Lessons Learned...: Conference Bracket 1

The second half of my month of March is bracketed by the annual conventions of two of my professional associations. The first of these two big meetings was in Philadelphia, which turns out to not really be the City of Brotherly Love (three cab drivers and two locals told me that the locals are more rude and nasty than New Yorkers), which was the site of the annual convention of NASPA, Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. Yes, the association changed its name, but kept the acronym (used to be the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators). Don't even get me started on how crazy the concept of "change" is to this group: across the hall from convention registration were two "camps" - the "No" camp and the "Yes" camp: two factions within the association urging members to vote against or for a proposal to consolidate with another association (the one hosting its annual convention two weeks after this one). Speaking of "camp," my conference roommate calls these trips "going to camp," but for me, they really are work trips. Yes, it's always fun to socialize and network with good friends and great colleagues if we are all lucky enough to get to travel to the same conference once a year, but usually I have obligations that add up to 12-hour or 16-hour days. No wonder I was craving going home to St. Louis for my own bedroom, bathroom, and TV once again by about Day 3. But here's a recap of the trip.

STL: Where "Up In The Air" was largely filmed.

Rough skies made for a fun (for me) hop to Chicago (O'Hare).

The trials and tribulations of being a secondary airport: Canadair Regional Jets (read: no overhead luggage space) are very common, as is checking your bag in the jetway. Almost makes me wish for an Airbus A319...almost.

Delayed flight STL > ORD, inexplicably "offloaded" from my connection, saved by a mechanical delay, reloaded onto the original connection, and made it safely through thunderclouds ORD > PHL.

Cute room in the downtown Marriott; not a cute view, but thankfully close to the Reading Terminal Market (cheap locally made yogurt covered raisins and M&Ms trailmix? Yes, please!)

A friend in San Francisco told me that my blog was like "food porn." Um, should I be concerned about that? Yeah, I didn't think so. Finding vegetarian options in the land of the Philly Cheesesteak was predictably difficult, even in restaurants I would not expect to be so meat/seafood-centric.

Whipped honey butter with smoked black lava sea salt made up for the soggy bread basket on a downpour rainy night.

I basically had to tell the kitchen to make this mixed grilled vegetables and pasta with pink sauce dish. There was literally no entree without meat or seafood on a two-page menu at a highly recommended Italian restaurant.

But there was this appetizer: lightly battered asparagus "fries."

Things got better after the first dinner - I guess I had to earn my per diem meals with my conference days.

When not in the meeting rooms of the downtown Marriott, I spent most of my time in the Pennsylvania Convention Center, a short walk (and the annual Philadelphia Flower Show) away.

Jewish Holocaust memorial

Mac and Cheese bites (a.k.a., cubes of goodness) - that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

Grilled veggie flatbread.

Evening walk through "Love Park."

Recruiting potential new employees throughout the conference!

Masonic Temple.

Independence Hall.

Bizarre installation under one convention center escalator: those are Chinese soup bowls (a disconcertingly odd mix of Crate and Barrel/IKEA stockroom and Holocaust Museum artifacts).


A lychee cosmopolitan at the namesake restaurant of "Iron Chef" Morimoto.

Beautiful beet salad.

The restaurant interior is designed to feel like you are under the ocean.

Veggie roll.

Tofu and Vegetable clay pot.

The acrylic wall dividers were lit from below and changed colors throughout the night. Very cool table lamps too.


Matcha tres leches - a sweet yummy to end the extravagance.


Made it through 4 full days and nights to the closing speaker.

Powering through a hoarse voice, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. connected environmental justice to the mission of higher education.

I'm always happy to stay through the convention's closing because I don't have the morning rush to the airport and because the closing speaker is almost always a real highlight of the time for me. A later departure also meant there was time for one more local foodie favorite: lunch at El Vez.