Thanks again to everyone, EVERYONE, who played a role in making the U2 conference weekend magnificent. Delegates, presenters, speakers, staffers, and all-around enthusiasts: we could not have done it without you.

Here’s a place to leave a comment, ask a question, or make a suggestion about the U2 conference weekend.

If you attended the conference, please also complete our feedback form.

Make sure to visit our recap page: it’s a starting place for reading and seeing all that we did.

See you next time!

Watch Bono at the Raleigh concert say at the 35 sec. mark: “There’s a U2 confab in town, we wanna salute them.”

Watch Bono pay tribute near the end of “One,” at the 5 min. mark, to conference speaker Agnes Nyamayarwo, “a true heroine with us in Raleigh tonight.”

The following books will be available for sale by the NCCU bookstore at the conference.  They will have a table in the SOE lobby and can take cash or credit card purchases.

In Other Words: Artists Talk About Life and Work
Anthony DeCurtis

Killing Bono: I Was Bono’s Doppelganger
Neil McCormick

U2 — A Diary
Matt McGee

Achtung Baby: Meditations on Love in the Shadow of the Fall
Stephen Catanzarite

Get Up Off Your Knees: Preaching the U2 Catalog
Beth Maynard

U2: At the End of the World
Bill Flanagan

Walk on: The Spiritual Journey of U2 (Updated & Expanded)
Steve Stockman

U2 by U2
U2

One Step Closer: Why U2 Matters to Those Seeking God
Christian Scharen

Here are several updates on a variety of topics. As of Sept. 24, 2009 …

1. What will we wear? We will have a limited quantity of conference t-shirts available for $15 (cash or check) at the registration desk. Shirt sizes are M, L, XL, and XXL. They are a 50/50 blend and have a raised, puff-ink design on front (grey ink on black shirt) representing the presentation titles at the conference. On the back, it says Durham, North Carolina 2009 and features our media sponsor’s logo. Here’s a small-view sample:

2. What will we eat? Our host hotel and the Courtyard by Marriott offer breakfast options for purchase, most of which are about $6 - $10. Friday night’s reception at Bull McCabes Irish Pub offers complimentary appetizers, with a discount on dinner options.  At the conference, we will offer complimentary coffee and tea during our coffee break each morning, with yoghurt, muffins and fruit for purchase.

Saturday’s complimentary lunch will be:

Carolina Pulled Pork, served with Kaiser Rolls
Grilled Eggplant (Vegetarian Entree)
Carolina Slaw
Red Roasted Potato Salad with Green Beans and Tomatoes
Collard Greens
Jalapeno Corn Bread
Peach Cobbler
Apple Crisp
Southern Tea
Citrus Punch
Ice Water

Sunday’s complimentary lunch will be:

Herb Baked Chicken
Fried Chicken
Vegetarian Lasagna (Vegetarian Entree)
Tossed Garden Salad, served with dressings
Garden Pasta Salad
Corn on the Cob
Candied Sweet Potatoes
Dinner Rolls
Chocolate Brownies
Luscious Lemon Bars
Premium Fresh Brewed Lime Iced Tea
Sparkling Lemonade
Ice Water

3. Where am I going? Please visit our LOCATION page for a map of NCCU’s campus with our buildings and parking marked, and a Google map for our off-campus sites.

4. When am I going? If you are using our shuttle from the host hotel to the conference site, you can download a PDF file and see more information on our TRANSPORTATION page.

See you soon!

BREAKING NEWS: We are thrilled to announce film director Dominic J. DeJoseph will screen his 2003 documentary, The Heart of America Tour: Africa’s Future And Ours, as a part of our opening night U2 conference kickoff at The Carolina Theater, October 2, 2009, starting at 9:20 p.m.  (Doors open at 9:00 p.m.)

We are grateful to ONE for their kind permission to show this unreleased film. This film has been screened only once before in the United States, at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2003.

The Heart of America Tour is a 30-minute documentary chronicling a grassroots trip through the Midwest by Bono of U2, Ashley Judd, Chris Tucker and Agnes Nyamayarwo, as they meet with the people of the Midwest, senators, AIDS activists, church groups, and others to discuss the AIDS emergency in Africa. Produced by the DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa) Foundation - now ONE.

Dominic and Agnes Nyamayarwo will conduct a brief Q & A following the film.  After which, there will be a 10 minute break before the start of It Might Get Loud, the new Sony Pictures Classics film about the Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White.

Dominic J. DeJoseph is an independent film and video director and founder of the production company, Black Shoe Films, though which he has directed music videos for R.E.M. and the RED(WIRE) website. In 2001, he directed a documentary featuring Wim Wenders and Bono called The One Dollar Diary as well as The Heart of America Tour documentary.

Dominic’s films and videos have screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, South by Southwest, SILVERDOCS and the Robert Flaherty Documentary Seminar, among others. His work has also been shown on MTV, IFC, and Documentary Channel. He currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.

This screening is part of our ticketed, Friday night reception and double feature film package.

(We regret to announce due to production problems, Meet Me In the Sound will not be ready to show at the conference.)

Order your Friday night ticket here.

Details about our pre-film reception at Bull McCabes Irish pub are here.

Let’s all kick off the conference weekend by gathering at Bull McCabes’ Irish pub in downtown Durham. From 6:00 - 8:30 p.m., October 2, the conference will host an open house reception, where you can pick up your conference badge, get some pub grub on us and meet the others who are attending the conference. Our main speakers - Anthony DeCurtis, Neil McCormick, Matt McGee and Agnes Nyamayarwo - will stop in too.

While you are there, make sure you say hi (and raise a pint) to Malachy Noone.  He’s our friendly pub owner hailing from Sligo, Ireland, who worked for a time in Killiney hosting certain families looking for a quiet meal in a local hotel restaurant.

Bull McCabe’s is a cozy place with a great, not-too-fancy, pub vibe.  Click here to get acquainted and see menus.  While we will offer some light appetizers for our conference guests, you may wish to have some dinner. Malachy is offering a special price on three dinner entrees: shepherd’s pie; bangers and mash; and vegetarian lasagne.

At about 8:30, we will all head just two blocks away to the Carolina Theatre for our films.  Doors open at 9:00 p.m.

For our conference crowd: if you have purchased a full conference ticket or a Friday night only ticket, you are welcome to stop in anytime from 6:00 - 8:30. Look for our check-in table: we won’t be hard to find. If you still need a ticket for the reception and films, go here.

Our shuttle bus leaves the Four Points Sheraton at 6:00 p.m. to take you to Bull McCabes.  A second bus leaves at 8:15 to take you straight to the Carolina Theatre.  Shuttles will take you back to the Four Points Sheraton after the movies, at about 12:20 a.m.  See the shuttle schedule for the whole weekend.

For the night owls, Bull McCabe’s is open until 2:00 a.m., in case you aren’t quite ready to call it a night after the movies.

Bull McCabes is at 427 W. Main St., Durham. 919.682.3061. Need a map to the pub and the Carolina Theatre? Visit our location page and our custom Google map.

See you there!

We are giving away free trips to Durham, North Carolina to attend the first conference on U2.  There just happens to be a U2 360° tour stop in the area the same weekend, and sure: we’ll send you to the concert too!

All you have to do is find us one more Gold or Silver level sponsor for the conference. We have a great group of partners already on board, and we’d love to have a few more companies or organizations join us.

The best way to connect to a business is by a personal connection. Do you work for someone who has a soft spot for U2?  Or for arts and music education? Or for Africa? Or for AIDS treatments and research? Or cares about promoting Durham, North Carolina?

What you get: A paid trip to the conference and concert upon receipt by the conference of the sponsorship funds (your prize not to exceed 20% of the sponsorship level).

What the sponsor gets is described on this sheet. Please pass it on to interested sponsors.

Sponsors can make an initial contact with us through our contact form.

The deadline for securing a sponsor for the conference is midnight, September 26, 2009.

More information about other transportation options is under our TRANSPORT page.  Please get the full scoop here.

Here is the schedule for our complimentary shuttle service that will run ONLY from the host hotel to conference events in Durham on Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday.

Greenway Transit Services will provide a low-carbon impact shuttle service for conference registrants staying at the host hotel, the Four Points by Sheraton.  All shuttle service to conference events in Durham on Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday begin and end at the host hotel parking lot.

Schedule

Friday, October 2

6:00 PM depart: Four Points Sheraton to downtown Durham
8:15PM depart: Four Points Sheraton to downtown Durham

12:30 AM depart: The Carolina Theater to Four Points Sheraton

Saturday, October 3

7:30 AM depart: Four Points Sheraton to NCCU School of Education (SOE) building
8:15 AM depart: Four Points Sheraton to NCCU SOE building
4:15 PM depart: NCCU SOE building to Four Points Sheraton
5:00 PM depart: NCCU SOE building to Four Points Sheraton

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Not Included – Separate Ticket Purchase For Shuttle to U2 Concert – Purchase Here

5:45 PM depart: Four Points Sheraton hotel to Carter-Finley stadium in Raleigh
Approx. 11:30 PM depart: Carter-Finley stadium in Raleigh to Four Points Sheraton hotel (bus will depart approx. 30 minutes after U2’s concert has ended and the stadium lights turn on)

****

Sunday, October 4

7:30 AM depart: Four Points Sheraton to NCCU SOE building
8:15 AM depart: Four Points Sheraton to NCCU SOE building
5:30 PM depart: NCCU SOE building to Four Points Sheraton
6:15 PM depart: NCCU SOE building to Four Points Sheraton

Update 09.23.09: Breaking News!
We are thrilled to announce an exclusive engagement for screening The Heart of America Tour: Africa’s Future And Ours, followed by a Q & A with film maker Dominic J. DeJoseph and Agnes Nyamayarwo. This will be our first film of our Friday night double feature.  More info. here.

Many thanks to ONE for their kind permission to show this unreleased film. (We regret that we are unable to show Meet Me In The Sound.)

Update, 09.22.09
To purchase a ticket for just this Friday night double-feature, including a pre-film reception at Bull McCabes Irish Pub, go here and select the Friday night only ticket option.

Information on the opening night reception at Bull McCabes is here.

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We will show The Heart of America Tour: Africa’s Future And Ours at the historic Carolina Theatre, in downtown Durham, as part of a great double-feature night of films.

The Heart of America Tour is a 30-minute documentary chronicling a grassroots trip through the Midwest by Bono of U2, Ashley Judd, Chris Tucker and Agnes Nyamayarwo, as they meet with the people of the Midwest, senators, AIDS activists, church groups, and others to discuss the AIDS emergency in Africa. Produced by the DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa) Foundation - now ONE.

Following a brief Q & A time with film maker Dominic J. DeJoseph and Agnes Nyamayarwo, we’ll show It Might Get Loud. Maybe you’ve heard of it?  It’s the new “documentary on the electric guitar from the point of view of three rock legends,” by award-winning director Davis Guggenheim, featuring Jimmy Page, Jack White, and that guitarist we all know as simply, “The Edge.” Visit the film’s website for more information.

Feel free to stop in at the reception and stay for one or both of the films, or just attend what suits you. Your full-conference registration ticket includes the Friday night events, and tickets are still available for just the Friday evening events.

If you still need a ticket, register here for either the full conference or Friday night only option. (We will have our registration packets ready for you Friday evening to pick up your badge and tickets to the reception and films.)

See you there!

@U2, our media sponsor, will host a post-conference event Sunday night, Oct. 4, 2009, at the Wachovia IMAX Theatre in Raleigh.

Come on out to “Sunday Night at the (3D) Movies with Neil McCormick.”

It’s going to be quite a show; with a live, in-person chat with Neil, prize give-aways, and who knows what else?  After the film, there’s talk of heading to a nearby pub for more good cheer.

@U2 is handling all details regarding this event.  Please read about location, prices, and more here.

This event is open to the public and tickets are sold by the Wachovia IMAX Theatre.  Conference registration is not required to attend the Sunday night @U2 event.

See you there!