CAA Wednesday Feb. 10: Ryan

So this is my first Blog Post in Chicago, Illinois. In case you didn't know, NERDA (New Endevors Regarding Digital Art) is here for the annual College Art Association Conference. Waking up at 5AM and making our way to DIA wasn't fun, but we all successfully made it through security and arrived without incident. Everything went as planned and Jeromie even made friends with the woman sitting next us on the flight.

In Illinois we took the rail from the airport into the city where we walked to our hotel. By the way, someone needs to get to work on shoveling the sidewalks here, my socks are soaked. (I saw one lone orange suited man working his shovel, but I think he was the only on in all of Chicago).

The stories are true, the wind chills you to the bone. I should have brought long johns, dang! At least I have my hat and gloves (thanks for the many reminders, Mom).

Anyway, Swissotel where we are staying is just two blocks away from the Hyatt where the conference is being held. There weren't any sessions today but I registered and got my fancy ID. Taking a peek into the big empty auditorium I can't help but wonder what I'll be part of this week.

After that, My NERDA Mates and I took the suggestion from Jeromie's plane pal and went to the original Uno Pizzeria to eat some authentic Chicago style Pie. So far the only thing the trip has been lacking is warmth and wifi. Our Hotel is charging $10 a pop, and it hasn't been easy finding free wifi in the city!

Toward the end of the night we were able to meet up with our fellow Metro Roadrunners: The Art Guild. We all had a nice dinner at the Navy Pier. Liberty and I shared the Mac n Cheese, in case you were wondering.

Here are a few upcoming sessions I am looking forward to:
Emerging Art Histories
The Object of Nostalgia
The Modern and the Fashionable
New Media/Terrain: Pioneering a PhD in Creative Research

Another thing! Jeromie got stuck in the Swissotel Elevator for 20 minutes. It was nerve wracking, but also pretty funny.