Since the theme of the GIREP-EPEC 2009 conference is Community and Cooperation, we will provide participants with a dedicated online social networking site at http://girep2009.crowdvine.com. Please head over there, fill in your profile and answer a couple of short questions. You will then be able to discover other participants who:
- perform the same role in their institutions as you do in yours,
- are involved in projects that might link up to your own,
- or simply have the same interests as you.
The site will allow you to contact these people and arrange to meet during the conference to discuss your shared interests and, who knows, set up collaborative projects that will prove to be of mutual benefit. For more general communications, a blogging facility is provided: let everyone know about you with a quick initial blog; tell others about other online sites that would prove useful to GIREP-EPEC participants; announce future events to colleagues, etc.
At a later date the site will also host the complete conference schedule with links to all abstracts and contributions. A new feature will then allow you to select just the sessions you want to attend, creating for you your own *personal conference schedule*. This will be invaluable during the conference itself. Each individual contribution has its own comments section where you can discuss issues raised by the paper or poster or ask questions of the contributor.
The site is open for networking NOW. Whether you are already planning to visit Leicester next year, are uncertain if you can make it to GIREP-EPEC 2009 or are simply part of the worldwide network of people involved in Physics Education, please use this site to increase your own personal network of contacts.
The site address again is http://girep2009.crowdvine.com.