IETF-71: Philadelphia - 2008

We’re very excited, in cooperation with Nortel, to provide a 100Gbps link to the IETF 71 meeting.  This has been supplying bandwidth to the meeting since it started on Sunday.  Some press articles are here and here.  Official press release is here.

As noted here, we had an IETF message scrolling across the top of the PECO building earlier in the week.  Thanks to Alex Petrescu, here are some pics of this.

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A few of the IETF 71 attendees have recommended:

Spruce Street Espresso, 1101 Spruce Street (corner of 11th & Spruce Streets) 

Several attendees have rated this in the top 5 espresso bars they have been to in the U.S.  So if you love espresso, check this out.

One attendee wrote: This is a brand-new shop (their grand opening is on Saturday).  They use Counter Culture beans, Rio grinders, and a 3-group La Marzocco machine with a bottomless portafilter.  Very nice macchiato and espresso.  They are roughly 6 blocks from the hotel.

We finalized all our updates to our local guide to eating and drinking. Use the navigation at the top or check out restaurants here and bars/pubs here. See you soon!

The Philadelphia Business Journal has run a story about the IETF coming to town.

When we were planning IETF 71, we realized that when we travel to IETF meetings ourselves we often have a digtal camera. This is especially the case when we travel overseas, as so many attendees of IETF 71 are. So we got to thinking it might be cool to be able to print photos at the IETF meeting itself, rather than back at home. So since we’re in charge of sponsoring IETF 71, we decided to do something about that!

Thanks to HP, our business partner in releasing Comcast SmartZone, we are raffling four club box tickets to the Philadelphia Flyers ice hockey game on Wednesday night. We’ll be raffling TWO sets of two tickets each.

ISOC sent a press release announcing the 71st IETF, and you can see that release here.

We are pleased to support the Internet Society.  You can see the press release here.

Eight parallel tracks will be broadcast starting with the commencement of working group sessions on Monday March 10 at 0900 EST (UTC-5) and continue until Friday at 1130 EST. Additionally it is the IETF’s intention to broadcast the IEPG meeting occurring on Sunday the 9th starting at 1000 EST.

Most people hope to see their name in lights one day. The IETF gets their name in lights soon, if all goes according to plan.

For those folks that arrive early, the Philadelphia Flower Show runs through Sunday at the start of the IETF week (at 6pm). This show is at the Philadelphia Convention Center, which is directly NEXT to the IETF venue.See: http://www.theflowershow.com/home/index.html

We updated the sightseeing page as well.  You should check out this itinerary from National Geographic, which recognized Philadelphia as one of their next great cities.

See their itinerary here, with great ideas for stuff to do and see.

A short walk from the venue, along Walnut Street, starting at Broad / Ave. of the Arts and heading west to Rittenhouse Square.

See this page for more info.

Philly Beer Week is happening during the IETF!!

Philadelphia celebrates its beer-drinking roots with a week-long festival
Date: 3/7/2008 - 3/16/2008 
 

The city of Philadelphia has been brewing beer for more than 300 years. So deep are its sudsy roots, Philadelphia has even been called “the best beer-drinking city in America.”And this year, we’re proving it with Philly Beer Week, a week-long suds fest taking place March 7 through March 16.

10 Days of Special EventsPhilly Beer Week invites beer lovers to try special dinners and tastings, go on tours of Philadelphia’s best pubs and breweries, watch home-brewing technique demos, catch a cask ale festival and more.

Click here to see a full schedule of special Beer Week events.

The events provide great opportunities to sample local brews like Yards, Victory, Triumph and Sly Fox while experiencing Philly’s great neighborhoods.

Visit Philly Beer Week for ticketing information, details and a schedule of events.

The lobby of the Marriott is under renovation, so that bar is closed.  There will be an IETF Lounge & Bar open starting at the afternoon break onward on the 4th floor.  Other bars nearby: Champions Sports bar is in the building, Loews bar and lounge is directly across the street.  Champions is more of a “bar” whereas the Loews has a lot of tables and couches and is more lounge-like.

The social is sold out but there are still ~150 people who have not yet paid.  It is safe to assume that some of them will not do so, which means some tickets will be opened back up.  You can get on the wait list here: https://www.amsl.com/ietf/socialwaitlist.py

See the social page for more info.  The menu is now totally finalized. 

We also pushed the start time from 6:30pm to 7:00pm.

The social is filling fast, and is limited to 500 people.  If you’d like to attend, please register as soon as possible at http://ietf71.comcast.net/?page_id=12.

This is just a reminder to book your hotel room SOON!  See the notice regarding the Philadelphia Flower show on our hotels page here.  If you want to check in before Sunday, you should read this notice and book ASAP.

In the “Eating” section on the nav bar above or directly here. We’ll keep adding to this (particularly to the lunch section), and will organize the list better as well. You will be well fed in Philadelphia!

This is always a difficult thing to address, given that everyone has their favorite! But Gridskipper put together a list of places to check out here. My own two cents: Pat’s and Geno’s are located right next to each other, so you could try both at once. But these are also major tourist attractions, so often busy and a popular spot though a bit remote. Jim’s is on South Street, which is easy to find and is in a shopping / dining district so that there’s other stuff to do nearby. Sonny’s and Campo’s are at 2nd and Market Streets, which means it is just a 15 minute walk from the IETF venue, so probably worth trying for that reason alone. They are also located in Old City, a very popular drinking and dining area.

When trying a cheesesteak, consider whether you want cheese and what kind. Some folks get Cheese Wiz (aka wiz), of which I am not a fan. There’s also usually Provolone (my choice) and American — or no cheese at all. You should also decide if you want sauteed onions or not. And then you decide if you want it with Italian sauce (aka a Pizza Steak = provolone + sauce) or not. If you do not get sauce, people either put ketchup on the steak, or go without anything extra. You can of course get lots of other toppings, from mushrooms to peppers, but these are your major choices.

Common orders:
1 - Cheesesteak with onions and cheese wiz
2 - Cheesesteak with onions and provalone
3 - PizzaSteak with onions

Yum…

The new SoundAbout Philly site, available here, is a project of the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Philadelphia Tourism and Marketing Corp. You can download several audio tours of the city, from history and the founding of the nation, to the city at night and a restaurant tour — all integrated with Google Maps. Check out the following audio tours:
* History Unplugged
* Philadelphia Flavorhoods
* MyPhilly
* Philly Noir
* Once Upon a Nation
* Vintage Philly
* A Foodie’s Philly
* Hands-On Fun
* Literary Philadelphia
* Haunted Philly
* Left of Center
* India Meets Philadelphia

 Be sure to check out our eventual restaurants page.  In the meantime, for vegetarians, check out Gridskipper and a recent article of top vegetarian spots in the city at http://gridskipper.com/travel/philadelphia/top-picks-going-veggie-in-philly-299017.php.

We’re planning a truly unforgettable social event for IETF 71. Check out the newly published social page here or click the Social link on the navigation bar above. The social will take place at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, with access to the main museum’s collections, as well as a special Frida Khalo exhibit. There will be an open bar with premium beers, wine, and liquor, as well as great food that ranges from Mexican-themed items related to the exhibit, sushi, lamp, beef, chicken, shrimp, and vegetarian selections.