o NCECA, Continued from Page 8 ‘The conference is set up to accommodate a wide variety of interests and you may pick and choose. It might be helpful to have an idea of how the conference is organized and what will be available for you to choose from: DAY 1: Wednesday March 28, is specifically designated for seeing exhibitions. Ifyou are registered for the conference, you may participate in the official bus tours and shuttle services that NCECA provides. This will allow you to maximize the number of venues you can visit without having to find your own transportation. For exhibitions within the downtown centre, city buses are free. The keynote address by Mark Dion is at 7 p.m. in the Seattle Convention Center. In the evening there will be music by the Little Big Band at the Sheraton Hotel at 9:30 p.m. If you are unable to be in Seattle for the Wednesday tours, there are still plenty of chances to get to the exhibitions: receptions will be held on Thursday and Friday evenings from 5 to 9 p.m. that are open to everyone; most galleries are open during the day and will also be open on Saturday afternoon following the conclusion of the conference at noon. DAY 2: Thursday March 29, and DAY 3: Friday, March 30: Presentations, lectures and demonstrations in the convention center from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For the complete schedule go to www.nceca.net. You are not required to sign up for any of the offerings and may simply pop into the back of the room to see if the topic is of interest. Christa Assad, Walter Keeler, Tip Toland and Jason Walker will be demonstrating on both days. Some highlights to look out for include talks by the “electric kiln doctors” and the “soda kiln doctors”, a panel entitled “Mashiko Rebuilds”, and a presentation about Anne Hirondelle, one of the Northwest’s most distinguished ceramic artists. Other speakers of note include Richard Notkin, Paul Mathieu, Amy Gogarty, and Patti Warashina. Each day there will be a trade show with hundreds of tables, yoga from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. and the infamous Cup Sale. Each night there will be gallery receptions and music sessions. DAY 4: Saturday March 31st, 9 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.: The conference concludes with talks by emerging artists and a closing lecture by Robert Brady and Sandy Simon. BCPG Members RIDE SHARE PROGRAM for NCECA, Seattle We have organized a ride share on our website to help facilitate transportation to Seattle. If you need a ride or have extra space in your car, please check on our Ride Share link. It is easy to use and set up for the entire province. GO TO: If you would like to poke around and see what's available for http://rahji.com/bcpotters tides or people looking for rides, do that right from the map on the front page—there’'s no signing in. If you are entering your name, etc. then it is because you want to be added to the map (either as a rider or driver). Once people have started adding themselves to the map, a new person who's coming to it for the first time will already see those riders and drivers on the map. The ride share will begin to make more sense as more people sign up, so if you are just starting to look, put your name on the map and give it a few days or a week to see if things develop. The FAQ/Help link at the top should answer most of your questions. THE BCPG AT NCECA: Information Booth in the Resource Hall/Trade Show Be sure to stop by the B.C. information table in the Resource Hall/ Trade Show at the convention centre. The Potters Guild of BC, Fired Up! and the Canadian Clay Symposium will be represented. Our booth will display digital images of member work, links to BC-in-a-Box and FiredUp! at the Fraker/Scott Gallery, brochures, books and other information about ceramic practice in our province. Please come by to say hello and pick up your free “I AM A BC POTTER? sticker to wear during the conference. * Ifyou would like to volunteer to help at our table for a two-hour shift please contact Nora Vaillant (auroranoral @gmail.com). * The Resource hall will be open Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. REGISTRATION, TRANSPORTATION and ACCOMMODATION You may register to attend the conference by going to www.nceca.net or by calling toll free 1-866-266-2322. I recommend phoning since the website registration is not straightforward. The office is in Colorado on Mountain Standard Time. An individual international annual membership is $65, full conference pass is $235 (member), $275 (non-member). You may also elect to purchase one or two day passes (about $130/day). At the informational meeting held at the BC Gallery of Ceramics in January we discussed the professional benefits of joining NCECA and have listed them below: * access to an online searchable directory of the 5000 members * annual journal with summaries of conference presentations * discounts for ceramic materials, tools and equipment (since we live outside of the U.S. these discounts would apply to online purchases from companies such as Aardvark Clay, Spectrum Glazes, Shimpo Ceramics, Amaco). ‘The BCPG has organized a Ride Share to assist members with their transportation planning. It is easy to use and is applicable to the entire province, so please take a look by going to: http://rahji.com/bcpotters. Other options to investigate for transportation include Amtrak trains and buses (www.amtrakcascades.com or call toll free 1-800-872-7245). ‘There are two direct trains a day from Vancouver ($38 one way) and 5 buses ($22 one way). The airport Quick Shuttle provides pick up from downtown Vancouver and drop off in downtown Seattle (about $74 round trip). You do not need to be an airport passenger to use this service. Go to: www.quickcoach.com or call 1-800-665-2122. NCECA has reserved a discounted block of rooms at the Sheraton Hotel for conference goers starting at $155/night for two people ($25 for each additional person). The conference code for reduced rates is “ceramics”. Do not worry if the Sheraton is filing up, there are many good options in downtown Seattle. Other hotels (some less expensive) within walking distance of the Seattle Convention Center can be found at: http://www.seattleconventioncenterhotels.com/. Click on hotel map. Bed and breakfasts are another economical option with plenty to choose from in Seattle. We hope to see you there. Please refer any further questions to Nora Vaillant, BCPG board member at auroranoral @gmail.com GUILD ee of BRITISH COLUMBIA a Potters Guild of BC Newsletter - February 2012 9