This week I am giving you the third part of the 2013 MVP Global Summit tips, first for MVP’s going there the first time but also for the ones who have been there before and maybe pickup some thing they did not know. Part 1 was more or less an intro and explained my background a bit related to the MVP Global Summit but in Part 2 “2013 MVP Global Summit Travel Tips” I went over the travel options, especially from the airport to the hotel venues but also pointed you to important things like the ESTA form. As I write this third part in the series we are just two weeks away from the 2013 MVP Global Summit so if you haven’t checked your transportation options go back to part 2 and start doing that!
Your place to stay
The MVP Global Summit organization provided you with an impressive list of hotel venues to stay: Courtyard, Hilton, Hyatt, Red Lion, Sheraton, Silver Cloud and Westin. Prices vary from $114 to $240 a night excluding taxes and it is really up to you to select the hotel of your choice. I have been in the most expensive ones, close to the Bellevue central shopping area, and this year I am in the cheapest as I experienced at the \\Build 2012 conference when I selected the same hotel that, besides the distance to downtown Bellevue, the quality was really OK and as I explain later you won’t be there much.
So is the distance really an issue? No! It isn’t as each of the hotels included in the MVP Global Summit offer is providing you an excellent bus service (if you know how to handle it, that is, but I’ll explain that later to you in this post). The MVP Global Summit sessions and events are this year either located at the Hyatt Regency Hotel or at the Microsoft Campus near Microsoft Visitor Center or the Conference Center, Building 36. The organization will provide shuttles, big busses or smaller ones depending on the volume to move people between these locations.
When you arrive at your hotel you need to register at the counter, bring your registration records with you that helps finding your reservations and get the keys for your room. Most hotels require you to have a credit card at hand or cash if you don’t have a credit card to make a deposit covering damages or incidental charges in case you cleared the mini bar or rented some in room movies. If you don’t do anything of that sort, taking your credit card will not be charged other than the agreed room rated according to the regulations as posted on the MVP Global Summit website on the hotels section.
As experienced Global Summit attendee I can tell you that your hotel room will be the place where you won’t spend much of your time during the MVP Global Summit week! You will either be at one of the technical sessions or your Product Group (PG) arranged an event you should not miss. Between the technical sessions and PG events there are the social events (Party at Palermo, Insiders events, Sponsored Events and of course the Welcome event and the MVP Party Event!). More on the events in my next blog post!
Busses, Shuttles, Cars
It is important to know that while there is enough transportation to move everyone from point A to point B there are some tips here to be told by the experienced MVP’s the help you on your way and not miss out too much of your content.
Lesson 1: Prepare! Make sure that you prepared everything for the next day. Look at your schedules and BingGoogle the locations if you are not sure where to go to. Prepare your bags –and charge your devices for the next day before you go to sleep to avoid running out of battery power!
Lesson 2 is: BE on time! The earlier you arrive at the bus stop (usually just outside your hotel) the quicker you get to your point of destination. You can jump on the last bus if you like but be prepared for some heavy queuing if you do. The best option is to try to get on the first bus. It is just the average workweek for everyone around us so commuting at high traffic hours will not help you to get to your destination on time. Another thing is that a bus can only have so much seats as there are in the bus. There is no option to stand in between or sit on the floor. When the bus is fully seated it is leaving your venue, no matter what, you just have to wait for the next one.
Lesson 3 i: TAKE your time. As you, in lesson 2 you learned to be on time, you now have enough time to get around when you arrive at your destination. There is often coffee and some additional food items to consume so take some of that if you haven’t had breakfast at your hotel. Now you are all relaxed and ready to go and listen to your sessions slowly move to your session rooms and enjoy!
What’s next
So much about your stay at the hotel and moving between the hotel and events. As there are only two weeks from now until the Summit I’ll add some extra posts over the week as it won’t be enough to cover things in the weekend (only one weekend left between you and your 2013 MVP Global Summit!). Things to discuss are food, shopping and what not. Oh and if you haven’t started to fill out your schedule planner go over there and select the sessions of your choice. The program management needs your input to select the right room sizes and plan transportation between the session rooms.
If you have comments or more tips … just add them in the comments below and share them with the community!
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