The NISOD conference

The business part of the trip was the NISOD conference....I attended one session that was outstanding, three that were very worthwhile, two that were definitely so-so and four that were REALLY bad! Overall, I would have to give the conference a very "average" rating.

Having said that I am glad I went, it was a very good week!

The Conference center was absolutely massive!

I think there were about 2000? participants (total guess)

NISOD only used a small part of the convention center

Dinner - the key note speaker during this lunch was awesome and the best part of the conference

Austin - Miscellaneous "Tourist Attractions"

I did try and see as much of Austin as I could...but found that much to my suprise, there were not that  many "touristy" things to do. Here is a sundry list of Austin attractions

Austin is very proud to be "weird". In fact, it is the only place in Texas that has not traditionally voted Republican in the Presidential elections. There are numerous artists, hippies and musicians.....and despite being in the heart of Texas - they are even for gun control!

Downtown was also strange...there would be 40 story skyscrapers, next to one story warehouses and empty lots

There is a large lake park in the middle of the city (called Lady Bird Lake)

 The lake is formed by damming the Colorado river

A statue of Stevie Ray Vaugh - who it turns out was born and raised in Austin

This was a cool (and VERY popular) place a couple of miles away from the hotel called the Barton Springs pool. This is a natural pool that people use to cool off from the summer heat.

Our last night after dinner we went to this bridge to see the Congress Bridge bat colony go out hunting at night. There were quite a few, but in mid-summer I guess some 1.5 million bats live and hunt from this location

Not our video...but this is what it looks like

Austin - Love the Food!

Austin has tons of restaurants...and we ate at several that were just excellent!

The first night - Jackie, Nancy and I tried Moonshines....(a bit pricey, but great food)

A roof-top patio on Pecan street

This waiter at this restaurant was quite a character - he was loud, proud and carried quite an attitude.....he did warm up to us by the end of dinner (when he got his tip!)

There is tons of variety...from very modern, to a number of good ole texas BBQ places (this one was called the Iron Works...and was my favourite place in Austin)

I think EVERY restaurant had a roof top patio