This is an OI-special issue, in that it pays special attention to the Oceanology International London 2004 conference and exhibition. This latest in a well-known and well-visited series will be held at the new Exhibition Centre London (ExCeL) from 16th to19th March 2004.
The Conference carries the title ‘Strategies for Stewardship of our Oceans & Coastal Zone’ and there will be sessions ranging in content from ‘International Coastal Zone Management’ to ‘Value of in-situ and Remote Sensing Technologies’ and an associated meeting programme. See also our interview with Conference Chairman, Professor Graham Shimmield.
And whilst we’re talking about Strategies for Stewardship, let us not forget the increased public awareness due to popular family films such as Free Willy or the long-term impact of Jacques Cousteau movies. While these might be regarded more as entertainment than science, public interest and concern may influence politicians who, in turn, allocate budgets. Both examples were also commercially viable.
OI London ‘04 is not only a conference; there is also a large exhibition showing the latest developments and products. (For further information, see www.oceanologyinternational.com). All this will bring together attendees from every area of hydrography and oceanography, including science, technology, policy and operations. Hydro international (HI) is proud to be the supporting congress magazine for OI-London ‘04 and of course we will be present at the exhibition; HI will be distributed here and GITC will publish the OI London Show Daily. We will have our own presence, so come and visit us on the GITC stand (# 1201) to establish and/or refresh personal contacts. And if you ever intended to write a ‘Letter to the Editor’ but never managed to find the time to do so, I will be around.
ExCeL, which will host this biannual event for the second time, is located in the Docklands, next to the Royal Victoria Dock. This gives visiting ships the possibility to berth immediately alongside the ExCeL exhibition. Among the ships which will be present this year are the Alliance from NATO, two brand-new survey vessels, HNLMS Snellius from the Royal Netherlands Navy and the catamaran Meridian from OSAE) and several smaller survey vessels. But just to use the Royal Victoria Dock as a parking place for a floating mobile stand of equipment is to miss a chance; the Royal Victoria Dock (and the nearby River Thames) could be turned into a surveyor’s paradise.
The military create ‘mine gardens’ in their own home-waters for purposes of training personnel and evaluating equipment such as mine-hunting sonar and/or UUVs. Surveyors involved in port and harbour surveys evaluate equipment like MBES and sediment density measuring equipment during occasional demos in their own area. Why shouldn’t the Docks be used as a training and evaluation area for equipment suitable to be operated in such conditions? Such ‘demo’ capabilities could be enhanced by (temporarily) placing ‘targets’ in addition to the artefacts (cars) already there. The latter were located during demonstrations at OI London 2002.
At a time of plentiful complaints regarding ‘too many conferences’, organisers need to utilise every opportunity to improve events. This would attract both exhibitors and attendees to the better-organised conferences, among which OI London already definitely features. As to the aforementioned surveyors’ paradise - maybe we could even extend some of our much-appreciated Product Surveys with a comparison of practical results achieved in the Docks.