here we are in montreal, with chi in full swing. after a near miss at the airport, which tiffanie recounts in vivid personal detail here, and a couple of days of scrambling to catch up on sleep so that we could promptly begin depriving ourselves again with clear consciences (and slightly clearer heads), i’m feeling pretty good.

i’d like to do some wandering around downtown soon, but it’s been raining in a cold, dreary way that makes that less enticing. that’s not much of an excuse though, so i hope to overcome it soon. right now i’m sitting in the hotel after a nap that was one of the greatest experiences of my life (which is good, because i ended up skipping a session that i was interested in because of it), and soon i will head across the street for the conference reception. so more reports of wider montreal soon.

right now, though, i just want to play catch up here on all those loose ends i’ve been dropping, so then we can charge ahead with confidence as the week starts to whiz by. right now my brain thinks its wednesday, even though i keep telling it otherwise, and i think i should take advantage of that, because by the time next thursday rolls around i’m pretty sure that i’m going to think that it should still be february, so feeling like i have More time than i actually do is incredibly luxurious.

yesterday was a good long day. i knocked out 7 of the 10 volunteer hours that i need to fill on top of blogging, and we met some cool folks. volunteering at registration on the day before a conference really kicks in is a great way to learn the ropes. most of what i did involved updating the registration website and helping with walkins and people who wanted to add courses at the last minute, so i got to experience the glories of the interface that the hci community has chosen to administer its conference. it’s crap. but it was fun to sign people in and joke about it with them. ah, kindred spirits. :)

the palais de congres, where the conference is being held, is pretty awesome. my first impression was actually rather neutral. it feels like an old campy 70’s conference center in a lot of ways, with some scuffed edges and architectural decisions that, shall we say, do not exactly strike one as timeless.
the most striking characteristic of the decor, i’ve since come to realize, is it’s daring revolt against conference-friendly values such as subtlety and consistency. the main hallways, and most of the rooms themselves, are a rather deep vivid blue on the walls and carpets. the connecting halls, however, are an intense reddish-orange, which means that every time you turn a corner, or leave a room, you are jarred awake by the contrast. it’s not something that i’m used to, so it was a little odd at first, but i’ve come to like it.

the basement level of the building, which connects to the metro and the street, is all about grey. dark grey-black floor tile, burnished chrome touches, rocklike walls. as you ascend to the main convention center level, however, you are greeted by the most garish display of window coloration that i have ever had the privilege to see. my first impression was not good, but i think that was because “tasteful” and “technicolor” is not an association that i readily make on first glance. they grew on me pretty closely after my initial response mechanisms gave way to a closer look, and by lunchtime i was completely smitten.

i took many pictures, and will probably take more, so keep checking that chi2006 flickr feed for updates.

the other noteworthy thing to say about the building is that it hooks up to a series of underground tunnels that run underneath pretty much all of the downtown montreal. i haven’t had time to explore this as much as i want to, but even knowing that it’s there is pretty freakin’ sweet. especially when it’s raining.

speaking of raining, i look up and realize that i’m late for the reception, and had better make my way across the street.
some thoughts on sv culture, a few reflections on conferences in general, a small celebrity sighting that spurred those reflections, and the transition into some official volunteer blogging…
all of that and more, when we return, with these stories of this one particular american life.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 23rd, 2006 at 11:49 pm and is filed under chi, things i do, travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.