we have relevant details to share.
Sincerely,
VIS 2024 General Chairs