Hello Neuroscientists,

The registration process for the 2017 meeting is progressing well overall.  However, there have been some points of confusion associated with the new website.  We do not want to leave out anyone who wishes to attend the meeting.  Therefore, we will extend the registration deadline to Thursday June 8 at the end of the day. 

Here are some FAQ’s that we hope will address some of the issues we’ve heard about.  Please email info@manitobaneuroscience.ca if you are still having problems and we will make sure you are taken care of. 

WHAT ARE THE REGISTRATION RATES?

Like previous years, there are 2 rate categories – one for SFN Winnipeg Chapter members and one for non-members.  Non-member rates are $180 for faculty, $140 for postdocs/technicians/research associates, and $100 for all students.  SFN Chapter rates are 50% off non-member rates in each category - $90, $70 and $50, respectively. 

HOW DO I REGISTER AS AN SFN CHAPTER MEMBER?

If you wish to  register for the MNN meeting as an SFN Chapter member, first become a 2017 member by visiting https://manitobaneuroscience.ca/sfn-chapter-membership/become-a-sfn-chapter-member/.  You will create a membership account, from which you will have access to reduce meeting registrations rates.  There are 3 types of memberships – Regular (faculty), Associate (postdocs, technicians, research associates, emeritus faculty) and Student.  You may purchase an individual membership in the appropriate category.  Faculty lab heads may also use a special all-inclusive lab rate that would allow each lab member to become a member for one price.  If you elect to use this rate, lab heads should choose ‘Regular’ membership and then choose ‘All-inclusive’ in the next section.  You will be prompted to enter the names and email addresses for each lab member.  Each person will then receive an email with a coupon code he or she can use to create a membership account and become a member without further charge.  The lab head can manage lab members (add/delete) at any time from his or her membership account.   

WHY DO I SEE ONLY ONE REGISTRATION RATE WHEN I LOGIN AS AN SFN CHAPTER MEMBER?

Once you have become a 2017 SFN Winnipeg Chapter member, you can choose to register for the MNN meeting using member rates.  You will be asked to login to your membership account.  You will then see only one option for registering.  If you are a Regular member, you will see $90; if you are an Associate member, you will see $70; and if you are a Student member, you will see $50.  These are the rates corresponding to your membership level and are the lowest possible rates.

CAN PI’S REGISTER AN ENTIRE LAB IN A SINGLE TRANSACTION?

No, but please read to the end.  The current system will not allow this.  Each attendee must register individually.  He or she can choose to register as an SFN Chapter member or non-member.  Individual registrations allow the MNN to accurately understand who is attending the meeting. 

One potential problem with this is that lab trainees and staff must wait for lab heads to become SFN Chapter members before they can qualify for the all-inclusive lab rate plan, create a membership account and register at reduced rates.  This is one reason the registration deadline is being extended.  If lab heads wish their staff and/or trainees to register as members and want to use the all-inclusive membership rate, they are advised to complete the membership process as soon as possible in order to allow time for their lab personnel to complete registration.

****IF YOU WANT TO ATTEND THE MEETING AND CANNOT OR WILL NOT NEGOTIATE THIS PROCESS, please email us at info@manitobaneuroscience.ca and we will do all we can to manually register you and your lab.  We want all who want to attend to be able to come.     

WILL THE SYSTEM BE CHANGED FOR FUTURE YEARS?

We are accumulating feedback and will use it to make selected adjustments to the process for future years.  For example, we may be able to develop a system that would allow a lab head to register his or her personnel in a single transaction from the SFN Chapter membership area of the website.  Please don’t hesitate to send us your feedback.  The goal is to develop a system that works for everyone.  We think the new system works but we are sure it can be improved and want to do so.

WHY ARE THE RATES HIGHER THAN LAST YEAR?

You may have noticed that prices are higher than last year.  Last year, we were not able to cover meeting costs with registrations that were paid.  Meeting costs include facilities fees, poster boards, several food offerings all day, plenary speakers, poster awards and more.  The rates were set this year to ensure we cover those costs.  Our goal is to plan a meeting that encourages networking and dissemination of excellent science.  A strategic decision was taken some time ago that we could best accomplish this with an offsite meeting.  The trade-off is that this costs more than a meeting held at one of our campuses.  We will continue to assess the cost and benefit of holding offsite meetings.  If the cost outweighs the benefit, a venue change will be considered for future meetings.   

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