2nd International Workshop on AM CVn stars

1 - 5 September 2008, Cape Town, South Africa

With less than three months to go before the 2nd international AM CVn workshop
in Cape Town, we would like to send you some information related to the
workshop. As with the 1st AM CVn workshop, most key people in the field will
attend and with the current number of registered participants at 28, we think
it will be a very nice workshop.

In this announcement, we would like to draw your attention to the hotel
arrangements and bookings.

We have block-booked the following units in the Breakwater Lodge for the
period (Sunday) 31 August - (Saturday) 6 September:
20 business suites (ZAR 935 per room per night, including breakfast and VAT,
excluding a 1% tourism tax), and

10 standard room (ZAR 575 per room, per night, including breakfast and VAT,
excluding a 1% tourism tax).
The business suites have an en-suite bathroom facility, the standard rooms
have a shared-shower facility (shared with the standard room next door, but
contained within the general entry to the two adjacent standard rooms).

For a layout of the rooms, we refer you to the hotel website:

At the current exchange rates, the ZAR/Euro = 12.3 and ZAR/USD = 7.9.

The block-booking expires on the 1st of August, when the rooms revert back to
the open market.

Cape Town is a popular tourist destination, so if you already know that you
will arrive a day or two early, please make a choice now which room you would
like so that we can ensure the availability of your rooms, outside of our
block-booking period.

I have attached a booking form (in PDF format). Can you fill out all the
necessary details and fax it to Patrick at +27 21 650 3342. Alternatively,
you can scan the completed form and mail it to me (pwoudt@ast.uct.ac.za) and
I will forward it immediately to the hotel. Under room type, specify either
`single business suite' or `single share shower'.

The post-workshop SALT trip is planned for the weekend of 6 and 7 September.
For those of you interested in this tour, we will depart early on Saturday
morning (6 September) and stay overnight in Sutherland. We will return to
Cape Town on Sunday 7 September and should be back in Cape Town around 3pm
(in time for those flying back on the KLM flight on Sunday evening).

Can you please let us know before 30 June if you want to come along on the
post-conference tour. The costs for this trip are not included in the
registration fee, but will be fairly modest.

We will shortly post the tentative programme for the workshop. If you have not
yet sent us your title, please do so at your earliest convenience. An updated
list of participants is now available on the web site.

We will also update details of our social programme on our website shortly;
this includes a welcome reception on Sunday 31 August and a workshop lunch at
the Boschendal wine estate on Wednesday 3 September (all included in the
registration fee).

Other practical matters: Transport from and to the airport will be provided.
Please verify visa requirements at your travel agency. From the US and Europe,
a simple tourist visa is given upon entry in SA with a strange requirement of
having two empty (adjacent) pages in your passport (please verify this with
your travel agency).

If you know of interested colleagues who are still considering attending the
workshop, please tell them to express their interest as soon as possible by
e-mail to amcvn2008@mensa.ast.uct.ac.za

We look forward to seeing you in Cape Town,
Patrick Woudt
Gijs Nelemans
Danny Steeghs
Gijs Roelofs