QLis30 Edinburgh

DATE AND VENUE * ACTIVITIES * CATERING * GETTING TO EDINBURGH * ACCOMMODATION * CONTACTS

You are invited to celebrate 30 QL years at the QLis30 workshop to be held in Edinburgh on 11th October 2014. The purpose of the workshop is to give a new impulse to the QL.

BACK DOOR BOYS AND GIRLS!

We are asking all people attending QLis30, both motorists and pedestrians, to use the back door of the church. There is a way to the hall from the front of the church, but it is not easy to follow.

Details of the route to the back of the church can be found below under the important parking information.

NAME BADGES

Name badges will be available at both the QLis30 dinner and the workshop for those people who wish to wear them. They are of a simple plastic pin on type in which you can insert a supplied card. The measurements are 7.5cm x 4cm for those people who wish to prepare their name badge in advance.

It has been suggested that name badges could include the country and also the QL Forum name. The QL Forum will represented at the event

DATE AND VENUE

The QLis30 workshop will be held in the Gyle Hall of the St.Thomas's Episcopal Church, 75 -79 Glasgow Road, Edinburgh, EH12 8LJ from 10.00 to 17.00 on Saturday 11th October 2014. The event is being organised by the Scottish Users' QL Group (SQLUG) assisted by Just Words!

The St. Thomas's Episcopal Church is on the main road from Edinburgh City Centre to Edinburgh Airport. It is approximately 6km from the centre of Edinburgh and 4km from Edinburgh Airport.

Church website: www.saintthomas.org.uk

Area Map: www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.940757,-3.302121,16z

IMPORTANT PARKING INFORMATION

Please do not attempt to park in the Glasgow Road. There is a large parking area behind the church.

Outside the church there is a traffic light controlled pedestrian crossing with a large island refuge. Coming from the centre of Edinburgh turn into the first road on the left, signposted "Raquets & Health Club", after this crossing . There is a gate on the parking space leading to the Gyle Hall. Please note the parking space can become busy when nearby playing fields are in use.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

BUS: There is a bus stop directly outside the church, served by Lothian bus 31 from Edinburgh Centre. The airport bus to and from the city centre passes the church but is a limited stop service with the nearest stop being the Marriott Hotel.

TRAIN: The nearest railway station is South Gyle which has a regular service from Edinburgh Waverley. The station is situated about a 10 minute walk from the church. You should not leave the station by the main entrance but instead by a side entrance at the north end of platform 1.

On leaving the station you will see the church straight ahead of you. Follow the path through Gyle Park to the church.

TRAM: The nearest stop on Edinburgh's new tram line is Gyle Centre which is a 20 minute walk from the church. Walk from the tram halt in the direction of the Gyle Centre and follow the signs to the Glasgow Road. Cross over the railway bridge and continue past the Marriott hotel towards the church.

The tram could be useful to people staying at either the Novotel Hotel or the Premier Inn that are both located by Edinburgh Park tram halt. The Marriott Hotel is a short walk from the Gyle Centre Halt.

ACTIVITIES

The aim of the workshop is to get an international group of QL-ers together to share ideas in the hope that this will stimulate further QL development. So far QL-users from Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, Finland, Switzerland and, of course, the UK hope to be present. We aim to have a mixture of presentations, demonstrations and discussion. Presenters are being asked to keep their presentations relatively short to encourage questions and discussion.

The Gyle Hall has a capacity of 50 people, but tables will take up space and quickly reduce the capacity. Please only use a table if you have something to share with others and never use more than one table.

HARDWARE will be the main theme of the workshop as we have a group of enthusiastic German hardware specialists attending the event. The workshop will probably start with a short presentation on the hardware developments and ideas in Germany and then, throughout the day it will be possible to continue discussions and demonstrations at their tables.

SOFTWARE has recently taken a back seat and we would like to change this. Final details of the presentation have still to be fixed, but a likely theme is that there are currently two software streams. The progress in native hardware coupled with returnees and newcomers to the QL community has revived interest in simple programs that run on native hardware, whereas QL veterans are wanting more complex programs that run on advanced systems such as QPC2.

In a separate presentation via a Skype link we shall hear about two new programs that are in the pipeline. There will also be mention of the software preservation project. In this connection we are looking for someone who would be happy to demonstrate some of the preserved programs either formally in a presentation or informally at his table.

DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS could be used more effectively at QL events, although Italy has set the trend. Some of the greatest progress has been made by Quanta. For almost 10 years it has had an electronic magazine and more recently has pioneered electronic participation in meetings. Quanta will tell us about their experiences although this is more likely to be on a practical rather than a technical level. (Incidentally we also understand that Quanta's Manchester subgroup are considering bringing a software challenge with them, but they are being very tight lipped about its nature.)

SKYPE has never been used at a UK workshop other than for the Quanta AGM. We have opened a dedicated Skype account for the workshop, but the QLis30 team are Skype virgins and may need some assistance. In particular we would like help from someone with experience of Skype groups.

No traders will be present at QLis30, but RWAP's newly released box game sets (3, 4 and 5) will be available at the event. Each set consists of six re-released classic QL games.

CATERING

At this stage we have not decided the level of catering at QLis30, although it is likely to be very simple. We shall probably ask attendees to either bring their own packed lunch or to use local outlets. We shall probably plan a lengthy lunch break.

Just up the road towards Edinburgh City Centre there is the Corstorphine Retail Park which has a McDonalds and a Tesco Extra with a Costa Coffee Shop. Somewhat further away in the other direction is the Gyle Centre with a Food Court and other food outlets.

A QLis30 workshop dinner is planned for the Friday evening. It will be held in the Holiday Inn and will be a three course meal with coffee.

click here for details

GETTING TO EDINBURGH

BY AIR

Edinburgh Airport has direct flights to many European destinations. The airport is just over 4km from the QLis30 venue. The airport bus to the city centre passes the venue, but it is a limited stop service and you will have to get off at the Marriott Hotel.

Airport website: www.edinburghairport.com

Airport bus: www.flybybus.com

BY FERRY

The nearest car ferry service to Edinburgh is from IJmuiden in the Netherlands to Newcastle, which is 178km from Edinburgh. It is an overnight ferry that leaves IJmuiden at 17.30 and arrives in Newcastle (South Shields) at 09.00. The return ferry departs from South Shields at 17.00 and arrives in IJmuiden at 09.30.

DFDS website: www.dfdsseaways.co.uk (There is a link on this site to websites in other languages.)

BY RAIL

The London Eurostar terminus is at St. Pancras International Station that is next door to Kings Cross station for services to Edinburgh.

Eurostar website: www.eurostar.com

UK train times and prices: www.nationalrail.co.uk

RAIL WARNING!

Because of engineering works there are no trains between Edinburgh Waverley and Berwick-upon-Tweed on Sunday 12th October, but a replacement bus service. Some London bound trains will be diverted via Carlisle and Newcastle with extra journey times. Please use the above national rail link to plan your return journey.

ACCOMMODATION