Hello from Amsterdam!
Hello, everyone!
I’m writing to you today from the IEEE Interactive Tabletops 2008 Conference in Amsterdam! For those of you who are unfamiliar with the MOOL Project, a team at Heartspring has been working to create a multi-touch tabletop suitable for use in our classrooms to enhance existing learning methods, and to investigate that other exciting opportunities that this new technology can offer our campus. As a part of this ongoing work, I am attending the conference in order to network with other professionals in the field and learn from their work regarding interactive tabletop displays.
The trip from Wichita to Amsterdam was far from dull. Due to weather delays in Chicago, my flight from Wichita to Chicago (which then connected to a flight to Amsterdam) was delayed almost 3 hours! This led to a mad rush through O’Hare International Airport to catch my flight to Amseterdam. Luckily, I was able to arrive 10 minutes before the plane departed the gate, so I arrived in Amsterdam on schedule. Somehow, my baggage also made the flight, for which I was both grateful and a little surprised.
After departing the plane I navigated Schipol International Airport in Amsterdam to find the train system that would take me to the hotel. All of the staff in the airport were very courteous in assisting me, and there was only a small language barrier. The hardest part came when I actually got on the train, as the station names and announcements were all in Dutch! I ended up only a few stops too far along the route, though, and I was able to backtrack successfully to the hotel.
I arrived at the hotel at about 10 AM Amsterdam time, so my room wasn’t ready yet. Not to be deterred, I had the hotel hold my bags and set off into the city for a little sightseeing. I walked up and down the fashion district, viewed a few of the canals, and just took in the city’s unique vibe. The prevalance of bicycles is astounding, and every road has a bike lane, and special road signals for the bike traffic. The architecture is also quite amazing, and I took many, many photos that I’m eager to share when I return.
After a few hours of sightseeing, I checked into the hotel, and gladly got some rest and relaxation.
I’ll post more shortly about the first day of the conference. Until then…
Riley Dutton
rdutton (at) heartspring (dot) org
Tags: Amsterdam, conferences, IEEE Tabletops, MOOL