rev:text
| - Had a fantastic conference at the David L Lawrence Convention Center and was very impressed with all of the "green" features they've incorporated into the building.
Structurally a very interesting building to look at, the convention center is right along the river and provides for some gorgeous views between sessions. There is a large glass walk way over the main convention floor which makes for great people-watching or trying to track down somebody on the floor (hope they're wearing something bright!).
I especially liked how the lighting would adjust based on how much natural light was being let in from the roof windows. On a bright day, the convention center doesn't use artificial lights. But when it gets too cloudy, the lights kick in. So if half the floor is sunny and the other half isn't, only half of the lights come on. Hardly noticable, but absolutely appreciated.
Bus loading/unloading area is very convenient - especially in a city that gets weather as cold as Pittsburgh. (you don't want to be out in that cold breeze for long!)
I also liked having a walkway directly connecting to the Westin. Very convenient to not have to go outside to get to the conference. There's also a decent restaurant, The Original Fish Market, attached to the hotel for those meals that aren't provided by your conference.
The one annoying thing I did notice was elevator service. Very slow. We walked over from the 2nd floor of the westin, had to take the elevator up one floor, walk across the glass bridge, and then go down the escalator to get to the main floor. Kind of a backwards way of doing it...Plus, one of the 2 elevators from the 2nd floor sky bridge broke down for part of a day, which made handling the crowds from the conference pretty tough. And for some reason they wouldn't let us walk the 1 flight of stairs down to the Sky Bridge.
But all in all, a very pleasant experience. If you're looking for a good place to have a conference, I'd recommend taking a look at Pittsburgh.
|