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It's not all work and no play
Several networking and social opportunities can be found atSLAS2012. Here are a few of them, as SLAS encourages attendees to not onlylearn but also celebrate and form friendly connections as well as purelyprofessional ones:
Sunday through Wednesday, Feb. 5-8 Discounts & Drink Specials at Jolt'n Joe's
After hours at SLAS2012, the event organizers encourage youto "kick back and relax, or see and be seen, at Jolt'n Joe's Restaurant, alegendary and lively anchor of the Gaslamp Quarter that's just a short walkfrom the convention center and Marriott and Hilton hotels." Jolt'n Joe's isbeing billed as the SLAS2012 "corner bar" where attendees, exhibitors andothers can enjoy exclusive discounts and specials all week long. The venuefeatures pool, ping-pong, plasma televisions and dancing in a 15,000square-foot historic brick warehouse that features an outdoor patio bar and notonly lunch and dinner fare, but also late-night pub food such as burgers,tacos, salads and steaks, until 1:30 a.m.
Sunday, Feb. 5, 8 p.m.
Super Bowl Sunday After-Party
Sponsored by the San Diego and Bay Area chapters of theLaboratory Robotics Interest Group (LRIG), this celebratory Super Bowl Sundayafter-party takes place at Jolt'n Joe's and is open to all SLAS2012participants. You can register to attend at the Bay Area LRIG website atwww.lrigbayarea.org/superbowl_2012/. Participants have a chance to win a KindleFire or various gift cards.
Monday, Feb. 6, 8 p.m. Monday Night Diamond Groove-a-Thon
SLAS2012 Diamond Sponsor PerkinElmer's rock band, MolecularGroove, will be, as SLAS says, "live and loud" at Jolt'n Joe's on Monday nightand is being billed as the "hardest working band in science."
Tuesday, Feb. 7, 7 p.m.-10 p.m. Gaslamp Block Party Bash
Hosted by SLAS2012 Premier Sponsor Agilent Technologies inthe Gaslamp Quarter in the heart of downtown San Diego, participants can enjoyAmerican English, which has been voted "Best Tribute Band" for four yearsrunning, according to SLAS, offering an evening of Beatles tunes as attendeesenjoy the outdoor buffets and open bars, play ping-pong and foosball in thefresh air or simply sit and enjoy the comfortable lounge seating lining thestreets.
Find your animal magnetism during the annual meeting
SAN DIEGO—If you need some nature to balance all your timein the convention center and other SLAS2012 venues, here are a few of the mostpopular attractions in the city:
San Diego Zoo
One of the premier zoos in the United States, this facilityis a sanctuary for thousands of animals and rare plants. Exhibits include a7.5-acre multispecies habitat featuring elephants, California condors, jaguarsand more that helps teach visitors about the zoo's conservation efforts. Animalenclosures are designed to be as realistic as possible to promote the naturalbehavior of the animals, so that guests can get a better sense of how theanimals live in the wild, whether they are polar bears in the Arctic tundra,okapis in the Ituri Forest or bonobos in the jungles of the Congo.
The zoo offers a guided bus tour of the grounds, as well asthe Skyfari aerial tram that provides visitors a bird's-eye view of the100-acre facility. At the Wegeforth Bowl and Hunte Amphitheatre, guests canwatch animals such as sea lions and wolves that can't be seen anywhere else inthe zoo show off some of their natural behaviors. The zoo also featuresrestaurants ranging from the gourmet to the casual.
Wild Animal Park
If you didn't get enough animals at the San Diego Zooitself, or weren't satisfied that the enclosures were realistic enough, try avisit to the zoo's 213-acre Wild Animal Park, a separate location featuringhuge open enclosures that allow herds of African and Asian animals to roam andinteract with each other. Visitors can get up close to these wild andendangered animals thanks to the Journey into Africa tour, which emulatessafari tours in Africa but with vehicles that run on biodiesel for a moreeco-friendly vibe. The experience brings visitors to eye level with animalssuch as white rhinoceroses, giraffes, Cape buffalo, Roosevelt's gazelles,African crowned cranes and more.
Other animal exhibits can be found at the park as well, in amore zoo-like fashion, allowing guests to see a cheetah, alligator, owl or boaconstrictor—and the park features two different animal shows daily as well.
SeaWorld
Certainly, Shamu the killer whale is the most famous denizenof this aquatic animal park, but there is also the Shark Encounter, whichallows visitors to walk through a submerged tube while sharks swim around them;the Wild Arctic and Penguin Encounter exhibits; a California tide pool exhibit;a freshwater aquarium and the World of the Sea aquarium; Wonders of the River;and the Sesame Street Bay of Play.
Beach life
Southern California is known for beaches, and San Diego isno exception. The best of the bunch includes San Onofre State Beach, OceansideCity Beach, Carlsbad State Beach, Solana Beach, the Cardiff Beaches, the DelMar Beaches, Torrey Pines State Beach and Park, the La Jolla Beaches and the LaJolla Reefs, Pacific Beach, Mission Bay and Mission Beach, Ocean Beach, thePoint Loma Beaches, Coronado Municipal Beach, Silver Strand State Beach andImperial Beach.
The San Diego Museum of Art in the urban cultural area known as Balboa Park is reportedly the region's oldest and largest art museum, known for its selection of European old masters, 19th- and 20th-century American art, Asian collection and growing collections of contemporary and Latin American art.
An example of plaza art at the San Diego Convention Center.
Malaria continues to drive urgent research worldwide, with new therapies and tools emerging to combat the parasite’s complex lifecycle and global burden.
The historic Gaslamp Quarter comprises more 16 blocks around Fourth and Fifth Avenues, and features more than 100 of San Diego's best restaurants, more than 30 pubs and nightclubs and 100 retails shops, as well as theaters and art galleries.
Westfield Horton Plaza is a five-level outdoor shopping mall occupying more than six city blocks in downtown San Diego, adjacent to the city's Gaslamp Quarter, and is known for its bright colors and unique architectural styles.
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