Conferenced to Death

I just participated in a professional conference. I don't think it was my first one, but it certainly was the biggest and most expansive one I remember. It was the National Science Teacher's Association (NSTA) national conference in Boston.
What a monster of a facility!

Here are some highlights, lowlights, and amusingly aggravating moments (it's all in your perspective):
My cousin Hal picked me up from Logan Airport and I stayed with him in Lowell for the first two nights. That was a big help because he was able to guide me through the transportation issues. Lowell was a little over an hour away by train. We missed the 10:45 train to go back Thursday night and had to wait until the 12:10! We sat around watching and listening to some rowdy drunk Bruins fans.
Got up at 5:30 to begin my journey to the first event by 8:00. Maybe not a big deal to some, but those that know me . . .

I didn't get my registration packet in the mail. Not a problem I was told, I just had to get on the super-big line labeled "Registration." I didn't need to register, so there was a line that was labeled, "Problem Solving." But then, I wasn't sure if my problem was the kind they would say to just get in the registration line, which now was almost out the door of the convention hall (I was now in the middle of the line). I had 7 minutes to get to my 8:00 first event-a welcoming first timers breakfast. I was supposed to meet others from my school district there.
I made the jump in lines (See previous post about choosing lines) with some hesitation. Bingo! The asked me my name, printed out all the materials, handed me a nice bag to carry stuff in and sent me on my way. There were 4 catalogs given to me: one for each day. Each one was as thick as a mini-telephone book. There were well over 900 events, workshops, presentations and demonstrations to choose from. Unfortunately, multiple ones I wanted to attend at the same time.

The first breakfast was in another building across from the convention center. I got directions and went out to look for it. Uggh! Without getting into the bitter details, I passed the place (with very poor signage) and continued for a few minutes until I reached a point and asked someone else. Apparently I was not the only one to do this!
The convention center is HUGE. It was about 1/3 of a mile long and the signage was misleading. For example, I looked up at the sign to see what direction to go and it clearly said to go in a counter-clockwise direction. I followed it 3/4 around before finally getting to the room. UGH!

The worst part was rushing to a scheduled event, only to have no one show up to present. This happened a few times.

I got a pedometer from one of the exhibitors late Thursday morning. The first day's tally was over 12k steps. The second day's totals were a dismal 9k. On Saturday, when I got home, I had racked up over 16,600! That's almost 8 miles of walking for just Saturday. The total (and this is approximate) was about 18 miles in the three day period.

They give out so much cool stuff at this place. Lots of free samples, posters, books, student reading material, etc. My luggage weighed 45 pounds when I checked in and my carry-on backpack was another 15 pounds or so. I threw out about a third of the stuff I got that was not worth carrying, so I can only imagine what it could have weighed.

I won a few things, most notably a microscope cleaning kit. I didn't win the torso with all of the internal organs you can see/take out. Also I didn't accept the giant millipede.

I saw Bill Nye, Science Guy, but from the outside hallway. Apparently you have to get to his presentation very early. I was invited to go on a "field trip" to the Harvard Museum of Natural History. There we saw bugs, dinosaur bones, stuffed exotic animals and cool rocks and minerals.

Went to a reception on Thursday evening at the Boston Aquarium. I got to sneak Hal. Open bar and hors d'oeuvres. Cool! Later went to the Black Rose for dinner and drinks and the representative of a publisher our school system's science books picked up our tab!










Friday night I splurged and stayed at the Omni Parker House. When I checked in, the front desk person said, "I'm sorry, but I have to upgrade you to a non-smoking queen."
"Huh? That's what I thought I had"
As I was walking down my hallway looking for my room, I began to realize what she meant. There was an alcove where the doorway should have been and then 3 doors with the number 906. One door said it was the Thomas "Tip" O'Neil Suite.
I was upgraded to a Suite! Suite? Sweet! I won't bother with the details: they were certainly nice. Apparently the restaurant there is famous for inventing the Boston Cream Pie.
No, I didn't try it though.