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Q. When should everyone plan to arrive and depart?
Q. Are Thursday the 21st and Monday the 25th "travel days" or are
there conference events on those days too?
Q. What if I can’t make it for the entire conference?
Q. Are there any advantages to arriving early?
Many people have unyielding weekday commitments and have to consider
travel options carefully, making some tradeoffs on deciding when to
arrive or depart. Some cannot arrive until late on Friday, others not
until Saturday morning. Many must leave first thing Monday morning.
Nonetheless we have a lot of programming to present. ISDC ‘98
programming proper begins 9 am Friday morning and will end at 1 or
2pm on Monday afternoon.
Thursday is designed as a travel day BUT
we will have things for early arrivals to do. We may have some
day-long and afternoon tours available, but no programming proper.
Tours - keep in mind that SE Wisconsin has no must-see first class
space attractions. Those driving may want to make stops or detours at
the Crown Space Center in the Museum of Science and Industry in
Chicago 90 miles to the south, the Mir core module exhibit in
Wisconsin Dells 115 miles WNW of the city, or the EAA Experimental
Aircraft Museum in Oshkosh 80 miles NNW. For information on these and
other “Enroute Attractions”. Of
these, only an EAA museum coach tour seems practical to us at this
point, but no decision has been made to offer it as of 12/13/97.
There will likely be a city tour or two.
The ISDC Services Desk will have lots of information on
do-it-yourself tours of interest to various people. Milwaukee is a
marvelous city and our hotel is right downtown in the middle of
everything. The museum triplex (Milwaukee
Public Museum rated #5 nationally and #1 in exhibits, James A.
Lovell Discovery World, and the IMAX Dome Theater) is just 3 blocks
to the west. The famed Mitchell
Park Domes, a trio of bioshphere like climate controlled
temperate, arid, and subtropical ecosystems is just two miles west
and south. There are other museums, art galleries, the government
bookstore, lots of first class shopping (Grand Avenue Mall, two
blocks via SkyWalk) and a zillion dining choices within a few blocks,
plus night spots galore. You will have no trouble filling extra time
on Thursday enjoyably. Unfortunately, Milwaukee being a snowbelt
city, the River Walk just two blocks away doesn’t come alive
until River Splash, the weekend following. Bummer!
For you landlocked people, Milwaukee is a major Great Lakes seaport
and the Lake Michigan shore, a walkable two miles east, is worth a
visit (Milwaukee Art Museum, Betty Brin’s Childrens’
Museum, the Schooner Project, Pieces of Eight Restaurant). The
opposite shore (in Michigan) is 85 miles away, and no, you can’t
see it from this side. But you won’t mind. Too many sails, lake
freighters, whitecaps and seagulls in the foreground. City bus
tickets (and maps) available at the ISDC Services Desk (ticket or
$1.35 exact fare needed, transfers good on any bus, any line for next
hour plus).
Back to Thursday. The Exhibit room will be open at 2pm, but only for
those setting up. It may open to the public briefly later in the
evening. Thursday evening: beginning at
6 pm, we will have a casual mixer program.. There will be a meeting
of the Wisconsin Space Business Roundtable, an awards ceremony for
winners of student essay, fiction, and art category competitions, and
a reception snack or buffet, possibly with a cash bar, and hopefully
with some VIPs (to be announced later). The video room should be
open. Getting to meet others, discuss mutual interests and possible
joint projects, is the very soul of the NSS ISDC experience and at
ISDC ‘98 we are doing everything to maximize this aspect. The
great programming is but the body.
Come early, and you’ll find it rewarding. Otherwise come when
you can and stay as late as you can. Even if you were to miss half,
we promise you the rest will be worth the effort, time, and money. If
you’re able to be on hand from start to finish, there will be a
LOT going on at ISDC. So bring along a half dozen clones and debrief
them slowly, to avoid info overload. We’ll cover Space from all
angles and hope to speak to your own personal interests well enough
to keep your cerebral cortex busy. Arrive rested if possible. If this
is your first ISDC, you are in for a big shot in the arm and will
want to come to future ISDCs whenever, and as often as your other
commitments can possibly be shoved aside.
This information is provided to help you decide what outer
clothing to pack.
Mean High Temperatures (Day) upper 60s (usual range
50°-85°)
“Cooler near the Lake” includes downtown Milwaukee
(likeliest range 55°-75°)
Mean Low Temperatures (Night) upper 40s (usual range
40°-55°)
Average rain probability 0.9 inch any given day
Chance of Clear or Partly Clear Skies, any given day, 56%
Chance of wholly Overcast Skies, any given day, 44%
We have placed an order for "sunny skies, low to mid 70s".