REGISTRATION
Registration for the 148th Annual Meeting is open from January 17 through April 15th. Online registration is encouraged and will require your My Profile username and password. If you have forgotten or misplaced this information please contact the AOS office. If you prefer to pay for your registration with a check then you will need to download a paper registration form, available below. AOS accepts both Visa and MasterCard.
| FEES: |
|---|
| Annual Meeting | Member | Personal Guest | Professional Guest | Resident / Fellow Guest |
|---|
| By April 15, 2012 |
$500 |
$250 |
$500 |
$250 |
| Onsite |
$600 |
$250 |
$600 |
$250 |
| Athletic Events |
Men's Tennis Tournament |
Women's Tennis Tournament |
Mixed Doubles Tennis Tournament |
Men's Golf Tournament |
Women's Golf Tournament |
| By April 15, 2012 |
$60 |
$60 |
$60 |
$180 |
$180 |
SPOUSE / PERSONAL GUEST REGISTRATION:
All members are encouraged to bring a spouse or personal guest to the Annual Meeting. Spouse/personal guest registration includes daily continental breakfast and coffee breaks, admission to the Thursday New Member Reception, Friday reception and Saturday reception and banquet. Members can register their guests online when completing their own registration.
PROFESSIONAL GUEST REGISTRATION:
Non-member ophthalmologists are welcome to attend the Annual Meeting as a professional guest. Professional guests must be sponsored by an AOS member who will also be in attendance. Members will have the opportunity to register their professional guests when completing their own registration. Interested in bringing a resident or fellow to the meeting as a professional guest? If so, be sure to choose the Resident/Fellow Guest option when registering.
HOUSING
Registration is required before securing a reservation at the AOS-negotiated group rate at the Charleston Place. When members register online they will see a link called "Book Hotel" on the payment confirmation screen. Click this link to access the reservations telephone number and group code. Unfortunately, online reservations are not available for the AOS-negotiated rate.
If a member chooses to submit a paper registration form the hotel reservation information will be provided in the registration confirmation email that they will receive. Please note that paper registrations may experience a 1-2 day delay in receiving the hotel confirmation link.
The negotiated room rate at the Charleston Place for AOS meeting attendees is $319 per night plus applicable taxes and fees. Meeting registrants will receive complimentary wireless internet access in their sleeping rooms.
SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM
The Committee on Programs is busy preparing what is sure to be an exciting scientific program. Further details will be posted when they become available. Check back soon!
SYMPOSIA
The subject of the 2012 AOS-Knapp Symposium is "Nanotechnology in Ophthalmology." A second symposium, "Health Care Reform: Update & Impact on Ophthalmology," a continuation of the popular symposium from the 146th Annual Meeting, is also being planned. Click the links to the left for a sneak peak that includes the speaker lineups and presentation topics.
GETTING THERE
The Charleston Place hotel is 20 minutes from Charleston International Airport (CHS). Charleston International is serviced by American Airlines, United/Continental, Delta, US Airways and Southwest Airlines.
TAXIS
A cab ride from the airport to the hotel is $27.00. Please note, however, that there are no cabs onsite at the airport. Instead, they sit about two miles/three minutes away and must be called.
RENTAL CARS
Charleston International Airport offers several rental car options, including Avis, Budget, Thrifty, Dollar, National, Hertz and Enterprise. If members choose to rent a car they should be aware that hotel parking is $25/day for valet and $12/day for self-parking. Both options include in and out privileges.
CHARLESTON
The city of Charleston has lots to offer meeting attendees. Whether attendees are interested in history, shopping, unique dining experiences or otherwise, Charleston, recently named the number one tourist destination city in the United States by Conde Nast Traveler, is sure to please.
THINGS TO DO
Optional tours are currently being planned for both members and guests. In the meantime, the following list will give an idea of the wide range of historic and cultural activities available:
- Take a horse drawn carriage for a tour of Charleston's narrow streets lined with beautifully preserved buildings from the colonial and antebellum periods.
- Stroll through The Battery or White Point Gardens, where pirates once dangled from the gallows, for spectacular views of the harbor and distant Fort Sumter.
- Take a tour around some of the famous plantations and gardens, for a glimpse into life during the antebellum era. Include Boone Hall Plantation, with its majestic avenue of moss-draped oaks, or Magnolia Plantation, built in the 1670's and Middleton Place, for America's oldest landscaped gardens.
- Visit the area's lush sea islands of Kiawah, Seabrook and the Isle of Palms. With endless sundrenched beaches washed by the warm surf of the tropical Gulf Stream currents, the islands offer watersports of every kind including sailing and deep sea fishing.
- Visit Catfish Row, the inspiration for America's first opera, 'Porgy and Bess', where vendors once peddled their produce along the roadside. Now private homes and specialty shops line the area.
- Tour historic sites such as Fort Moultrie, the scene of the first decisive American victory of the Revolution, and Fort Sumter, the man-made island fortress where the Civil War began.
- Visit Charleston Museum, the USA's first and oldest, which interprets the story and natural history of the low country through artifacts, treasures and exhibits.
- Visit Charles Towne Landing, the site where the original settlement was established in 1670, and take a tram ride tour of the original fortification or stroll through the beautiful English Park gardens.
- Browse through the historic market on Market Street, Charleston's many boutiques, art galleries and the King Street antique shops.
For additional information on local activities please click here.
TRAVEL GRANTS
The American Ophthalmological Society Charitable, Educational and Scientific Trust Fund (AOS-CES) awards up to two educational travel grants annually to non-members who attend the Annual Meeting. For further information, including eligibility requirements and application procedures, please review the Travel Grant information.
