PPDD 2015 Home Call for Participation Hotels, Venue, and Post-Conference Activities Registration Program Sponsors
PPDD 2015 Conference Hotels, Venue, and Post-Conference Activities
PPDD 2015 Conference Hotels and Venue
PPDD 2015 will be held Wednesday, 21 October – Thursday, 22 October at high-tech SkySong, the Arizona State University Innovation Center in the Scottsdale area of Phoenix. For your convenience and enjoyment, complimentary transportation will be provided to/from discounted hotel room blocks in pleasurable Old Town Scottsdale, a 5-10 minute drive from SkySong.
We have secured extremely low room rates at two quality hotels with great amenities. The Hilton Garden Inn Scottsdale Old Town is the PPDD 2015 headquarters hotel and site of the Conference reception and banquet dinner. The Holiday Inn Express & Suites Scottsdale Old Town is our overflow hotel. You are strongly encouraged to make your reservations at these hotels through the links provided below because other area hotels have much higher rates with fewer amenities and only guests staying at these two hotels within the PPDD 2015 room block will be provided with complimentary daily roundtrip transportation to/from SkySong (i.e., if you do not reserve your room through the links below, you will be responsible for your own daily transportation to/from SkySong).
Headquarters Hotel
Hilton Garden Inn Scottsdale Old Town
Single or Double: $119USD/night (plus tax)
Please use this link to make your reservation.
Reservation Deadline: This special discounted room rate will be available until 5 October or when the group block is sold-out, whichever comes first.
Guests in the PPDD 2015 room block will enjoy:
* Complimentary Continental Breakfast Buffet each morning
* In-room hospitality center with refrigerator, microwave, and coffeemaker
* Complimentary wireless Internet in each guest room, lobby, restaurant, and patio areas
* Complimentary underground parking
* Complimentary 24-hour business center
* Outdoor resort style pool and whirlpool
* Complimentary 24-hour fitness center
* 24-hour Pavilion Pantry® convenience mart
* Jake’s in Old Town Restaurant and Bar
* Evening room service
Transportation to/from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (PHX) to the Hilton Garden Inn Scottsdale Old Town is approximately $35USD each way with a taxi, or $15USD/one-way or $30USD/roundtrip with the PPDD 2015 discount from the shared ride service SuperShuttle (to receive the discount, advance reservations must be made using this link).
Overflow Hotel
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Scottsdale Old Town
Single or Double: $109USD/night (plus tax)
Triple: $119USD/night (plus tax)
Quad: $129USD/night (plus tax)
Please use this link to make your reservation.
Reservation Deadline: These special discounted room rates will be available until 4 October or when the group block is sold-out, whichever comes first.
Guests in the PPDD 2015 room block will enjoy:
* Newly renovated, non-smoking spacious suites with a separate living room and bedroom divided by French glass doors (sleeps 5 max), refrigerator, microwave, coffeemaker, pull-out sofa sleeper, and two flat screen TVs
* Complimentary Breakfast each morning including hot items such as scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, biscuits and gravy varied daily as well as whole fruit, breakfast cereals, muffins, and bagels
* Manager’s Reception Tuesday-Saturday offering complimentary beer, wine, soda, and light snacks
* Complimentary high speed Internet, both wired and wireless
* Complimentary parking
* Complimentary 24-hour business center
* Outdoor heated pool and spa
* Complimentary 24-hour fitness center
* 24-hour Marketplace convenience shop
* Complimentary area shuttle service within 3 miles of the hotel available daily from 7 a.m.–10 p.m.
The Holiday Inn Express & Suites Scottsdale Old Town offers its own shuttle service to/from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (PHX) for hotel guests only from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (reservations are recommended) for a nominal fee of $10USD per person each way. The maximum charge is for two people per room each way (i.e., the third and fourth guests staying in the same room are transported at no charge).
Old Town Scottsdale
Scottsdale is an exclusive suburb and integral part of the vibrant “Valley of the Sun” Phoenix metropolitan area, and yet a world apart.
From the moment the sun rises over the Sonoran Desert until long after it sets, Scottsdale offers exciting options for things to see and do. From outdoor adventures and championship golf to upscale shopping and spa treatments, Scottsdale days can be as active or relaxed as you like. And after dark, every hour is happy hour, especially in downtown where more than 80 restaurants, clubs, and lounges await.
Scottsdale’s Sonoran Desert is yours to explore, from winding rivers and towering peaks to lush valleys and arroyos and from do-it-yourself experiences to guided excursions. Take a hike in Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve. Make a splash on a white-water rafting trip. Or, head for the desert’s most pristine expanses on an off-road tour by Jeep, Hummer, or horseback.
If there is one place where you can get a taste of all the best Scottsdale has to offer, it is downtown, home to the Hilton Garden Inn Scottsdale Old Town and Holiday Inn Express & Suites Scottsdale Old Town. This exciting center of the city is comprised of easily walkable neighborhoods brimming with eclectic shops, fine art galleries, stellar museums, and renowned restaurants, nightclubs, and lounges clustered in a few square blocks.
Located in the heart of Downtown, Old Town embodies Scottsdale’s historic legacy as “The West’s Most Western Town”. Old West and territorial architectural character, a working livery stable, popular restaurants, and quaint shops selling western goods, Native American crafts, and Southwestern artifacts contribute to this area’s distinctive frontier town charm. Take a self-guided Historic Walking Tour through Old Town that includes stops at the Little Red Schoolhouse, Rusty Spur Saloon, and Cavalliere’s Blacksmith Shop.
Scottsdale’s captivating Sonoran Desert setting has inspired artists for generations. Here, art flourishes inside the walls of more than 100 galleries in the downtown Arts District, one of the most concentrated collections in the nation. Scottsdale also is home to acclaimed museums, architectural wonders including Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West, the Scottsdale ArtWalk, world-class performance spaces, and an award-winning public art program. In downtown, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, and Scottsdale Historical Society Museum anchor the lush pedestrian Civic Center Park that features more than a dozen installations from the city’s Public Art Program. You can enjoy a self-guided Public Art Walking Tour to explore 10 of Scottsdale’s most celebrated public art works on an easy 60-minute walk through downtown. Or, take part in the weekly ArtWalk, held every Thursday evening from 7pm-9pm.
Retail bliss is yours at the Southwest’s largest shopping destination, Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall featuring more than 250 premier retailers, including favorites like Nordstrom, Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo, and Barneys New York.
Transportation around Old Town Scottsdale is easy and convenient. The free Scottsdale Trolley travels throughout downtown, picking up and dropping off passengers at designated stops every 15 minutes. And, golf carts are also available for transportation to anywhere you wish in the Old Town Scottsdale area for only the cost of a gratuity for the driver (please note these do not travel south to SkySong).
The map below of downtown/Old Town Scottsdale shows you where our two hotels are located, where the PPDD 2015 Conference site at SkySong is located relative to our hotels, how to get to AoIR IR16 if you are attending that event as well, and gives you a sense of all the things to see and do within easy walking distance and a free trolley ride of our hotels.
If you wish to learn more about the neighborhoods designated on this map, please click here and select the “Neighborhoods” tab.
Post-Conference Activities
AoIR IR16
The PPDD 2015 Conference is co-located with the Association of Internet Researchers’ (AoIR) IR16. Given that IR16’s preconference day is October 21 and the balance of their conference is October 22-24, the overlap with PPDD will help facilitate time-away-from-work and money savings for those who wish to attend both. For those attending IR16 immediately after PPDD, there is easy access from our hotels to the IR16 Embassy Suites via an inexpensive taxi ride or a very simple 20-minute/$2 public bus ride straight down Camelback Rd. (please see Valley Metro Route 50 — you can get from our hotels to the bus stop at the corner of Camelback and Scottsdale Roads via the golf carts described above, or if you are a guest at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Scottsdale Old Town, their complimentary area shuttle will drop you off there).
Gila River Telecommunications Field Trip
Friday, 23 October 8-11 a.m.
Deadline to Register for this Field Trip: 7 October
To register, please click here .
$29USD/person
If you are traveling with companion(s) who will not be attending PPDD 2015, you are welcome to bring them along on this Field Trip; you will be able to purchase registration for them along with your registration.
View firsthand the innovative broadband and other telecommunication and advanced technology initiatives in the Gila River Indian Community just south of Phoenix where technology is supporting self-governance, economic development, digital inclusion, and career development, predominantly for Community Members. Take a tour of Gila River Telecommunications, Inc. network facilities and fiber optic transport for broadband, data, and voice communications offered in a VoIP environment. See also Native Technology Solutions, Alluvion Communications, Gila River Broadcasting Corporation (a low power TV venture), and other subsidiary businesses that take advantage of advanced broadband technologies.
While nationally American Indians and Alaskan Natives have the lowest rates of information technology use of any racial or ethnic group in the U.S., some tribes have tapped the transformative potential of broadband. Gila River’s efforts demonstrate how tribal governments can use technology to promote opportunity, build their communities, and develop their people. Witness how advanced broadband technology is used to empower and better lives — broadband technology used for the positive advancement of humankind.
Includes roundtrip transportation with pickup from and return to Hilton Garden Inn Scottsdale Old Town and Holiday Inn Express & Suites Scottsdale Old Town. This Field Trip requires a minimum of 10 registered participants to operate; if you register and we do not meet that minimum requirement by 10 September, the Field Trip will have to be cancelled and your payment will be refunded in full.
Gila River Telecommunications and Natural Wonders of the American Southwest Study Tour to Sedona and the Grand Canyon
Friday, 23 October – Sunday, 25 October
Deadline to Register for this Study Tour: 7 October
To register, please click here .
Tour Cost with Single Occupancy Lodging: $690USD/person
Tour Cost with Double Occupancy Lodging: $499USD/person
If you are traveling with companion(s) who will not be attending PPDD 2015, you are welcome to bring them along on this Study Tour; you will be able to purchase registration for them along with your registration.
After taking part in the Gila River Telecommunications Field Trip described above, continue directly on with your fellow PPDD 2015 attendees for a fun and educational adventure to experience the world-renowned must-see natural wonders of Sedona and the Grand Canyon. The two geological marvels are both “bucket list” destinations for people all over the world so it is hard to imagine traveling to the American Southwest and not visiting them. Millions of visitors come for scenery that is dazzlingly unique. See a photo of either the Grand Canyon or Sedona and you cannot mistake it for anywhere else. But, photos do not even begin to do these Arizona icons justice — they must be experienced in person and will create memories that will inspire and delight you for a lifetime.
Sedona exists at a breathtaking intersection of abundant scenic beauty, soul-nourishing wilderness, and pampered luxury — where soaring red rock monoliths cradle an array of resorts, spas, art galleries, and boutique wineries.
Start with scenery that makes your heart leap. Sedona nestles among a geological wonderland. Multi-hued stone and famous red rock formations jut upwards from the high desert floor creating a vivid, mesmerizing setting changing hourly with the light. When USA Weekend compiled their “Most Beautiful Places in America” list, Sedona claimed the top spot.
Surrounded by 1.8 million acres of national forest land, visitors have instant access to recreational activities from trails for hiking and biking to off-road Jeep adventures, all weaving among the bristling forest of stunning red rock pinnacles, spires, buttes, and domes.
Yet, you are never far from the indulgences of town. Regarded by Native Americans as sacred, Sedona continues to be recognized as a place of healing and spiritual renewal. Many come to experience the vortex energy centers of Sedona. Others want to prowl the 40-plus art galleries lining the streets, or to receive soothing treatments from the dozens of spa facilities. Most recently, with its nearby vineyards and tasting rooms, Sedona has emerged as a destination for wine enthusiasts.
If Sedona has a kindred spirit, it is the Grand Canyon, which is an approximately 100-mile spectacular journey to the north. The Grand Canyon is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World — really, what more is there to say. At Grand Canyon National Park designated overlooks provide visitors with awe-inspiring views. Walk along the rim in Grand Canyon Village. Join or snap a photo of mule riders moseying towards the river, capture an unlimited amount of photographs, hike, or just relax with the best seat in the house and peer into the abyss to ponder nearly two billion years of the Earth’s geological history while marveling at the beauty that is the Grand Canyon.
Two Destinations, One Magnificent Experience Tour Itinerary:
Friday, 23 October —
Pickup from Hilton Garden Inn Scottsdale Old Town and Holiday Inn Express & Suites Scottsdale Old Town by 8 a.m. The tour begins with a visit to the Gila River Indian Community for the Gila River Telecommunications Field Trip described above followed by a full excursion to Sedona for local touring and an overnight stay.
Saturday, 24 October —
The day begins with an early morning departure from Sedona touring through Oak Creek Canyon, a scenic byway winding through 2000 vertical feet of a red walled canyon to emerge surrounded by the dense ponderosa pines of the Coconino National Forest. Atop the Mogollon Rim, we will travel the outskirts of the Route 66 town of Flagstaff on our way to the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. Once arriving at the South Rim, guests will have a full tour of the local area with their tour guide as well as time to explore during some free time. Following sunset over the Grand Canyon, the tour will return to Sedona for an overnight stay.
Sunday, 25 October —
Departing at 7 a.m. from Sedona, the group returns to Phoenix for an airport drop off at approximately 9:30 a.m. with flight departures recommended no earlier than 11 a.m.
Tour Price Includes:
– Private coach for the duration of the tour
– Private tour guide
– Entrance fees into Grand Canyon National Park
– Overnight lodging in Sedona for 2 nights (3 star lodging with complimentary Internet access and additional amenities)
– Hot breakfast buffet each morning
Tour Price Excludes:
– Meals other than breakfast
– All gratuities
– Third party tours and attractions (e.g., Helicopter tour over Grand Canyon, Jeep tour in Sedona)
This Study Tour requires a minimum of 20 registered participants to operate; if you register and we do not meet that minimum requirement by 10 September, the Study Tour will have to be cancelled and your payment will be refunded in full.
PPDD 2015 Home Call for Participation Hotels, Venue, and Post-Conference Activities Registration Program Sponsors