CLAC Conference 2025
Contact Us: We will be using Sched to manage conference communications. If you have any questions or comments, contact us at clac2025@fandm.edu.
We look forward to welcoming you to F&M next week for CLAC 2025. Woo Hoo!! Below are all the details we believe you will need for your arrival along with a few points we want to be sure you are aware of in advance.
First and foremost, please rely on clac2025.sched.com for conference schedule and details.
General Way-Finding: Look for ITS staff in black or white t-shirts with the CLAC 2025 conference logo on it if you need guidance. There will also be directional signage around that also has the logo on it. A golf cart will be moving about to help anyone with mobility challenges. One blessing– our campus is quite small and quite flat.
1. ARRIVING ON CAMPUS, REGISTRATION, CLAC MAP
Campus Map: A special campus map for CLAC is located in the Sched app. This map makes it easy to find the locations on our campus that are most important for conference attendees.
The complete official map for F&M can be found here: https://www.fandm.edu/_resources/pdfs/CampusMap_Sept2024.png
Campus Parking Lots: If you arrive before 8:30 AM, you will likely find parking in the Williamson Lot (850 Harrisburg Ave). If you do not find parking here, the map suggests other nearby parking locations across the street from the Williamson Lot near the Lombardo Welcome Center, building 37 (933 Harrisburg Ave) - please be mindful of the dedicated visitor spots in this lot, which are for potential students and families visiting our campus.
There is also on-street parking. PLEASE be mindful of on-street parking regulations since there are restrictions that will be in effect on some days of CLAC for street cleaning. You will be ticketed by the city and there is no getting out of it. (trust us). You do not need a special sign, permit or documentation to use our campus parking lots regardless of what the signs say at the entrance.
RegistrationCheck-In: Registration, along with all breaks, and the real ‘hub’ of the conference will be in Martin Library of the Sciences (MLS), which is building 22 on the map. When you arrive, head straight there. We will have name badges you can pick up here. If you do not visit on Tuesday before the opening reception, you will be able to get your badge on Wednesday morning or any time during the conference.
Uber/Lyft users: Williamson Parking Lot should be a location in both apps. They usually want to drop you off at the end of the lot closer to Harrisburg Ave, but it should be easy to use ride shares to get to campus if desired.
2. MEALS & RECEPTIONS
Tuesday, Opening Reception, Tellus360, 5-6:30PM: Our opening reception, sponsored by Ellucian, will be at Tellus 360 at their rooftop space, weather permitting. If the weather is poor, they have an alternative indoor space we will use. This venue is NOT on campus. It is downtown and just a few doors down from the Marriott for anyone staying there. For navigational purposes, their street address is: 24 E King St, Lancaster, PA 17602. The views are fabulous. There will be heavy hors d’houvers and beverages. DINNER IS ON YOUR OWN. Lancaster is one of the dining capitals of Pennsylvania, so there is A LOT to choose from. On the CLAC Sched we have listed some possibilities, but definitely feel free to consider others. If you drive there, there are a number of parking garages nearby. The one attached to the Marriott is the closest. It is called the Penn Square Garage and its address is 28 S. Duke Street, Lancaster, PA.
Wednesday, Reception and Dinner, F&M’s Lombardo Welcome Center: Our Wednesday reception and dinner will be at the Lombardo Welcome Center on campus beginning at 5PM. This will be a bit of a different dinner experience and one that is beloved by our president. Rather than a traditional sit-down dinner with your standard dry chicken and sad carrots, there will be a variety of ‘grazing stations’ with all manner of different foods. You are sure to find plenty of variety and plenty to fill up on while you hopefully get an opportunity to reconnect with colleagues. There will be a variety of stand-up and sit-down spaces, including a small patio.
Breaks, Breakfasts and Lunches: All breaks will be in the Martin Library of the Sciences, where we will have our registration headquarters. Our F&M College Archives are located here, and they have graciously extended the run of a wonderful exhibition they put on this spring about the ‘History of Computing at F&M’. This will be a fun bonus activity since there are some great archival photos and tech that you will be able to view. Breakfasts and lunches will all be served in our dining hall. Special activities like a first-time attendee gathering and the board business meeting will be in an adjacent room. The Dining Hall is building 32 on the special CLAC Map. We will have some small sign stands to put out on tables so you can ‘find your people’ and join in to conversations around topics that might be of interest.
GETTING CONNECTED TO F&M WiFI
We are pleased to share that we have both Eduroam and an open F&M Guest Network that does not require a password. So you will hopefully have no issues getting on WiFi via one of these means.
What you can do to help us out before and as soon as you arrive? Or, how to rock it like a real CLAC CHAMP!
FIRST- Go onto SCHED and indicate what sessions you hope to attend. This is SUPER important for the TUESDAY tours. We currently have one tour with no subscribers. If that doesn’t change, it will be cancelled. We are doing our best to put things in the right-sized room, so knowing your interests is very helpful.
SECOND- If you arrive before the opening reception, come on over and get your nametag. We are not lugging the nametags to Tellus360. So, stopping by and picking up your name badge would be helpful and assure you are spared the ‘Hello My Name is’ stick on name badge at the reception! (NERD!)
THIRD- If you like to browse the merch, mark our College Bookstore on your visit plans. They are generally open 9AM - 4PM. This is location 11 on the campus map. It’s a pretty cool building - our original gym!
FOUR- Say hello and thank you to our sponsors. F&M has been intentionally judicious on sponsors. There is just one sponsor for each event. We had MANY sponsor requests, so turned away others because we just couldn’t manage any more. Many of our sponsors are vendors F&M doesn’t even USE! They are here to see YOU, not ME! Go say HI! There will be just one vendor at each break, meal, etc.
FIVE- We have many guests because F&M has many friends and we couldn’t help but invite them ALL. Connect with them! Whether it’s REN-ISAC, Educause, Internet2, KeystoneREN, NJ Edge, a couple of students doing research from Colgate, long-time CLAC friend Justin Sipher, some guests from Hamline University, colleagues from Penn State’s Institute for Computational & Data Sciences – guests abound! And if you are an F&M friend-- be sure to meet as many CLAC members as you can!
Info for Presenters
First and foremost….thank you! The content you provide is part of what makes CLAC so valuable, so we appreciate you making the program happen.
If you are presenting, a few tips. Please plan to go to your session location, ideally at least 10 minutes before start time. We will have ITS staff roaming the conference venues that will check in on you and assure you are able to get your laptop connected, etc. All spaces have capacity to readily support BYOD but a few also have a built-in computer (Mac) that you are welcome to use if preferred. An ITS staff member would need to login to that podium computer for you.
And finally, just a general hearty thank you from all of us at Franklin & Marshall College. We are so looking forward to welcoming you to Lancaster, PA next week! Let us know if you have questions. It's an honor and a privilege to host all of you!
Carrie Rampp & Amy Ruffo and the rest of the planning committee
