Merge pull request #730 from DILewis/main

Add banner, initial local info

_conferences/2025/01_index.html

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 role: about
 id: about
 ---
+<img src="/images/conference/2025/banner.jpg" class="img-responsive" style="margin-bottom: 1em" alt="Music Encoding Conference banner showing scenes from Clerkenwell, London">
 <div class="mec2025-page">
 
     <p><em>Update (2024-12-02):</em> The deadline for submissions is extended to <strong>20 December 2024</strong>. Please see our <a href="/conference/2025/call">Call for Proposals</a> for further details.</p>

_conferences/2025/02_call.html

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 tag: MEC2025
 id: call
 ---
+<img src="/images/conference/2025/banner.jpg" class="img-responsive" style="margin-bottom: 1em" alt="Music Encoding Conference banner showing scenes from Clerkenwell, London">
 <div class="mec2025-page">
 
   <h2>Call for proposals</h2>

_conferences/2025/03_ai.html

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 tag: MEC2025
 id: statement-ai
 ---
+<img src="/images/conference/2025/banner.jpg" class="img-responsive" style="margin-bottom: 1em" alt="Music Encoding Conference banner showing scenes from Clerkenwell, London">
 <div class="mec2025-page">
 
     <h2>Statement on the use of generative AI in submissions for MEC 2025</h2>

_conferences/2025/04_localinfo.html

@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+---
+layout: conference
+title: "Local information"
+subtitle: "Music Encoding Conference 2025"
+permalink: "/conference/2025/localinfo"
+tag: MEC2025
+id: localinfo
+---
+<img src="/images/conference/2025/banner.jpg" class="img-responsive" style="margin-bottom: 1em" alt="Music Encoding Conference banner showing scenes from Clerkenwell, London">
+<div class="mec2025-page">
+    <h1>Local information</h1>
+    <h2>Where will the conference take place?</h2>
+    <p>MEC 2025 will be held at City St George's, University of London (formerly City University, London) at Northumberland Square, EC1V 0HB, in an old area of London called Clerkenwell.</p>
+
+    <h2>How do I get there?</h2>
+    <p>The venue is a moderate walk from Farringdon station or The Angel, Islington, and is well connected by bus.</p>
+
+    <h3>By plane</h3>
+    <p>From <strong>Heathrow Airport</strong>, some Elizabeth Line trains will take you directly to Farringdon. If using the Heathrow Express or your Elizabeth Line train is one that terminates at Paddington, you can change at Paddington station and finish the journey on the Elizabeth Line.</p>
+
+    <p>From <strong>Gatwick Airport</strong>, City Thameslink trains will take you straight to Farringdon, taking about 40 minutes.</p>
+
+    <p>From <strong>City Airport</strong>, you will already be on the London Underground network, so there are multiple options. Probably the simplest is to take a DLR train to Bank station and then change onto the Northern Line (Northbound), getting off at Angel.</p>
+
+    <p>From <strong>Stansted Airport</strong>, Stansted Express trains run to Liverpool Street station, from which there are several London Underground options (such as the Circle or Elizabeth Lines to Farringdon) or buses (such as the 205). The Train itself takes about 50 minutes.</p>
+
+    <h3>Eurostar</h3>
+
+    <p>Trains from the continent arrive in St Pancras International, which is a long, but pleasant walk away from the conference venue. Alternatively, the Northern Line (Southbound) will take 2 minutes to get to Angel station.</p>
+
+    <h2>Travelling by public transport in London</h2>
+
+    <p>Contactless credit and debit cards, along with smartphone payment systems, generally run well on the underground, buses and London-only trains (including trains from Gatwick). No registration is necessary. You should tap on the reader at the gates when you enter and exit the tube. If you are travelling by bus, you just need to tap on entry. </p>
+    <p>Those who want to take the faster Heathrow Express to and from the airport will need to buy a ticket, which are cheaper to buy well in advance.</p>
+    <p>Those who do not have a suitable payment method can buy an Oyster Card at most stations and newsagents. These are pre-pay contactless cards and work in a similar way.</p>
+
+    <h2>Arrivals from abroad - IMPORTANT CHANGES IN 2025</h2>
+    <p>The UK will have introduced an <strong>electronic travel authorisation (ETA)</strong> system for most countries whose citizens until recently have not required a visa for visiting. Those coming from the US, Canada and the EU will all need to preregister and pay a £10 fee. Each ETA lasts 2 years. For more information and to apply, visit the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-an-electronic-travel-authorisation-eta">government's website</a> (UK government sites all have the .gov.uk domain name - treat information on other domains with suspicion).</p>
+
+    <p>Please contact the organisers if you need an invitation letter or would like some help working out what you need.</p>
+
+
+    <p>Questions? Contact Organizing Committee Chair, David Lewis, or Programme Committee Chair, Anna Plaksin, at conference2025 at music-encoding.org.</p>
+
+    <div class="container text-center" style="margin: 3em 0 3em 0;">
+        <div class="columns" style="align-items: center;">
+
+            <div class="column col-xs-12">
+                <a target="_blank" href="https://www.city.ac.uk/">
+                    <img src="/images/conference/2025/city_logo.png" alt="City, University of London" class="img-responsive" style="height: 150px;">
+                </a>
+            </div>
+
+            <div class="column col-xs-12">
+                <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gold.ac.uk/">
+                    <img src="/images/conference/2025/Goldsmith_University-logo.png" alt="Goldsmiths, University of London" class="img-responsive" style="max-height: 90%;">
+                </a>
+            </div>
+
+        </div>        
+    </div>
+    <span>Music Encoding Conference 2025 jointly organised by Goldsmiths University of London and City University of London on behalf of the Music Encoding Initiative community.</span>
+</div>
+
+