I’ve been attending Macworld in San Francisco and Boston since 2004. Macworld 2008 in San Francisco marks my 6th expo. Since 2005, I’ve been writing a 1st timer’s guide to Macworld, try to cover everything and every year, I start from scratch and try to improve on it. Beware, this article was nine pages long when I typed it. Have fun Reading!
This is a very long post, so I recorded an audio version of the episode, that you can download to your computer or iPod for an easier experience. Sam Downie (who will be joining me at Macworld 2008) has also done a audio version of the guide, which you can find on his Tech:Casts technology podcasts, for FREE.. click here!
What is Macworld?
Macworld is a once a year conference held in San Francisco since 1984. You can learn more about the history of Macworld on Wikipedia. This year’s Conference & Expo is being held January 14th – 18th at The Moscone Center in east central San Francisco just south of Market Street. Macworld’s most well known highlight is the annual keynote address by Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs. The exhibit hall is home to over 400 companies this year and exhibit hall passes range from free to $45 dollars depending on who you know. There are dozens of conference sessions spread out over the course of the week (Monday – Friday) and have different pricing structures and skill levels with prices ranging in the low hundreds to nearly $1900 dollars. Last year’s conference had over 40 thousand Mac users in attendance over the course of the week. Macworld San Francisco is the event of the year for all things Macintosh.
Getting to San Francisco:
There are many Macworld attendees that have never been to San Francisco before. When booking your flight, you must choose between flying in to San Francisco International (SFO) or Oakland International (OAK). Don’t fly in to San Jose International because the drive to SF downtown is just too long. The driving time from SFO or OAK to downtown SF is very close so now it’s up to you to find the flight that suits you best. Never booked a flight before? Start with Kayak.com and from there, you can open up direct searches of the same flights with Expedia.com, Orbitz.com, and Travelocity.com. Kayak is a great central location to search for flights. If you’re looking for cheaper tickets, arrive on Sunday or Monday and leave the following Saturday. Wednesday – Friday flights tend to be more expensive. Luckily, Macworld is held in the off-season for traveling to SF so tickets are a little cheaper. I prefer early morning flights and leave Jacksonville Florida at 5AM arriving in SF by 10AM on Sunday so I’ll be spot on for my hotel checkin time. Then I’ll leave at 9AM on the following Saturday arriving back in Jacksonville at 9PM. The flights are extremely cheap and I get the most time in SF.
Once you’re in SF, how do you get to your hotel? There are a few options. Unless you’re made of money, don’t get a cab. It’s going to be a fairly large fare by the time you get downtown. There is The BART which will cost around $1.50 and you’ll arrive somewhere close to your hotel (probably about 1-3 blocks away) depending on your flight. You can head to http://511.org which is the bay area transportation info and planning site to get the info. There, you can put in SFO and then the address of your hotel and it will give you a printable page with your fare, travel time and any transfers you have to make. You won’t arrive at your hotel’s doorstep but it’s a money saving option. An alternative is a shared bus service. For around $14-$20 dollars, hop in a large van with 10 other people and they’ll drop you off right in front of your hotel and help you with your bags. After a 4-10 hour flight, it’s nice to just sit down, give them a hotel name and get bag service. This is my preferred way of transportation from the hotel. Macworld attendees get $2 dollars off with this coupon if they decide to use Super Shuttle instead of other transportation busses. If you’re using a limousine, I can’t help you.
Booking Your Hotel:
Booking a hotel can be easy or hard depending on how picky you are. I can assure you that there’s not a single cheap hotel that I would recommend that’s close to Moscone. Some Mac related blogs sometimes secure hotels for $129 or $149 so look around or call up hotels in town and ask for a Macworld room rate for that week. Macworld has some hotels that they’ve secured for you at discounted rates. If you’re on the hotel booking sites, look for places around Union Square. Avoid hotels in Civic Center and North Beach. These aren’t bad areas, they’re just too far away to walk and the cab fares will add up. I can say that of all of the hotels, the Serrano, Westin, Pickwick and Parc55 are the only hotels that I’ve stepped foot into and they’re very nice! I don’t have experience with service since I haven’t stayed in any of them.
The only place that I can personally vouch for is The Adelaide Hostel. As soon as people hear the word hostel, they think of curfews, a bunch of college students and no Internet connection. It’s the contrary at the Adelaide. I’ve been going there since 2005 and the past 3 years I’ve brought nearly 50 people with me as guests that took advantage of our discount. The Adelaide has 4 levels of rooms. The basement is home to 6-person shared dorms, there is another level of rooms that are private and 2 more floors that are 3-4 person shared rooms. If you’re young, cheap or know that you’ll only be sleeping at the hotel then the Adelaide is for you. Room rates start at $30 dollars and private rooms are only $60 for the night. You can use our code to get 10% off which after the nearly 20% San Francisco Hotel Tax, it doesn’t amount to much but you’ll get a fantastic deal even without our room rate. The hostel also includes free breakfast and wireless Internet in every room. There is a safe to store your valuables and dorms have a padlocked safe box to store belongings while you’re out. 3 person and private rooms require keys to enter so you have semi-privacy. If you’re staying with 2 other friends at Macworld then a 3 person room would be perfect! There’s three beds, a bathroom and you’ll each pay around $30 dollars a night. It’s better than paying $129 for a hotel that has only one bed. You can go to http://adelaidehostel.com and during the booking process, put “DailyTechTalk Macworld Room Rate” in the special instructions box to secure the deal. Your credit card isn’t charged until you checkout and you can pay with cash if you would like.
Registering for Macworld:
This is one of the easiest steps but I still get people asking me questions about registration and my opinion on the conference tracks. I’ve only been to a few conferences over the years simply because I’m too busy with other things. All I can say is to go to http://macworldexpo.com and review all of the conference tracks. Find a price range that works for you with a set of tracks that are appealing. Make sure you keep track of when the sessions are so you don’t miss something and then get ready to learn. Rock Norris of Pixelography.com posted downloadable iCal calendars so you can view all of the different sessions for each conference pass and it’s all in one clean schedule. It’s very helpful for finding the right pass and remembering when the next session is. These will sync to your iPhone and iPod as well and you can add reminders for any session that’s worth attending. If you registered by December 14th, then you were lucky enough to get early bird pricing. After December 14th through January 13th (on-site registration) you pay full price. If you haven’t received your conference badge in the mail, then simply go to The Moscone West Hall to pick this up. This is also the spot for on-site registration. This also goes for media passes and media registration.
Getting Around San Francisco:
I reviewed transportation from the airport to your hotel but let’s discuss other ways of getting around San Francisco. The world famous cable car route is very popular and you should certainly hop on at Powell Street and take a ride up to Fisherman’s Wharf for some clam chowder. It’s a fun way to spend an evening of your time. The cable car isn’t very practical as a primary means of getting around. Additionally, there’s the MUNI (municipal transportation) which includes busses and an underground subway system. The BART (bay area rapid transport) is a way to get all around the bay area very fast. Caltrain is a combination of underground and above ground transportation that will take you far out of San Francisco and good for those day trips down to San Jose. I recommend purchasing a 7 day MUNI pass for $25 dollars as soon as you arrive in the city. These passes cover all MUNI and cable car transportation for the week. You can buy these anywhere but I usually get mine at the airport and at the Powell Street cable car turnaround. There’s a booth there that sells most of the passes. Most of the time, you can walk. The hostel that I stay in is about 5 blocks from Moscone and I never walk more than 8 blocks to anywhere that I’ll need to go. Anywhere else, I’ll take the subway or cable cars to hit the tourist areas. For answers to all transportation questions, hit http://511.org. Finally, if you’re looking for a day trip to Napa valley or the Golden Gate Bridge scenic lookout, there’s many tours that cost about $50 to $150 dollars per person that can take you to all of the tourist spots. Ideally, just rent a car for the day and drive all over the city or to Napa.
Where to Eat:
There’s plenty of places to eat around the city but I’m going to cover a few of my favorites. If you’re looking for more, check out http://yelp.com which is a social website that has listings of every local place of dining and real person reviews of each establishment with photos. Also, check out http://sfstation.com which is a directory of venues, happenings and dining. Around The Moscone Center, there are a few places that I would recommend. First off, don’t eat the food at The Moscone. It’s crazy expensive and tastes dry. If your $1800 dollar conference pass includes free lunch at Moscone then try it but I’m sure that you’ll end up eating out after a couple of days. The Sony Metreon is right next to Moscone and has four restaurants that are food court style and they’re very affordable. The Thirsty Bear has great food and is just east of Moscone but it is a little expensive. There’s a few more local restaurants that are about 2 blocks south of Moscone South including some of the famous San Francisco Burritos that are so tasty! My opinion, search for nearby restaurants on Yelp.com and read the reviews. Plan out your lunches day by day so you’re not stuck with the available Moscone food. In my experience, I’ve met so many people while there that I end up joining someone else for lunch at least 3 of the 5 days so pair up with people so you’re not sitting alone at lunch.
Eating at night is a completely different story. It’s worth a cab ride to go to a place that really hits the spot after a long day at Macworld. There are a bunch of awesome Sushi places all over San Francisco. My favorite is a sushi joint just west of Union Square on Geary Street but I can’t find the name. If you’re just north of the Financial District, there’s an Italian Restaurant named “Michelangelo Cafe”, located on Columbus Avenue that has fantastic lasagna. There are plenty of dinner joints downtown but make sure you hit North Shore / Fisherman’s Wharf for the seafood. Many of the places have food that’s right off the boat. There’s no shortage of cafe’s and if you’re from a southern or central US state, then you’ll laugh when the rumor is true and you walk past a Starbucks on every corner. Similar to my earlier statement, many parties will have food or you’ll meet people that invite you to dinner so keep your options open.
When Not at Expo:
The great thing about being in San Francisco is the amount of activities to take part in while not at Macworld. There are tons of city tours to take part in and there’s day trips to Apple Headquarters, Napa Valley and also shopping to take part in(more on this later). I can’t say what I’m doing while not at expo because I don’t venture far from Macworld activities. However, do take one of the city tours that are usually on a bus or on foot for about $50 dollars. There’s some segway tours for about $70 a person which are a lot of fun I’ll be hosting the 4th annual San Francisco City Tour on Sunday afternoon (January 13th) just contact me for details. The Kabuki Springs spa in Japantown is very relaxing if you want to go for an afternoon and both men and women can go. As always, check out Upcoming.org or SFStation.com for information about what’s happening that day in the bay area. On Upcoming.org, you can organize the events by popularity and tags. Check out both sites a week before leaving for SF and save the links just in case you’re bored that night and there’s a free film festival in the park or a fishing tournament that might interest you. I’m just pulling things out of my bum but it is important to know your resources and the sites I’ve listed have hundreds of listings every day.
Shopping:
I receive numerous emails about where to shop and I only know from asking others so let’s try to help you and your American Express have a fun day at the boutiques and outlets. Union Square and the surrounding 2 blocks are where most of the shopping is in the downtown area. If you’re in Union Square, the shops you can see in staring distance are Victoria’s Secret, Levi’s, Louis Vuiton, Channel, Macy’s and Prada. Head east and there are more luxurious boutiques. Head south about two blocks and you’ll be at the San Francisco Mall which is a four story shopping center that was just remodeled and expanded this past year. The Macy’s is 4 stories and covers an entire city block. There is parking underneath Union Square so get your plastic and shop away!
Finding The Parties:
This can be easy or hard depending on how in touch you are with The Macintosh Community and blogs. Watch the Mac blogs as they will be posting a lot of information on parties as Macworld approaches. There’s at least five meetups, get-togethers or parties every night of the week starting on Monday that are geared toward Macworld attendees it’s just finding them that’s difficult. One party that you don’t want to miss is the Macworld Blast! Party. Tickets are $40 dollars and can be purchased during Macworld registration. Already registered? That’s not a problem. Just go back to registration, select the Blast! Party and checkout. These can be purchased at Moscone West during expo but they always sell out so get them early. The Macworld party is Tuesday night so don’t miss it! There’s the MacObserver party on Wednesday as well as the DailyTechTalk Macworld party on the same night. Thursday, the Mac Meet & Mingle takes place and The Your Mac Life Rocks Expo party is the same night.
Over the course of the week, there’s dozens of parties that are private or you just haven’t heard about them. Watch this blog for for party announcements. Also, head over to the Hess Macworld Events List. This Macworld party list has been going strong for 12 years and Ilene Hoffman does a fantastic job managing this. Importantly, if you’re hosting a party, send her the info so she can add your event to the list. Also check out the Macworld Section on Upcoming.org for some events that aren’t listed anywhere else. There was another party list last year but it’s unconfirmed if that site is doing listings again this time around. Here’s a sample of events that I’m sure that I’ll be attending that week. There will be more soon but this is the current list with only 29 days left until Macworld.
- Sunday: San Francisco City Tour and Mac User Drinkfest at Lefty’s Irish Pub
- Monday: Trip to Apple HQ, Macintosh User Group Wine and Cheese Event at the Westin and Xsilva’s Macworld Cocktail Party
- Tuesday: Pre-keynote meetup, Macworld Blast! Party and another unconfirmed private party.
- Wednesday: Wordpress Meetup, Macradio Meetup, Elgato Private Party, Microsoft Office 2008 Release Party and finally I’ll be attending the DailyTechTalk Macworld Party at Swig.
- Thursday: Mac Meet and Mingle from 6:30PM to 12:00AM which includes a podcaster meetup and a kick ass party that’s free to all Macworld attendees at Jillians.
- Friday: The DailyTechTalk Macworld closeout meetup from 9:00PM to 3:00AM. I took part in this in 2006 and 2007 and it involved 30 mac users getting very intoxicated then grabbling an early breakfast at Lori’s diner. This was my favorite event of the entire week.
As you can see, there’s plenty going on that week and I’m very sure that there’s three times as many parties and meetups that week that I just won’t be able to attend. Look around, check the blogs and ask people. If you’re using Twitter then just follow the people that are at expo and I’m sure there will be a few impromptu parties during Macworld that will be formed over Twitter.
Saving Money:
This is important for everyone.
The more money that I can save, the better! I’ve outlined some tips earlier like staying at a hostel, or how to fly into San Francisco to save some money and how to book Macworld registration to save a little money. Find a hotel that has free breakfast and you’ll save plenty. I also make a point to buy a $25 dollar Starbucks card before I leave. This way, I can budget myself and once that card runs out, I can’t go to Starbucks anymore. For example, that card usually runs out by Wednesday and that’s all I was budgeted for. Buy the $25 dollar MUNI 7 day pass for unlimited rides on the subway, buses and cable car. Make sure you ask for a military, student, teacher or AARP discount wherever you go. These discounts are out there, just ask. Book your flight, hotel and Macworld pass early. The earlier you book, the better rate you’ll get.
If you’re really looking to cut costs then don’t drink alcohol. If you’re over 21, this is easier said than done. Many parties, at least the private ones, have an open bar or drink tickets but if you hit the bar every night and have two drinks, you’re looking at an additional $100 bucks for your budget. I generally spend about $300 dollars in alcohol over the course of the week. Remember, you don’t need alcohol to have a good time. What am I talking about? Forget that and budget for at least $100 dollars in alcohol that week because there is drinking everywhere. I’ve built some great long term friendships with companies and the Mac celebrities over a few drinks. It’s a great inhibitor so embrace it and have fun with it.
Wrap-up:
I managed to keep this year’s First Timer’s Guide under nine pages and thank goodness. Those that read the previous editions were very thankful for the post and those that didn’t always sent me emails stating that this was a freaking huge article and they didn’t want to waste the time. That’s fine with me but I’m glad you’ve made it to the end and I do hope that this helped your Macworld experience. As a six time veteran, I should have a little bit to contribute or at least I hope so. Let me know if you want to see something added and at any time during Macworld, send me an email to macworld@dailytechtalk.com for any questions that you have and I’ll try to answer them ASAP. This is a mailbox that’s not a part of my primary email account so I’ll be prioritizing emails sent to that mailbox during Macworld. Most of all, have fun at expo and enjoy yourself. MWSF only happens once a year and it’s a Mac user vacation that can be written off on your tax returns if you play your cards right. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you at expo!
