Hi all,

A quick update regarding the XLDB-2011 event.

* We just released the website, see:
   http://www-conf.slac.stanford.edu/xldb2011

  * We formed the organizing committee for this
    year's event:
    - Anastasia Ailamaki, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
    - Jacek Becla, SLAC (chair)
    - Peter Breunig, Chevron
    - Bill Howe, University of Washington
    - David Konerding, Google
    - Samuel Madden, MIT
    - Jeff Rothchild, Facebook
    - Daniel Wang, SLAC

  * We are actively working on the agenda, trying to reflect
    the feedback received at the XLDB4 as best as we can:
    we are trying to bring in new communities (health care,
    pharmaceutical, movie industry and automotive industry)
    and cover topics such as reference cases, public cloud
    computing, high-perf visualization, and more. We have
    some leads but more are needed, so please let me know
    if you have any suggestions on whom to reach out to.
    To facilitate reaching out, I opened several topics
    on our XLDB forum under:
 
http://xldb-forum.slac.stanford.edu/index.php?/forum/5-workshops-conferences/ 


  * Regarding the XLDB forum, please register if you are
    interested in XLDB-2011 but have not yet done so. We
    will increasingly rely on this forum for news and
    discussions up to and beyond XLDB-2011.

  * Like last year, we will have some time reserved at the
    conference for lightning talks. If you'd like to present,
    you can submit an abstract at any time until Aug 31
    through the XLDB-2011 website.

  * We are looking for sponsors. If your organization might
    be interested in sponsoring, please check this link:
    http://www-conf.slac.stanford.edu/xldb2011/ForSponsors.asp

  * If you have suggestions for this year's conference dinner
    venue, please let me know by email or by posting in the
    forum. I expect ~200 people at the dinner.

  * Registration will open in May.

  * Regarding accommodations, a group rate for the Stanford
    Guesthouse has already been negotiated, with additional
    hotels to follow soon. See the website under "Accommodations"

  * Don't forget we will have the XLDB-Europe before the
    XLDB-2011. Planning the European event is coming along
    nicely and we will post an update shortly.


Don't hesitate to ask questions. (This mailing list has over
300 subscribers, so think twice before hitting "reply all" :)

Best regards,
Jacek

--
Jacek Becla
XLDB-2011 Organizing Committee Chair