Why attend a CGS Conference?
The CGS annual meeting is an outstanding conference for students, professors and professionals.
There are many reasons why this conference is ideal for you. Several hundred may attend any give year, so the number of attendees is neither so large that you'll feel lost or crowded, but it is also a large enough organization that everyone will feel like they fit in nicely. Poster and paper sessions are well attended and attendees or viewers are well known for their helpful and friendly interaction. Everyone from high school students to professors emeriti, from high-powered business executives to joyful amateur geographers attend CGS conferences, to learn, share and generally enjoy the fellowship of geographers from the West Coast.
Please encourage your students to attend as part of their socialization to the discipline and the profession.
Chico
Chico is located in the northern Sacramento Valley where the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges merge and
intermingle. Chico State is the cultural and economic centerpiece of the region, and is considered by many to have the
loveliest campus of the CSU system. Its 119 acres are bisected by Big Chico Creek, which provides the university community
with a riparian setting abundant in trees and wildlife.
The campus merges seamlessly with adjoining neighborhoods, parklands and vibrant downtown. Chico has attracted national attention as an example of a town where planners, residents and architects embrace “new urbanist” principles of walkability, historic preservation, mixed use and sense of place. Chico is home to the famous Bidwell Mansion and Park.
The ornate 26-room Victorian mansion sits at the eastern edge of campus. Bidwell Park, at 3,670 acres, it is one of the largest municipal parks in the country. It extends from downtown Chico ten miles into the Sierra foothills. A short hike onto its escarpments provides dramatic vistas of town and valley.
The many swimming holes along Big Chico Creek, as well as the manicured park-like One Mile and Five Mile sections of the creek, are popular with swimmers, rafters and hikers. Upper Bidwell Park provides gorgeous vistas from its numerous hiking trails above Chico.
At the upper edge of upper Bidwell Park is Chico State’s Big Chico Creek Ecological Preserve. Students and faculty use this wilderness area of 3,900 acres for research in endangered species, ecological restoration, archaeology, fire ecology and many other topics.
About twenty miles to the southeast of Chico is the massive Oroville dam, which captures water from the Feather River for the California Water Project. Table Mountain, to the north of Oroville, comes alive with wildflowers, hikers and kites in early spring
At the descent of Table Mountain to the north, is the historic site of Cherokee, where thousands of gold miners once lived. The cultural and natural diversity of Butte County and the inviting character of campus and town make Chico an ideal spot for the 2008 CGS conference. Twenty miles up Highway 99 is the New Clairvaux winery and vineyard in Vina, owned and cared for by Trappist monks and skilled winemakers. Students and faculty at Chico State are looking forward to hosting field trips to several of these destinations. .
Chico is located 90 miles north of Sacramento on Highway 99. It is about 3 hours by car from the Bay Area and 90 minutes south of Redding. A regional airport offers several flights a day to San Francisco on United Express. Chico is home to very affordable motels, a number of hotel chains, the elegantly restored Diamond Hotel in the heart of downtown, and several charming bed and breakfasts in the orchards and along the shady Esplanade corridor.
Visit Chico, California on the web at: 
http://www.chicochamber.com/index.html
Conference Hotel: http://www.oxfordsuiteschico.com/
