The conference will be held at the University at Buffalo, in Buffalo, NY. The University and surrounding area is well suited for hosting a major event such as SpaceVision, and offers several excellent advantages. Hosting the conference in Buffalo would mark the first return of SpaceVision to the eastern US since 2007, when it was hosted at MIT. Since then, it has been hosted at Texas A&M, the University of Arizona, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and University of Colorado at Boulder. Buffalo would bring the conference back to the eastern part of the country, which is close to many SEDS chapters.

ON CAMPUS FACILITIES
The University at Buffalo is well set up for conferences. There are two main sites that can support SpaceVision, the UB Center for the Arts complex and the Student Union.
The Center for the Arts (CFA) has support on its main stage for up to 1750 persons and the Slee stage has seating for 670. These venues will allow for larger conference events, and public participation for specific keynote events. Additionally, the Atrium at the CFA has seating for 400 person banquet and dinner events, which can be scaled comfortably. UB-SEDS has used this space in the past to host Yuri’s Night and has experience with professional events at the location. These spaces will be utilized with conference attendance to allow for an overall capacity of up to 1700 people.
The Student Union is a multipurpose building designed for Student use. The Union features a 350 seat theater, a 250 seat multi-purpose room, and several 100 person presentation halls. Smaller breakout rooms are available as well, including a 30 person conference room. The Lobby of the Union has approximately 2000 square feet of exhibition space, and the Social Hall has 3600 square feet of exhibition space. This is a significant growth in exhibitor space from past years, and will allow new vendors, companies, and agencies to participate in the event and serve attendees.
OFF CAMPUS FACILITIES
While the majority of the conference will be conducted on the University at Buffalo campus, some activities will be conducted off-campus. This will include evening dinners and a formal banquet, as well as networking events.
In close proximity to the University are Maple and Flint roads. These feature several casual dining centers which may be selected for some of the more casual evening network events. Flint road features not only a strong hotel presence, but also several restaurants within walking distance for service to patrons.
The main off-campus event will of course be the formal conference banquet. There are several banquet facilities available in the area, including the Marriott Hotel Conference Center. A more ‘Buffalo’ feel is also certainly desired, and for that reason banquet facility investigation will strongly look at downtown Buffalo facilities. One establishment strongly being considered at this time is Pearl Street Grill and Brewery. This combination Brew House and catering facility is an excellent venue for up to 300 person events, and has an excellent selection of in house brews on tap, as well as some of Buffalo’s finest favorites, including Beef on Weck and Chicken Wings. A final decision on the banquet facility will be determined based on contracting, pricing, and the quality that can be provided to conference attendees.

LODGING
A wide variety of lodging options are available just a short distance from the conference venue. There are three hotels, the Buffalo Niagara Marriott, Hotel Indigo, and Comfort Inn University, located directly across from the campus, which is suitable for the conference. All of these hotels are located right next to each other, allowing attendees to have several choices while allowing them to be in close proximity.

TRAVEL
The Buffalo region is easily accessible via several methods. The Buffalo/Niagara International Airport is serviced by most major airlines (including low cost carriers Southwest, Jetblue, and AirTran), and has direct flights to and from many cities, including Boston, New York, Orlando, Chicago, Washington DC, and Phoenix. As the third busiest airport in New York State, airfare at Buffalo/Niagara International is quite affordable. The conference will endeavor to make transportation available from the airport to the conference site for groups traveling into the Buffalo airport. A sample of round-trip airfare is listed. These prices are current as of the time of publication. addAddtifffffFor travelFor

We have done preliminary analysis on fight timing, and determined that the average time for flights leaving on Sunday afternoon and evening is after 3:00 pm. This enables significantly greater flexibility for scheduling, and all conference end times will be scheduled taking into consideration major airline flight schedules.
Buffalo is a moderate drive from many cities and locations in the northeast and Midwest. A map of driving times to Buffalo from various cities is shown.

ATTRACTIONS
The Greater Buffalo area is home to several attractions. Niagara Falls, one of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World, is located only 20 minutes from the campus. Buffalo is home to rich cultural and architectural history. There are plenty of local restaurants with a variety of offerings, including the home of the original chicken wings.

INTERNATIONAL TIES
Buffalo is a city located on the US-Canadian border. Given its close proximity to the metropolitan area of Toronto, Canada, there exists a strong bond between our two countries. In the Canadian horn region, a majority of SEDS Canada exists. Within a two hour drive to the north, there are three SEDS-Canada chapters. This will give a strong international aspect to SpaceVision if chosen to be in Buffalo, and this event will help to build ties among the North American SEDS groups.