Chicago Seminars Oct 12-14, 2012
#511
Join Date: May 2010
Programs: Delta Kryptonium
Posts: 1,144
Chicago DO to Detroit
Great DO! I left the DO about 3:30 p.m. yesterday and what is normally a 4¼ hour drive back to Detroit took 5½ hours, & it was pouring buckets for the first 3 hours, and traffic was a nightmare from the DO until past I-55 (I don't understand that on a Sunday afternoon). I offered someone who was flying back to DTW at 6:30 p.m. a ride back, but they decided to take their chances - I wonder what happened.
#512
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2002
Programs: UALifetimePremierGold, Marriott LifetimeTitanium
Posts: 71,113
So for future reference (ie, if you attend next year) to avoid the downtown is 83South to 290East to 294South to 80East/94 (reverse if you're going to the hotel rather tha leaving). Even w/ the rain & slower speeds, it was much faster than doing the city route. I did the Skyway/city route in on Friday & it took me 2 hours from where the White Sox play to the hotel, which was just painful!
I'm taking today off as the past week & weekend were chock-a-block full, but I'll be back tomorrow & will get raffle prizes out.
Again, many thanks to those who donated their $$, time & prizes!
Cheers.
#513
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Either at the shooting range or anywhere good beer can be found...
Posts: 51,055
Traffic's always like that from ORD into the city in the afternoon. When I was leaving to drive back to Michigan (not DTW, but part of the route is the same), I mentioned going through the city & the hotel said no, no, don't go that way!
So for future reference (ie, if you attend next year) to avoid the downtown is 83South to 290East to 294South to 80East/94 (reverse if you're going to the hotel rather tha leaving). Even w/ the rain & slower speeds, it was much faster than doing the city route. I did the Skyway/city route in on Friday & it took me 2 hours from where the White Sox play to the hotel, which was just painful!
I'm taking today off as the past week & weekend were chock-a-block full, but I'll be back tomorrow & will get raffle prizes out.
Again, many thanks to those who donated their $$, time & prizes!
Cheers.
So for future reference (ie, if you attend next year) to avoid the downtown is 83South to 290East to 294South to 80East/94 (reverse if you're going to the hotel rather tha leaving). Even w/ the rain & slower speeds, it was much faster than doing the city route. I did the Skyway/city route in on Friday & it took me 2 hours from where the White Sox play to the hotel, which was just painful!
I'm taking today off as the past week & weekend were chock-a-block full, but I'll be back tomorrow & will get raffle prizes out.
Again, many thanks to those who donated their $$, time & prizes!
Cheers.
#514
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2002
Programs: UALifetimePremierGold, Marriott LifetimeTitanium
Posts: 71,113
Those who were on-site already know. Those who donated via PM or on-site but weren't going to be there, we put their handles on the tickets so I could contact them to get their mailing address. Some of the 'not there' folk did win.
I will be sending out a PM to all those who donated via PM to let them know if they won or not (but if they didn't win they still owe me the $$ as I 'fronted' $570 in total on their behalf) & to let them know the amount raised for charity in case they're not checking this thread.
One 'not there' person received a tweet from an on-site attendee letting him know he had won, and he had already emailed me his address to send his prize even before I got home
Cheers.
I will be sending out a PM to all those who donated via PM to let them know if they won or not (but if they didn't win they still owe me the $$ as I 'fronted' $570 in total on their behalf) & to let them know the amount raised for charity in case they're not checking this thread.
One 'not there' person received a tweet from an on-site attendee letting him know he had won, and he had already emailed me his address to send his prize even before I got home
Cheers.
#515
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Either at the shooting range or anywhere good beer can be found...
Posts: 51,055
Those who were on-site already know. Those who donated via PM or on-site but weren't going to be there, we put their handles on the tickets so I could contact them to get their mailing address. Some of the 'not there' folk did win.
I will be sending out a PM to all those who donated via PM to let them know if they won or not (but if they didn't win they still owe me the $$ as I 'fronted' $570 in total on their behalf) & to let them know the amount raised for charity in case they're not checking this thread.
One 'not there' person received a tweet from an on-site attendee letting him know he had won, and he had already emailed me his address to send his prize even before I got home
Cheers.
I will be sending out a PM to all those who donated via PM to let them know if they won or not (but if they didn't win they still owe me the $$ as I 'fronted' $570 in total on their behalf) & to let them know the amount raised for charity in case they're not checking this thread.
One 'not there' person received a tweet from an on-site attendee letting him know he had won, and he had already emailed me his address to send his prize even before I got home
Cheers.
#516
Join Date: Mar 2012
Programs: UA, AA, HHonors Gold, Hyatt Platinum, SPG
Posts: 7
Great DO - Thanks to the Organizers!
My first time attending the Chicago Seminars ... super informative and really enjoyed the speakers .... Ben / Lucky from One Mile at a Time and Captain Denny's sessions were my favorites. Loved the QA Session "Debate" with Lucky! Will definitely be back next year. Thanks to the organizers for putting together a great event!
#517
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: SAN
Programs: AA EXP 4 MM, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 884
Thank you Rick, Howie, Sharon, all the volunteers, the speakers, the sponors, and the HI Elk Grove for a great weekend.
Waiting patiently for the 2013 Chicago Seminars bookings to begin.
Waiting patiently for the 2013 Chicago Seminars bookings to begin.
#518
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2000
Programs: UA Million Miler (lite). NY Metro area.
Posts: 15,082
Sharon, thanks for all your hard work coordinating this effort. ^ ^
sbiral, welcome to Flyertalk. You don't have to wait for the next Chicago Seminar to learn. Next time you see a dinner posted (locally or international), sign up and go. Over the years, I've heard a lot of throw-away statements that are oh my moments. This is where you can really pick up pointers that may (cough) not be posted on Flyertalk.
#519
Moderator: CommunityBuzz!, OMNI, OMNI/PR, and OMNI/Games & FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: ORD (MDW stinks)
Programs: UAMM, AAMM & ExPlat, Marriott lifetime Plat, IHG Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 23,507
If anyone wants to go for a run on Sunday morning, drop me a message here or at [email protected] There's a nice park with running trails not too far from the hotel. We can set time, pace, and distance based on who's interested. Nothing serious, but it'll be a nice chance to get some fresh air.
YES ! woo-hoo ! ^
#520
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: BOS
Programs: UA Premier 1K, DL Platinum Medallion, AF Platinum, Hyatt Platinum, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 592
Thanks to all who came to my ITA Software talk!
We'll be looking into producing some tutorial and cheat sheet for Matrix.
Also, since many asked, here's the Cheeseburger Route: UA1-199,UA1000-1299,UA1400-1744+
We'll be looking into producing some tutorial and cheat sheet for Matrix.
Also, since many asked, here's the Cheeseburger Route: UA1-199,UA1000-1299,UA1400-1744+
#521
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE, AA EXP MM, UA Gold MM, Hyatt Glob, Marriott Titanium, HH Dia, IHG Plat
Posts: 4,777
And I did partake of an Angus Cheeseburger on UA 1614 returning to SFO. It was quite decent, with separately packaged lettuce, tomato and pickles. Very hot upon delivery. I lost a little of the bun when it adhered to the packaging, but all-in-all this item is a winner, one of a few positives from the old CO.
#522
Moderator: Hawaii-based airlines & Hawai'i forums
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Ka ʻĀpala Nui, Nuioka
Programs: NEXUS/Global Entry, Delta, United, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott, and Hertz
Posts: 18,041
We were in the C Concourse of Terminal 1 and instructed to evacuate into the tunnel connecting B and C. I didn't bother snapping a photo, but I think you can imagine what the scene looked like down there.
#523
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2002
Programs: UALifetimePremierGold, Marriott LifetimeTitanium
Posts: 71,113
We've never done an official winners list and probably never will due to the way the drawing happens/timeframe.
For those who haven't been before, we do the drawing mid-morning on Sunday right after one session & before another. We allocate 15 minutes to get through everything. Each year we go over & this year it took 30 minutes, so think we might allocate that in the future, although I've got a couple of ideas to streamline the process a bit for next year.
We have all the donated items on a table, a big bowl or box with all the raffle tickets mixed up multiple times by different people to make sure the tickets are good & mixed up, and I've got some volunteers ready to verify the winners & give them their prizes. I've got a microphone, announce the prize, pull a ticket (without looking) & read the #, I repeat the # 1-3x, and usually someone raises their hand or yells I've got it. A volunteer takes the ticket from me & the prize, and goes to the person to verify the correct # & hands over the prize. Meanwhile I've moved on to the next prize and/or ticket pull. If someone doesn't reply after 3x announcing the #, we discard that ticket & move on. For those who have won, after verifying the # is correct, we don't ask for their handles, hence there never going to be a winners list.
Again, we're trying to get all this done in a very short period of time & this year especially we had a LOT of prizes (which also meant more opportunities to win!), including some that were donated just as we were starting. If we had taken any longer just to get handles for a winners list & ate into the sessions, 450 attendees would be very unhappy.
In the past it's always been a 'you must be present to win' type of thing. Due to dhammer53 & sweetwillie asking if folk not attending could still donate/be entered for the drawing we decided to open it up. So for those who donated via PM I wrote their handle on the appropriate # of tickets they had purchased. Some who were on-site for the conference but were leaving early on Sunday also had this option - ie, purchase the tickets & write their handles.
One of my volunteers wrote down the handle/prize they won for any of the 'not theres' and gave it to me, so I could PM them to get their addresses & mail them their prizes. Doing the 'not there' process is actually extra work for me, but I decided to do it to increase the funds raised.
Again, I appreciate all who donated $$, prizes & also those who volunteered their time to help w/ selling tickets & handing out prizes.
Cheers.
For those who haven't been before, we do the drawing mid-morning on Sunday right after one session & before another. We allocate 15 minutes to get through everything. Each year we go over & this year it took 30 minutes, so think we might allocate that in the future, although I've got a couple of ideas to streamline the process a bit for next year.
We have all the donated items on a table, a big bowl or box with all the raffle tickets mixed up multiple times by different people to make sure the tickets are good & mixed up, and I've got some volunteers ready to verify the winners & give them their prizes. I've got a microphone, announce the prize, pull a ticket (without looking) & read the #, I repeat the # 1-3x, and usually someone raises their hand or yells I've got it. A volunteer takes the ticket from me & the prize, and goes to the person to verify the correct # & hands over the prize. Meanwhile I've moved on to the next prize and/or ticket pull. If someone doesn't reply after 3x announcing the #, we discard that ticket & move on. For those who have won, after verifying the # is correct, we don't ask for their handles, hence there never going to be a winners list.
Again, we're trying to get all this done in a very short period of time & this year especially we had a LOT of prizes (which also meant more opportunities to win!), including some that were donated just as we were starting. If we had taken any longer just to get handles for a winners list & ate into the sessions, 450 attendees would be very unhappy.
In the past it's always been a 'you must be present to win' type of thing. Due to dhammer53 & sweetwillie asking if folk not attending could still donate/be entered for the drawing we decided to open it up. So for those who donated via PM I wrote their handle on the appropriate # of tickets they had purchased. Some who were on-site for the conference but were leaving early on Sunday also had this option - ie, purchase the tickets & write their handles.
One of my volunteers wrote down the handle/prize they won for any of the 'not theres' and gave it to me, so I could PM them to get their addresses & mail them their prizes. Doing the 'not there' process is actually extra work for me, but I decided to do it to increase the funds raised.
Again, I appreciate all who donated $$, prizes & also those who volunteered their time to help w/ selling tickets & handing out prizes.
Cheers.
Last edited by SkiAdcock; Oct 15, 2012 at 2:57 pm
#524
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2002
Programs: UALifetimePremierGold, Marriott LifetimeTitanium
Posts: 71,113
#525
Thanks - it really was great! So many people (including myself) that don't know the power of this great tool. I look forward to using it more in the near future.