ELI 2019

I'm in Orange County this week attending the Educause ELI annual meeting.  I haven't attended this particular get together in some years; with our new Learning Space Initiative underway I thought it would be a great way to facilitate connections and see the latest trends.  Attending the larger Educause conference may also be a good consideration in the future.

The sessions so far have been excellent - you can see more information here.

The Horizon Report will also be discussed later this morning. I'm curious about the data and newest trends.

Hyatt Award changes on March 18

Hyatt has announced it is changing award categories for many properties beginning March 18, 2019.

You can find the full list here.

In particular, properties that I watch with changes include:

Park Hyatt Maldives - changing from Category 6 to 7
Andaz San Diego - changing from Category 5 to 4
Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego - changing from Category 5 to 4

It's great to see the SD properties change so that yearly award certs can be used for stays!

Time in New York City

I haven't spent much time in NYC even though I'm relatively close by - central Jersey to the city is only 1.5hr by train.  But I didn't let that stop me from spending time this weekend since my friend Jimmy was going to be in town. 

Couldn't have asked for a better day - it was sunny but on the cooler side with the wind.  After stepping off from Penn Station we found some local pizza for lunch and then made our way toward Times Square.  Still amazing to me to see all of the digital boards (plus the NYE ball was still perched).  We did a quick scan of broadway tickets before walking towards Rockefeller Center.  $40 to get on the elevator to visit the Top of the Rock?! 

St. Patricks' Cathedral was just down the block and we walked in to see the choir, organ, and processional for the start of Mass with Cardinal Dolan (who used to be Archbishop in Milwaukee). 

A brisk walk down 5th Avenue was followed by a quick stop at Trump Tower.  The escalator was still there and so was the Secret Service en masse.

We made our way to the Met (Art) and didn't have nearly enough time to see everything before we walked through Central Park and took a cab back to Times Square.  Dinner was via OpenTable at Barbetta, a family-owned Italian restaurant.  Probably one of the best Italian meals I've had outside of Italy.

A great day all around!

To the Northwoods!

I'm really looking forward to flying back to northern WI this month to spend time in the northwoods - we try to make it back as much as we can and planned out this trip when flight prices were low.  Given the recent polar vortex and low temps, it's possible the snowmobile trails may be perfect by the time we arrive.  I'm hopeful for a few more inches of snow though right now I'm optimistic about getting on the trails.

Here's hoping the weather holds!

We'll be flying UA back through Ohare for this excursion - so far the seatmap is trending toward possible upgrades (though I won't hold my breath).