Inverge 2007 is shaping up to be a great event. Aside from the conference itself, the setting of the event is something to be excited about. Recently, Steve blogged about why Portland is a great host city. Those of us who live and work here are already convinced.
Here are some tips for people flying in:
Check the deals. Before booking your trip, remember to check availability of Portland hotel deals here at the Travel Portland site. While you’re in the mood, spend some time wandering around the Travel Oregon site as well.
Stay through the weekend. As Steve mentioned in his post, the PICA Time Based Art festival and MusicFestNW will be going full steam at sites all over town. Check out the amazing rosters at TBA:07 and MFNW.
Wander around. Portland is all about neighborhoods. The Pearl District and Nob Hill-NW 23rd are great places to start, and there are many others all over town including cool Eastside neighborhoods such as Hawthorne, Mississippi and Alberta.
You don’t need a car. Walking works fine all over downtown and the Pearl. TriMet can get you in from the airport and to shows, shops and restaurants in any corner of town. Fare is a buck seventy to most places you’ll need to go and is free downtown. Or call a cab for longer hauls.
Pick up a paper map. It will help make sense of what’s on your mobile. In the Pearl, a good walking map is free at Powell’s City of Books (you should go there anyway.) Downtown, walk over to the visitor center in Pioneer Square or find one of these folks with their green umbrellas and floppy hats. They stock carts full of maps and other info.
Get out of town. OK, if you have a day or two to spare, maybe you do need a car. Oregon is many things, as illustrated nicely here. The mountains, the gorge, the coast and wine country are an easy drive from Portland.
Seek out the food. Portland’s food-and-restaurant scene rivals that of any North American city. Period. Here’s a piece from local paper Willamette Week on just a few excellent restaurants. Everyone should know by now about the breweries, coffee houses, chocolatiers and teahouses. Even the doughnuts get good press in the national media.
Feed your head. Festivals or not, music and art are thriving in Portland. Check out this list of Portland bands. Jazz is alive and well at Jimmy Mak’s, just a few steps from the conference venue, and on any given night you can find blues, folk and country at venues around town. You’ll be in town for First Thursday on the 6th, when all the galleries in the Pearl open their doors into the night. Rembrandt and the Dutch masters are holding court at the Portland Art Museum until the 16th, in an exhibit on loan from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
Bring sunscreen. Weather is usually beautiful in early September.
What did I miss? See you in Portland at Inverge 2007.