2008 IPS Conference | Adler Planetarium | ips2008.org

Venues

Hyatt Regency McCormick Place
Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum

Primary Conference Venue

Hyatt Regency McCormick Place Chicago

The Hyatt McCormick Place Hotel

2233 South Martin Luther King Drive
Chicago, Illinois 60616
USA
Phone: (001) 312-567-1234
Fax: (001) 312-528-4000
web: mccormickplace.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/

The Hyatt McCormick Place Hotel was specifically chosen as the primary venue for IPS 2008 because of its proximity to Chicago attractions (including the lakefront and the Adler Planetarium) as well as its suitability as an exhibition space for planetarium-related vendors and special conference rate. The Hotel is within ten miles of Chicago’s Midway Airport, and within twenty miles of O’Hare International Airport.

Most of the IPS2008 Conference and Vendor Exhibition will take place at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place Chicago hotel, adjacent to McCormick Place Exposition Center. The hotel includes 800 guest rooms and a 600-car parking garage, along with a Conference Center with its own parking facility for over 2,400 cars. The hotel is located near the shores of Lake Michigan and just minutes from downtown Chicago.

Accommodations offer:
Conference Hotel

We have negotiated a special IPS2008 discounted rate of $159/night for single and $179/night for double occupancy. To receive the reduced room rate at the conference hotel, please be sure to mention IPS. Book a room using their website mccormickplace.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/ and enter group code# G-FADL, or telephone them at 312-567-1234 or 1-800-233-1234 and give our group code# G-FADL or mention IPS and the Adler Planetarium.

Book a room using their website .

Secondary Conference Venue

Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum

StarRider Theater

1300 South Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, Illinois 60605
USA
Phone: 001-312-922-STAR
Fax: 001-312-322-9909
TTY: 001-312-322-0995
Web: adlerplanetarium.org

The Adler Planetarium is about two miles by car from the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place.

The oldest planetarium in the Western Hemisphere, the Adler Planetarium opened its doors to the public on May 12, 1930 with the first Zeiss optical star projector in the USA and a collection of antique astronomical instruments. The collection has since expanded to become one of the world’s greatest collections of such instruments. In the years 1933 and 1934, the Planetarium was on the grounds of the “Century of Progress” World's Fair. Total attendance for this two-year period was more than 1.2 million.

In 1970, a new Zeiss Mark VI projector was installed in the historic planetarium theater. Additions to the original 1930 building opened in 1973, 1991, and 1999. The nearby Doane Observatory opened in 1977 and now houses a 0.5-meter (20-inch) computer-controlled DFM telescope. The 1973 addition, built entirely underground, included a multimedia theater and exhibit hall. The 1999 addition included a complete renovation of the existing building and construction of a wraparound glass pavilion that houses the StarRider Theater, the first fulldome digital theater, as well as the 1913 Atwood Sphere – a unique 4.5-meter (15-foot) rotating metal sphere in which observers sit and view stars created by outside light filtering through strategically-placed pinholes. The 1999 addition also houses new exhibition halls, classrooms, conference facilities, a dining area, and two outdoor observing decks. In 2007 the multimedia theater is being renovated as a state of the art stereoscopic video theater with teleconferencing capability.

Sky Theater

State-of-the-art technologies deployed throughout the Adler Planetarium include three theaters — a full-dome video Digistar 3 theater, a stereoscopic video theater, and an updated optical planetarium with a Zeiss Mark VI optical projector. The Adler also offers wireless internet connectivity; digital A/V equipment; audio/video teleconferencing capabilities; and multiple platform hardware and software computer resources. The Adler’s CyberSpace Technology Center — featuring a broadcast studio and internet computer classroom — is used heavily for classes, teacher training and the development of science lessons using Web resources. CyberSpace also features an electronic exhibit display area that has been successfully used in previous conferences as a venue for electronic poster presentations.

Many sky show productions are created by in-house planetarium staff. With the Adler’s experience in both traditional and full-dome planetarium show production, the planetarium team will be readily available to assist in the installation of Planetarium presentations for IPS 2008.

The Chicago area is home to the oldest amateur astronomical society in America as well as seven other planetariums. The Adler has relationships with astronomers at local universities and laboratories, including the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Loyola University Chicago, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and Argonne National Laboratory. The Adler shares space in Chicago’s Museum Campus with the Field Museum of Natural History and the John G. Shedd Aquarium. The Yerkes Observatory — housing the world's largest refracting telescope, owned and operated by the University of Chicago — is just a few hours away by motorcoach.