Macworld Expo tips
Just a handful of tips to make your Macworld Expo experience all that much nicer ...
San Francisco should never be called "San Fran" or, worse, "Frisco" (our own Emperor Norton, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, even fined those who were "heard to utter the abominable word"). Doing so immediately identifies you as a tourist, and you will be forced to spend your entire visit at Fisherman's Wharf, otherwise known as the Tourist Ghetto. If you must refer to San Francisco by anything other than the full name, it's "the city". New Yorkers must avoid protesting that only New York City can be referred to as such, lest they be simply sent to Alcatraz.
Macworld Expo does not have an upper-case W in the middle. Giving it an incorrect W immediately identifies you as a clueless noob. Saying that you're going to MacWorld in Frisco means that you're immediately taken back to SFO and put on the first plane out of here. Your pass will be donated to a deserving local Mac user.
Don't go over to the Metreon for lunch. The rest of the Expo will go there, and the options there really aren't that great anyway. At least go a little bit further afield to the food court in the Westfield shopping mall. It's on Mission, just a couple of blocks away. The food court isn't bad, and there's a couple of sit-down restaurants in there (I rather like Out the Door). There are dozens of great lunch spots within a few blocks of Moscone; I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to find their favourites (or to comment here with them).
Wear comfortable shoes. It's all concrete and tile, with some carpeting in the booths. You'll be on your feet a lot. If you're trying to decide between the cute shoes and the comfortable shoes, suck it up and wear the comfortable shoes. Cute shoes won't overcome your crankiness when you have massive blisters by Wednesday afternoon.
There are inexpensive chair massages to be had over at Macy's on Union Square. When you're tired of carrying all your stuff around, head over there for a quick pick-me-up. (And then go downstairs to their teensy food court and get a cookie from Tom's. I particularly like the chocolate almond truffle cookies.)
There's a Starbucks across from the W at Third and Howard. The line there is always shorter than the one on Fourth between Mission and Howard.
