It should be no secret that I'm visiting New York next month to speak at the Collaborative Technologies Conference. I will be attending with David Allen's technologist and the Tablet PC brigade's almost latest evangelist, Eric Mack. I have four contributions to make:
- On Sunday June 19, I'm leading the 7 Pillars of IT-Enabled Team Productivity tutorial.
- On Monday June 20, I'm a panelist on the Collaboration Is IT's Last Chance to Matter panel.
- On Tuesday June 21, I'm moderating the Collaborative Team Workspaces: The New Locus for Team Work panel, with speakers from Microsoft, SiteScape, Intralinks, IBM, and EMC Documentum.
- On Wednesday June 22, I'm moderating the Extending Collaborative Applications to the Mobile Worker panel, with speakers from Unisys, Orative, CREDANT, Intellisync, and IBM. RIM may also be there ...
Anyway, in my spare time (?), what should I plan on doing in New York? I plan on visiting the Apple SOHO store, and Marc Orchant has strongly recommended that a visit to Joe's Shanghai Chinese restaurant is a must. Is there anything else that I "must-do" or "must-see"?
Secondly, I'm visiting a client in Boston at the end of the conference, and will have half a day or so "spare". I'm going to visit the Boston Levenger store, Harvard University, and if possible, follow McGee's recommendation to have pizza at Bertucci's and ice cream at Herrells. What else should I plan on doing?
Both Boston and New York have great restaurants- Bertucci's is a chain, and so there are tons of others to choose from- all kinds of cuisine from all around. Boston has some of the best selections of radio stations available, with all of the colleges/universities in the area. When you arrive in Boston, pick up a copy of the "Boston Phoenix" newspaper for ideas. Can't go wrong by walking the Freedom trail in downtown, over to Boston Common, maybe take a Duck Tour.
Posted by: David Boudreau | May 17, 2005 at 09:47 PM
Michael,
As a New Englander and former Cambridge resident, I have one thing to say...umm...Bertucci's sucks. David is right - they're a chain and recommending them is like sending someone to TGIFridays.
If you're going to the Levenger store in Copley, you might want to have a bowl of clam chowder at Legal Seafoods in the Prudential Center (connected to Copley). Given my above statement about chain restaurants, I should qualify that Legal is a chain as well, but - aside from a day trip to my native state of Maine or Gloucester at least - their chowder is quite acceptable.
If you have half a day, I'd avoid the Duck tours, as they take a couple of hours and require (in peak tourist season) that you purchase tickets in advance. FYI, the Duck tours leave from Boylston Street (the Prudential center) very close to Copley and Legal seafoods
If you're in Cambridge and going to be in Harvard Square (which is the Bertuccis location McGee recommends), I'd go to the following places
(1) Bob Slate stationery (2 locations on either side of Harvard Square, one is closer to Bertuccis)
(2) Bartleys lunch. This is the real thing for Harvard Square. It's tiny, has no bathroom, but the menu is worth the trip. It's a block from the second Bob Slate store on Mass Ave...and across the street from Harvard.
Sadly, the best food in Boston is what would have been considered "ethnic" a few years back...though it isn't especially better than similar Indian, Malaysian, Thai, etc. foods found in restaurants in Australia and New Zealand.
ps on Harvard - it's easy to miss. There's a series of shaded quadrangles inside the walls, but it's not exactly much to see.
pps on your meeting - is it downtown, or is it outside of town (128 or 495?). Factor these things in, as they can significantly eat up travel time and cut down on your half day in town.
Posted by: Daniel Taylor | May 18, 2005 at 03:30 AM