Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town steeped in more than 800 years of history, including its most famous resident, William Shakespeare. Stratford is 22 miles (35 km) south-east of Birmingham. It is close to the Cotswolds, with Chipping Campden 10 miles (16 km) to the south. Suburbs and areas of the town include Shottery, Bishopton, Bridgetown, Tiddington, and Old Town.

Stratford has many of the town's earliest and most important buildings located along what is known as Stratford's Historic Spine, which was once the main route from the town centre to the parish church. The route of the Historic Spine begins at Shakespeare's Birthplace in Henley Street. It continues through Henley Street to the top end of Bridge Street and into High Street where many Elizabethan buildings are located, including Harvard House. The route carries on through Chapel Street where Nash's House and New Place are sited. The Historic Spine continues along Church Street where Guild buildings are located dating back to the 15th century, as well as 18th and 19th century properties. The route then finishes in Old Town, which includes Hall's Croft and the Holy Trinity Church.

Before the dominance of road and rail, Stratford was the gateway to the network of British canals. In 1769, the actor David Garrick staged a major Shakespeare Jubilee over three days which saw the construction of a large rotunda and the influx of many visitors. This contributed to the growing phenomenon of Bardolatry which made Stratford a tourist destination.

Stratford has a temperate maritime climate, as is usual for the British Isles, meaning extremes of heat and cold are rare. Sunshine hours are low to moderate, with an average of 1512.3 hours of sunshine annually. Rainfall is spread evenly throughout the year, with an annual average of 614.8 mm (24 in), with over 1 millimetre (0.039 inches) of rain recorded on 114.1 days per year according to the 1981-2010 observation period.

Tudor World is a museum which explores the time when Shakespeare lived. It is based in a Grade II* listed town centre Tudor property and is the only museum in the country dedicated to Tudor times. Every week there is a walk around the town with Shakespeare. There are five houses relating to Shakespeare's life which are owned and cared for by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. These include Hall's Croft (the one-time home of Shakespeare's daughter, Susanna, and her husband Dr. John Hall) and Nash's House, which stands alongside the site of New Place which was owned by Shakespeare himself, wherein he died. In Shottery is Anne Hathaway's Cottage, the home of Shakespeare's wife's family prior to her marriage. Mary Arden's House (Palmer's Farm), the family home of his mother, is in Wilmcote. Elsewhere in the district are farms and buildings at Snitterfield, that belonged to the family of Shakespeare's father.

For delegates who wish to spend further time in and around the Stratford area, here is a link to places of interest.

The International Meeting is a yearly event for collectors and researchers of slide rules and other mathematical instruments. The 2018 meeting will be the 24th in this series. The IM is traditionally organized by volunteers of three informal associations, RST from Germany, KRING from the Netherlands, and UKSRC from the United Kingdom, on a rotational basis. The style of our meetings is informal and non-profit, in the best tradition of both amateurs in the classical sense and serious researchers. In recent years the Oughtred Society organized two meetings in the US, and in 2016 the IM took place in Italy. More about the IM series of conferences is available on the IM history web page.