As your host for the fifth annual WebContent Conference we at Duo Consulting want to make sure you have a great conference and also enjoy our wonderful city of Chicago. Late Spring is a great time to be here and enjoy what our city has to offer. To this end, scan the information below for things that might interest you.
Welcome to our home. Sweet home. Chicago.
If you are flying to Chicago, the Blue Line from O'Hare airport or Orange Line from Midway airport will get you downtown but not necessarily to your hotel front door. Public transit information can be found here: http://www.transitchicago.com/. For $2 plus a short walk or taxi ride from where you leave the train, it beats most other airport to city transportation options. The trains run regularly and you don't have any traffic issues. Once downtown, taxis can generally be flagged down.
Airport shuttles and taxis are available at each airport. Confirm the cost with the driver as well as their willingness to accept your credit card BEFORE you drive off.
WebContent is at the University of Chicago Gleacher Executive Conference Center. It is located at 450 N. Cityfront Plaza Drive, Chicago, IL 60611. The Gleacher Center offers a page with comprehensive maps and directions.
You can plan on having access to free wifi as well as power for your laptop during conference sessions.
There's more to do in Chicago than you have time for. We live here and we don't have time to do everything we want! We think we're pretty discerning folks here at Duo, so here's some of our suggestions.
We are a food-obsessed city. If you don't get some darned good meals while you're here, you're not trying very hard. Since you have overchoice in Chicago, we've provided a list which is pretty much walking distance from the WebContent Conference Headquarters. If you want another resource which can expand your options, try Metromix.
Here's some local suggestions:
And that includes sandwich places too.
"Cheezborger, Cheezborger, Cheezborger! is not just an ancient Saturday Night Live skit. The Billy Goat Tavern is a regular among the lunch options for Duo staffers and a short walk from the Gleacher Center. Just be aware your food options are single, double or triple burger or "Cheezborger" and chips. No fries. Coke. No Pepsi. But they do have a full bar and Schlitz on tap. Schlitz? Look it up.
Al's #1 Italian Beef for those who want a real Chicago experience with good junk food. Also get a Chicago hot dog, Polish sausage. Whatever your arteries can tolerate. A bit of a walk
Harry Caray's - Former Chicago Cub (and St. Louis Cards) announcer Harry Caray is dead. But his eponymous restaurant lives on as an Italian steak house across the street from the Duo Consulting office and about a 3 block walk from the Gleacher Center.
Chicago is known far and wide for it's own particular style of pizza, the deep-dish almost casserole-like pie you can find at places like Gino's East, Lou Malnati's or Pizzeria Uno/Due (yes, it's a chain now, but the original two restaurants are nothing like the cookie cutter franchises, trust us).
But Chicago has great pizza places in the New Haven and Neapolitan style as well. Piece is a great place to grab some New Haven style pizza and some award winning hand-crafted beer. Sapore Di Napoli, Crust, Coal Fire, and Sono are some great places to get traditional D.O.C style pizza. One type of pizza that is under-represented here is New York style.
If you are desperately craving some of that thin foldable goodness, the best in Chicago is probably at Santullo's, but we'd recommend getting a group together and ordering a whole pie, rather than going by the slice.
You're in the Midwest. And you know what we do here? We grow all the ingredients for beer. So it's no surprise we've got a lot of local brew. Here's some places to go and beer to look for:
Millennium Park is a must see whatever the weather. Millennium Park is located a short walk (.5 mile) south of the Gleacher Center. You will want to see Cloud Gate and the Lurie Fountain. The park is open into the evening. No fees. And if you're looking for a nice dinner location, the Park Grill is a very decent restaurant located in the park.
Chicago Cultural Center is directly across the street from Millennium Park. The Chicago Cultural Center is the former Chicago Public Library. You can poke about this building until about 6PM most days. No fees.
We won't claim to be like 5th Ave in NY. But Michigan Avenue north of the Chicago River, a/k/a the Magnificent Mile, will satisfy your consumer cravings. You might want to combine a walk up Michigan Avenue with dinner at FoodLife in the Water Tower Place. FoodLife is an upscale food court that can satisfy the dietary and food cravings of a diverse crowd. It is NOT a collection of chain fast food restaurants. Perhaps the best resource of information about FoodLife is Yelp.
For complete coolness and if the weather is clear, walk or cab over to the tall building formerly known as the Sears Tower and go up to the 103rd floor SkyDeck (10AM - 8 PM). You can stand on a glass ledge with no visible means of support or just look out to see just how flat this land is! Not for the acrophobics. Fees.
OK, Navy Pier is a tourist trap. But that's cool. Even the locals go here once in a while. If the weather sucks, you can be completely indoors. There are a number of restaurants and bars here. You can buy all kinds of Chicago stuff to prove you were in Chicago. And it's located right on Lake Michigan, which is, in fact, an inland fresh water ocean and you really ought to see it. It is not a bad way to spend an evening.
There just isn't a better place to admire or learn about architecture (i.e., art you live and work in). The Chicago Architecture Foundation offers absolutely fantastic tours.
We hear that Chicago is the "home of the Blues." We're not sure about that. We think it came up from the south and sort of took root here. Nevertheless, here's a few places to indulge your Blues jones.
You already know that Chicago has lots of world-class museums: the Art Institute, the Field Museum, the Shedd Aquarium....but there's more too. Check these out:
Chicago is THE place for theater. Seriously. Here are just a few to check out:
You can add your ideas to this Google Map as well.
View Chicago Points of Interest in a larger map
