June08

Seth in the Big Apple #2

Day Two in New York = day one of the conference I was here to attend. I easily made my way from the hotel to the venue and quickly hooked up into some WiFi that actually worked. And by actually worked, I meant some of the time. There is an insane amount of people here in the city and when tons of them are trying to WiFi all at once, things tend to NOT work.

As I'm sitting, waiting for the conference to start, I look around hoping to snag some rich people watching – I'm at a nerd conference, after all. Instead of good people watching, I see the back of someone that I THINK I know. Sure enough, it was Travis Kleiner, an old co-worker of mine from VML. He was here with another co-worker of his, so we all sat together.

The conference is interesting, from certain points of view. If you're a creative focused person, then day one was definitely NOT your sweet spot. We learned a lot about online media and ads on blogs. Enlightening, if you ask me. Boring, if you ask Travis and Laura.

Instead of sticking around for lunch, we took off and went over to Macy's Cellar Bar and Grill. The most interesting part of our meal was the old, wooden escalator ride down to the cellar and Laura's choice of food – "New York's Largest Hot Dog," smothered with cheese and chili. Seriously, it was large.

Back at the conference, Travis busted a little snooze and then we took off for Cheap Jacks (a cool retro store infused with a TON of retro-looking new t-shirts), Ground Zero and Battery Park. I can't say it enough, New York has the best parks in the world (that I've ever seen on my tiny list). We chilled at Battery Gardens for a few drinks and on our way out, we signed the giant Goodbye/Wedding Reception/Congraulations card for the party that was going on inside. The hostess was not amused.

From there we took the Metro all the way up to Central Park and visited the sweetest Apple Store evar. Wow oh wow, this place was huge and one of the coolest things I've ever seen juxtaposed to a skyscraper landscape. After playing around with the computers for a while, we took off to finally find some dinner and drinks.

It took us a while, but we finally ended up at Old Castle Pub & Restaurant, where nearly all of the employees are Irish. Travis enjoyed a dinner of Fish & Chips, while Laura and I minded our gallbladder-less bodies (yes, come to find out, she's missing her's, too) and had some Irish pizza.

The highlight of our dinner was the lady who was hammered, walking into the restroom and passing out while on the toilet. Our poor waitress had to help her while she vomited all over the bathroom. Surprisingly, they kicked her out... with the help of two of her friends.

I was glad to run into and old friend, and to make a new one. Otherwise I would've had to actually reach out and meet people. Ugh.

+ original post date: June 8, 2007 07:58 AM
+ categories: All About Seth, Computers, Family/Friends, Travel/Vacations, Web Stuff