Blogging from the ISMP in Chicago

I’ll be in Chicago from 8/22 to 8/28 attending the ISMP 2009 (thanks to my colleague Ed Baker for teaching my undergrad OR class on Wednesday). This is my second time at the ISMP; the first one was 9 years ago in Atlanta. Since Mike Trick couldn’t come, I’ll try to blog about what is going on around here. If you happen to be another OR blogger attending the ISMP, let me know!

My first ever Southwest flight was pretty pleasant and uneventful. Upon landing, the flight attendant told us to return the plastic cups because they were going to be reused, to which a lady sitting next to me replied “what?”. It was, of course, a joke :-) My wife once told me that one of the best ways to experience a city is by using public transportation. So there I went: Orange “El”(evated) line from Midway to Roosevelt, then Red (subway) line from Roosevelt to Grand, then walk to hotel. Obviously, I had to make the silly mistake of walking underneath N Michigan Ave instead of onto it. Never mind; healthy mistake.

Continuing on the healthy path, I had to stop by Giordano’s to get a “small” Super Vegi Stuffed Pizza. It turns out that the wait for a party of one was 90 minutes. “Sure!”, I replied. I pulled out my iPhone, tapped on the WordPress App, and got started on this blog post while waiting. Boy that pizza was good! (though I only managed to eat a third of it).

After that, I had to burn some calories, so I headed south to the Navy Pier where I had a chance to ride the Ferris Wheel.

Enough adventures for one day. I’ll be working on my presentation for the rest of the night, and for most of the day tomorrow. Looking forward to the opening ceremony at the Chicago Symphony Center tomorrow, which will include a program on Chicago jazz, followed by the welcome reception at the Marriott. I’ll let you know how it goes.

I’m staying at a nameless hotel not too far from the Marriott. The digits of my room number sum to lucky 13, and my room smells like the (very old) house in which I lived for 5 years during my graduate studies in Pittsburgh (at least there’s live Jazz in the lobby). It’s going to be a productive conference and a fun week. Stay tuned!