11th International Conference on Text, Speech and Dialogue
TSD 2008, Brno, Czech Republic, September 8–12 2008
 
Conference Topics
Committees
Important Dates
Call for Participation
Contact info
Invited Speakers
Conference Location
Conference Program
Conference Trip
Conference Photos
Conference Videos
Feedback Form
Presentations
Demo Instructions
Topics | Committees | Important Dates | Contact info | Call for Participation
Conference location
The TSD 2008 conference will take place in the city of Brno and the local organiser is the Faculty of Informatics, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.

Conference venue

The conference will be held in the conference halls of Hotel AVANTI.
Hotel AVANTI
Střední 61
CZ-602 00 Brno
Czech Republic

The Conference place is displayed on the map of the city displaying both the Faculty of Informatics and the conference venue.

Reception and help desk

During the conference there will be the reception desk available at the conference lounge. Near the reception there will be technicians prepared to help the presenters with the computer equipment. The technicians will be available during the whole conference program.

Accommodation places

Accommodation is not directly organized by the conference OC, however, TSD 2008 participants and accompanying persons can avail of special accommodation conditions in the conference hotel AVANTI. Detailed information about accommodation can be found at the Registration page. For a complete list of hotels in Brno, please see Hotels in Brno.

Reaching the Conference Site and Hotels

The overall description of how to get to the city of Brno can be found on the page

How to reach Brno

If you arrive before the start of the conference, go directly to your accommodation place. If you arrive late at night, there is a nonstop service at the accommodation place.

By car

You can find your way to the hotel AVANTI on the Google map of the conference location.

Parking at the hotel is available for hotel guests. You can park as long as you need. When leaving the parking place, you pay CZK 20 to the parking machine.

By taxi

Brno taxi services have better reputation than those in Prague. Overcharging does not happen so often and the taxi-gang wars are not an issue here. In any case, when using the taxi, ask about an approximate price in advance and make sure that the taxi-meter has been set to zero at the beginning of the ride.

An operator of City Taxi (phone number +420-542 321 321) is able to speak English.

Prices for travelling from bus or railway station to the conference and accommodation sites should be roughly CZK 200-300.

From railway station

The Brno main railway station is called "Brno Hlavni nadrazi". To reach the conference site (Hotel AVANTI, Stredni 61) use the tram line 1 in direction "Reckovice" and leave on the sixth stop "Hrncirska". From Hrncirska walk for about 500m to the Hotel AVANTI. Important points can be found on the map of conference location.
You have to buy a standard tram ticket (CZK 15) in any news-stand before you enter the tram and mark it inside the tram. For the Hotel AVANTI a 10 minutes tram ticket is sufficient (CZK 10).

From bus stations

There are two big bus stations in Brno: "Grand hotel" and "Zvonarka". The first one is located near the railway station. The second one is located about 500 meters from railway station (over footbridge to Vankovka shopping centre and TESCO store, then through underpass to railway station).

From Zvonarka bus station, you can take bus 67 in direction "Jundrov" and leave on the sixth stop "Sportovni". From the bus stop walk for about 300m to the Hotel AVANTI, see the map of conference location.

From Brno airport

You can use bus line 76 to reach the railway station from the airport.

Maps

Exchange Facilities and Rates

The currency used in the Czech Republic is the Czech Crown (ceska koruna, CZK or Kc). There are exchange facilities at the train/bus stations, airport and at the border. The approximate exchange rate is 16 CZK for one US dollar and 25 CZK for 1 EURO. See actual exchange rates.

Czech Crowns are available in the following denominations: 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000 and 5000 banknotes (see the list of Czech banknotes). We advise you to ask for at most 1000 crown banknotes when you exchange your money as these are easier to change. Do not change money on the street.

The City

Brno is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, with a population of almost 400.000, and is the country's judiciary and trade-fair centre. The first written record of Brno dates from the ninth century. City rights were acquired in 1243. After successfully defending the city against the Swedes 350 years ago (in 1643--45 during the Thirty Years' War), Brno became the capital of Moravia. The nineteenth century was a period of technological progress and development for Brno. It became one of the most prominent industrial centres in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was in Brno that J. G. Mendel formulated his theory of heredity, V. Kaplan produced the first water turbine and Leos Janacek composed his musical works. Milan Kundera wrote his first novels here. Brno is the place of birth of Kurt Goedel--- a major 20th century scientist of international standing.

The Czech Republic consists of Bohemia in the north and Moravia in the south, with Brno the capital of the latter. It had been a royal city since 1347. There are six Universities in Brno.

Historical and artistic places of interest in Brno include:

Touristical interests in the immediate surroundings of Brno are:

and many other attractions.

Events in Brno

Time Zone and Climate

The Czech Republic is on Central European Summer Time (MET DST), two hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The average temperature for September is between 15-20 degrees celsius. The weather is normally warm and sunny.

Links
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