NEWS and UPDATES

Why come to Savannah in July for NMEA 2008?
The Georgia Association of Marine Education (GAME) invites you to spend a week in beautiful coastal Georgia with marine education professionals from across the nation and around the world, July 21-24, 2008.  Build your core knowledge and network with colleagues during presentation sessions. Experience the Georgia coast as the locals do on fieldtrip day.  Explore nearby Tybee Island and Georgia’s wilder barrier islands or stroll through Historic Downtown Savannah.

NMEA 2008:  One World, One Water will team cutting-edge research with innovative education.  Come celebrate the exciting field of marine science and Georgia’s take on marine education and collaboration.  Plunge into The International Year of the Reef, Ocean Literacy, fisheries, and southeastern estuarine ecosystems.

Savannah, Georgia’s largest port city and crown jewel of the state’s Coastal Empire sits on a bluff above the great Savannah River, smack in the middle of the South Atlantic Bight. Our city is one of the most western points along the eastern shoreline of North America so you can sleep later here than anywhere else on the Atlantic Coast and still catch some of the most beautiful sunrises in the world.    Old and new overlap here; tradition and innovation dance together in Savannah’s diverse communities.  Founded by General James Oglethorpe in 1733, Savannah has earned her reputation as the Hostess City of the South through hospitality as deep as the Savannah River is long.  Her patchwork history includes the colonial period, cotton and rice culture, shrimp fisheries, fine arts, tourism, and historic preservation.  Savannah is the heart of marine research, education, and conservation in Georgia.  We guarantee a one of a kind conference with hundreds of your colleagues, old friends and new acquaintances.  Come learn, explore, and dance with us!

CONFERENCE DEDICATION
NMEA 2008:  One World, One Water is dedicated to the memory of Millie Graham and Will Hon, two dynamic marine educators who inspired teachers and naturalists all over the country.  Millie and Will were cornerstones of GAME and NMEA.

Registration
Conference registration is now open! Check out full details on the Registration page.  Full Registration (including meals) ends June 1, 2008.  Late Registration rates (meals not included) become effective June 2 until July 21, 2008.  Please note:  to have your meals provided at the conference, you must register by the end of business day on June 1.  Those individuals registering after June 1 will not receive meals or be able to purchase conference organized meals at the last minute.  Non-member registration fees (both Full and Late) will be higher.

Presenters
THE NMEA 2008 Call for Presentations has closed.  The Conference Program has gone to press.  Presenter acceptance notices and confirmation forms were emailed April 8. Concurrent session schedules and Presenters Update were emailed on May 2.  If you have not received these documents, or have questions about your presentation, please contact Anne Lindsay Frick at lindsaya@uga.edu.

Exhibitors
Exhibitor Information is open on line.  Limited exhibit space is available.  Exhibitor Registration closes May 25, 2008 or when space capacity has filled.

Hotel Reservations
Reservations are open now. Reserve your room early!  A limited number of hotel rooms are available.  Reservation period closes when rooms have filled.

Lodging reservations are now open. The most efficient and pain free way to make your room reservations at the host hotel, Savannah Marriott Riverfront, is to use this online link. Place your request for your room now. The link will open a new window and bring you to the hotel website with the conference code pre-filled for you. The online registration window has the hotel’s code for NMEA 2008 embedded in order to provide the discounted conference rate of $149/night. To get this special rate, you must make your reservations through this link. Call the 1-800 number only to make changes to your existing reservation.

Buddies
THE NMEA Conference Buddy Program is a helpful opportunity for first time conference attendees to a partner with a seasoned NMEA member.  Sign up by checking the appropriate box when you register and we’ll match you up!  This year’s Buddy Program Hosts are Ruth Schneider and Dia Hitt from North Carolina Aquariums.

NMEA 2008 will be a BLUE GREEN gathering!

We plan the following environmental conscious practices at our gathering in Savannah!

1. Full conference registrants will receive a heavy duty reusable canvas boat bag for toting conference items and shopping, beaching, and boating during and after the conference!

2.  Conference registrants will also receive a reusable binder for their conference program and notes.

3.  We will recycle plastic, paper, and aluminum cans during the conference.

4.  We’ll limit the number of paper brochures added to full registration packet.

5.  We’ll provide bins for collecting / swapping unwanted brochures and educational material and distribute it to public school teachers who can use it after the conference ends.

6.  We’ll have reusable ceramic mugs for sale during conference to use during meals and coffee breaks.

7.  Conference t-shirts will be printed on organic cotton material.
           
8.  We’ll support local fisheries by serving Georgia Wild Shrimp, caught in environmentally responsible and well regulated ways, at the Skidaway Soiree on Wednesday evening.

9.  We are presenting NMEA 2008 at a single central hotel and providing bus transportation during the week to reduce the number of personal vehicles used during the conference, save fuel, and reduce our impact on local and global air quality.  We encourage you to use your pedestrian energy while you’re here!

10.  Savannah and the surrounding Chatham County is “Groundwater Guardian Community.”  Nearby Tybee Island is one of the first “Water First” communities in the state.  We take short showers here, turn off the faucet when brushing our teeth, and skip a change of sheets in the hotel.  We encourage you to do the same! 

Schedule
See tentative conference Schedule at Glance.  More detailed information will be posted as it becomes available.