SPECIAL AAO PREVIEW SECTION Atlanta 2008

Atlanta's Big Attractions Are Conveniently Located

Many Are a Short Walk from the Meeting Site.

BY JERRY HELZNER, SENIOR EDITOR

Just a few short days after Americans go to the polls to elect a new president, thousands of ophthalmologists, eyecare researchers, practice administrators and support staff will descend on Atlanta for the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. The meeting, which runs from Nov. 8 to 11 with a Subspecialty Day on Nov. 7, will have an international flavor, as it will be held jointly with the European Society of Ophthalmology.

Attendees who have not visited the city in a while will find that Atlanta, already one of the nation's top five convention destinations, has some outstanding new attractions. The good news is that several of the Atlanta experiences that fall into the "must visit" category are within a short walk of the downtown meeting site, the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC), which now boasts 1.4 million square feet of exhibit space, 106 meeting rooms, three auditoriums and two grand ballrooms.

Just across the East Plaza from the GWCC are the CNN Center, which hosts tours of the cable network's facilities, and Centennial Olympic Park, created for the 1996 Summer Olympics and now a prime site for concerts, festivals and other free public events. (The Academy will sponsor a 5k "Run for Vision" at Centennial Olympic Park on Sunday, Nov. 9, beginning at 6 a.m.)

Also nearby is the spectacular Georgia Aquarium, which opened in 2005 after Home Depot founder Bernard Marcus donated $250 million to underwrite the project. The Georgia Aquarium is billed as the largest in the world, with 100,000 individual sea creatures representing 500 different species. You can stay in the immediate area and visit the new World of Coca-Cola at Pemberton Place, another major attraction representing the story of Atlanta's most famous company and what the company calls the world's most well-known brand.

The area around the GWCC also includes something for sports fans. The 71,250-seat Georgia Dome is home to the National Football League's Atlanta Falcons, while the National Basketball Association's Atlanta Hawks play their home games in the nearby Phillips Arena. As luck would have it, sports-minded AAO attendees can catch the Hawks at home against the Toronto Raptors on the night of Friday, Nov. 7 and then take in the Falcons hosting the New Orleans Saints on the afternoon of Sunday, Nov. 9. The National Hockey League Atlanta Thrashers also play at the Phillips Arena, but they will not have any home games during the Academy meeting dates.

The Georgia Aquarium is a relatively new attraction.

Close to downtown in the Five Points neighborhood is Underground Atlanta, a traditional tourist destination with roots in the immediate post-Civil war era. Underground Atlanta, which today primarily consists of retail stores and entertainment venues, has had several incarnations over the years. It is now in the process of attempting a comeback after World of Coca-Cola moved to a new location at the GWCC complex last year.

With the area around the GWCC being the hub of so many attractions and activities, it's also worth noting that approximately 12,000 hotel rooms are located in the downtown area as well, making for an easy trip between hotel and the convention site.

Beyond Downtown

Despite the abundance of things to see and do in the downtown area, meeting-goers will also want to venture out into the city to seek out the numerous other experiences that Atlanta has to offer.

For shopping, the nationally known Buckhead neighborhood, located about six miles north of downtown, is home to more than 1,400 retail stores and approximately 90 individual art galleries. Nearby is Miami Circle, whose many antique shops draw collectors and bargain hunters from around the world.

The newest addition to Atlanta's shopping scene is Atlantic Station, located in the Westside area of Midtown. Offering a mix of more than 50 restaurants and retailers, Atlantic Station is represented by such wellknown names as Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Bath and Body Works, DSW Shoes, Dillard's and IKEA.

For cultural experiences, The Woodruff Arts Center is the heartbeat of Atlanta's arts community. Located in midtown, the Center offers a variety of performing and visual arts — both traditional and avant-garde.

The Woodruff Center, created as a tribute to a group of Atlanta art and cultural leaders who died in a 1962 plane crash, is now the largest arts center in the Southeast as well as one of the largest in the United States. The Woodruff is unique in that it combines four visual and performing arts divisions on one campus as one not-for-profit organization. Opened in 1968, the Woodruff Center is home to the Alliance Theatre, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the High Museum of Art, Young Audiences and the 14th Street Playhouse.

A centerpiece of the Woodruff Center is the High Museum, which attracts more than half a million visitors each year to view works by Van Gogh, Michelangelo and Norman Rockwell. The High's permanent collection of more than 11,000 works includes African, American, decorative, European folk, modern and contemporary art, and photography.

The High Museum has developed an exclusive partnership with the Louvre in Paris that brings hundreds of works from the Louvre's collections to Atlanta through 2009. This is a unique opportunity in the United States tosee this prestigious collection.

The Georgia Dome, home of the NFL Atlanta Falcons.

For a complete listing of attractions that will be at the Woodruff center during the AAO meeting dates, go to www.woodruffcenter.org

Discovering Atlanta's History

Atlanta is a city that is rich in history, with much of its early history centering on the Civil War and its more recent history intertwined with the struggle for civil rights.

In the Buckhead area, the Atlanta History Center houses the largest collection of Civil War artifacts anywhere in the world, including an 1840s plantation farmhouse with outbuildings, gardens and nature trails.

In the Sweet Auburn District, you can visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, which includes The King Center, Dr. King's and Coretta Scott King's graves, the King birth house and Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. King preached. The surrounding Sweet Auburn District was the center of black entrepreneurial activity from the 1890s through the Second World War.

The Jimmy Carter Library and Museum, located in Inman Park, portrays the former President's life and administration through films, displays and a re-creation of the Oval Office.

The Martin Luther King birth home.

In Midtown, the house where Margaret Mitchell wrote "Gone With the Wind" has been restored and can be toured. The house also includes the "Gone With the Wind" Movie Museum.

Get Involved with EyeBuild

For the second consecutive year, the Academy is partnering with Habitat for Humanity to help construct energy-efficient, EarthCraft-certified homes that protect the environment and reduce utility bills.

EyeBuild will take place Nov. 6 and 7 and is open to all meeting attendees and exhibitors. No special skills are necessary to participate and volunteers with physical limitations can also play a role in this effort. The homes are nearing completion, so work will primarily include painting, patching and landscaping. All participants will be trained onsite. A $25-a-day fee includes insurance, supplies, coffee, juice, mid-morning snacks and a boxed lunch.

Anyone interested in participating in EyeBuild must pre-register online at www.aao.org. For more information on EyeBuild, call Carlee Duncan at 415-447-0251.