I am involved in organizing two conferences in 2008 (both in summer in nice places to visit!)

• Napier, 18-22 February, sponsored by NZIMA, with invited speakers Michael Mitzenmacher (Harvard), Dominic Welsh (Oxford), Steve Linton (St Andrews), Brendan McKay (ANU Canberra), Michael Langston (Tennessee).
• Auckland 15-19 December, Fourth International Conference on Combinatorial Mathematics and Combinatorial Computing (4-ICC).

The first is aimed at creating more of a recognized community in the general area of algorithms in NZ (rather than isolated researchers who work on algorithms and applications), and will include many informal sessions and much free time. Costs for NZ students are essentially zero and other subsidies are available. Participant numbers are limited to 60; we currently have some free spaces.

This conference is part of a 6-month NZIMA programme on Algorithms. There are other activities planned including public lectures around the country by David Harel (Weizmann Institute). There is a possibility of another meeting later in the year.

The 4-ICC is in a series of meetings (building on smaller more frequent ones like ACCMCC) that occurs every 10 years, and about 150-200 participants are expected. Details will become available later. If you have never been to New Zealand and have some interest in these research areas, 2008 would be an excellent time to come!