Preparations for the Annual Conference of Biodiversity Information Standards (formerly known as the Taxonomic Databases Working Group) are progressing well.

The meeting will be held at a Conference Centre in the city of Bratislava, Slovakia, kindly hosted by the Department of Zoology of the Comenius University.

The dates are confirmed as:

Sunday 16 September: Arrival of delegates; Meeting of the Executive (no formal sessions) Monday 17 September - Wednesday 19 September: General sessions Thursday 20 September - Friday 21 September: Symposium Saturday 21 September: Informal Interest Group sessions if required; Departure of delegates

These dates have been chosen partly because to secure space at the Conference Centre, partly to avoid conflict with other meetings that delegates may wish to attend (sorry - we can't avoid everything!).

Over the next few weeks full details of the Conference (Themes, draft Programme, Registration, Accommodation) will become available on the web site at:

http://www.tdwg.org/conference2007/

If you are not already registered on the TDWG website please do so. We will be using the registration membership list for the distribution of Conference information.

http://www.tdwg.org/membership/ http://www.tdwg.org/membership/

Please note that it is possible to register with TDWG *without* becoming a paying member. Obviously, we would welcome you as a full member and encourage you to join, but recognise that you may not wish to join at this time.

We look forward to seeing you in Bratislava!

Regards,

Adrian Rissone Executive Secretary and Chair of the TDWG 2007 Conference Committee