Hotel
All conference activities will be held at Hilton San Francisco, Union Square, easily accessible from San Francisco International Airport.
Hilton San Francisco
Union Square
333 O'Farrell Street
San Francisco, California
94102
1-415-771-1400
A special room rate is available at Hilton San Francisco for attendees that includes free Internet access. The USD $199.00 room rate is for single or double occupancy, plus applicable state and local taxes. You can make reservations when you enroll. Your reservation will be guaranteed for late arrival with your credit card number.
Check-in time is 3 p.m. and checkout time is 11:00am. The cancellation policy is 72 hours prior to the day of arrival.
Please note these special room rates are only available through IBM at the time you enroll. A limited number of rooms are available for stays before or after the conference dates. These rooms are available on a space-available basis.
Our downtown location makes it easy to access all that San Francisco has to offer including the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, PIER 39, North Beach, Lombard Street, Coit Tower, Ghirardelli Square, Palace of Fine Arts, Exploratorium and Alcatraz.
Travel
Attendees are responsible for travel arrangements and expenses.
Ground Transportation to and from the Airport
Typical Minimum Charge:
Super Shuttle: $17.00 per person
Taxi: $40.00
Attire
Suggested dress for all conference functions is business casual.
Applying for a VISA
How do I request an invitation letter to apply for a VISA to enter the United States and attend one of the 2012 STG Education Conferences?
It is the requestor’s responsibility to determine the type of visa they need to apply for, allow ample time to complete the application and ensure compliance with the parameters of the type of visa obtained, for their visit to the United States to attend this conference. By submitting the request for an invitation letter, the requestor agrees to this.
To request an invitation letter, please use the following steps:
1. Send an email from your employer/business email account that matches the name on your passport.
2. Have the subject line read: STGCONF - Visa Invitation - NAME - COMPANY/ORGANIZATION and personalize the fields in caps
3. Copy the text under “Information to send in the request” below, insert the responses and send to STGBrandConf@meetingconsultants.com
Notes:
Please send one request per email and from the employer/business email address that matches the requestor’s name and place of employment.
IBM employees must follow additional IBM travel guidelines/policies in their country of employment/residence. All IBM employees are required to run an Immigration Determination Tool (IDT) assessment for each trip, even if traveling between countries that participate in the visa waiver program, and provide the approval number and a copy of the approval in the invitation letter request (not as an attachment). Please visit the "Travel" page on the internal network to link to the “Cross-Border” webpage and the IDT. Searching “IDT” on your internal home page should also bring you to the tool.
If you already have a visa to enter the U.S., and are requesting a letter to show the customs agent at your U.S. point of entry, the confirmation email of your enrollment should be sufficient. Please have a printed copy of that with your travel papers along with a printed copy of the conference agenda for additional backup.
The invitation letter will be sent as a .pdf file via e-mail to you within 3 business days of receiving the completed information requested below. If you need the letter sent differently, please specify the details in your initial request. We regret we cannot provide visa invitation letters for additional family members not attending the conference. It is recommended that you have a printed copy of the invitation letter and of the conference agenda with you when traveling to the conference.
Information to send in the request:
I am requesting a visa invitation letter to secure the necessary travel papers to attend the IBM Technical World for Smarter Computing at the Hilton San Francisco in San Francisco, CA. USA from April 16-19, 2012. I am providing the necessary information below.
Clients & Business Partners and other Non-IBM employees please send:
Company/Organization Name:
Company/Organization Mailing* Address:
Firstname**:
Surname**:
Nationality:
Place of birth:
Passport Number:
Date of issuance:
Date of expiration:
Place of issue:
Fax # (only if from China as you must present a faxed letter from a US area code):
IBM employees please send:
Firstname**:
Surname**:
Your passport number:
Country passport issued from:
Your job title if not in your note closing:
Your date of hire and duration of employment in years & months:
Fax # (only if from China as you must present a faxed letter from a US area code):
Your IDT Assessment Approval Number and a screen shot of the table (with the blue text) that shows your arrival and departure dates pasted in to the note (not attached):
* This is for addressing of the pdf version of the letter, no letter is actually mailed.
** As stated on your passport