ClueCon is only a few days away! Here are a few items for you to keep in mind: *HOTEL* The Talbott Hotel has sold out of the $148/night rooms. If you book by Sunday you can still get a reasonable rate of $169/night. Thank you to Brian West for going above and beyond in order to give us another alternative. *PARKING* Parking in downtown Chicago is both expensive and challenging. Dr. Moshe Yudkowsky, one of our regular presenters, is quite familiar with the area and offers us this the follow information: The three methods I use to park are: (1) Don't park downtown. Several CTA stops have nearby parking - for example, not far from my office there's a CTA-owned parking structure that charges $1/day to park right at the El train stop. Park your car outside downtown, take the train, and avoid traffic. For those that like to cycle, the bike path along the lake is excellent and convenient. (2) Parkwhiz.com <http://parkwhiz.com/> is a service that lets you make reservations online and pay in advance. Here's a search on the hotel's address for August 10th: < http://www.parkwhiz.com/search/?destination=20+EAST+CHESTNUT+ST%2C+chicago&f...
(3) Faspark.com <http://faspark.com/> is a startup that lets you search for free or paid parking near your destination. As you might imagine, a few quick tests showed very little chance of finding a spot in mid-day. I have the Android app and it seems to work tolerably well. If you are inclined to do the "park and ride" then this CTA web site will be most helpful: http://www.transitchicago.com/parking/ *DIRECTIONS* For those flying into Midway (MDW) or O'Hare (ORD) you have a few choices for getting from the airport to the hotel (and back again). You can take a taxi or a shuttle, but those are about $30 each way (give or take) which is not a great value. Personally, I've taken the train the past three times I've flown in to Chicago and found it to be very economical (approx $3 each way). Additionally, it's kind of interesting to check out the scenery as you ride into town.
From ORD - Take Blue line to Jackson station, free transfer to Red line Take Red line toward Howard, exit at Chicago station Exit station, take State St. north Sofitel: turn right on Chestnut St. Talbott: turn right on Delware St.
From MDW - Take Orange line to State station, free transfer to Red line Take Red line toward Howard, exit at Chicago station Exit station, take State St. north Sofitel: turn right on Chestnut St. Talbott: turn right on Delware St.
Sofitel is located at 20 E Chestnut St The Talbott is located at 20 E Delaware St CTA train maps are available online and for download here: http://www.transitchicago.com/maps/. If you have any questions please feel free to email us at this address and we'll be happy to help. *SPEAKERS* If you are speaking this year then please review cluecon.com/schedule - this is the most up-to-date information on who is speaking and when. Also, please email us your presentation files so that we can put them on the presentation laptop. We support PDF, PowerPoint, and Keynote. If you have special requirements then let us know and we'll assist. We thank all those who are generously donating their time and energy in giving presentations this year. We are eagerly awaiting ClueCon 2011! Looking forward to seeing you all next week. Cheers! -- Michael S Collins ClueCon Team http://www.cluecon.com 877-7-4ACLUE