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NYC Student/Alumni Networking Event Whirlwind Trip Report!

NYC Student/Alumni Networking Event Whirlwind Trip Report!

Old Dec 15th, 2010, 11:41 AM
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NYC Student/Alumni Networking Event Whirlwind Trip Report!

I posted a message to the Forum about two weeks ago mentioning a bus trip being sponsored by the university where I am employed for a student/alumni networking event in New York City, so I wanted to do a brief trip report about how well the whole thing turned out.

We left the university at 6:30 a.m. as planned and only had one student no-show, although we repeatedly tried his cell phone number to no avail. He finally called my supervisor about 7:15 a.m. and asked if we had left yet….

The bus ride was fairly uneventful, except after we got back on the bus after an hour-long lunch break, the bus driver told us he knew how to get into the city via the Lincoln Tunnels, but after that he had no clue about finding the Waldorf Astoria Hotel (GPS units are so inexpensive – you’d think the bus company could provide these in the buses, and if I had known he didn’t have one and/or didn’t know how to find things, I would have brought my own!). I had a Google map and my Streetwise Manhattan map with me, so between the two, the driver was able to get us to our destination by 3:30 p.m.

The students were so funny – they cheered when they saw the skyline of the city and then when we got into midtown, they were looking out of the window and joking around and saying things such as “Oh, look -there’s a native New Yorker!”

After dropping us off at the Waldorf, the bus driver left to take the bus into New Jersey, if he could find it, where he was going to get a motel room and get some sleep.

We met with some of the alumni and university staff attending the networking event and toured the public areas of the Waldorf. Some things I’ve read have implied that it’s past its prime, but based on the richness of the surroundings, the attire (LOTS of beautiful furs, etc.) of quite a number of the people coming in and out, I’d have to assume it is still a very viable place.

Boy, did we ever luck out with the weather! These last few days in Western Pennsylvania have been bitterly cold – the kind of cold where the inside of your nose freezes up! Last week in NYC, though, the weather was probably in the mid-20’s, but calm and clear. I wore a wool coat and silk long underwear, as well as a hat, scarf, gloves and leather UGGS, and I was quite toasty walking around. I was almost too toasty once we sat down in the theater, but it wasn’t bad after a while.

Since my co-worker had never been in New York City before, it was fun taking her around to the sites, however brief our visit. We walked from the Waldorf to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where we admired the grandeur of the beautiful building. My friend lit a candle and then we walked around the Stations of the Cross before stopping to admire the nativity scene.

We walked across to the Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree, which I think is prettier than the one I saw when I was in NYC two years ago between Christmas and New Years, plus since it was still fairly early in the month, the crowds weren’t half as bad. We stood and watched the skaters and got to listen to the music and see the projected lightshow snowflakes on the building across from the Rockefeller Center, before going up to the Top of the Rock for our 6 p.m. appointment. This was my fourth time at the TOTR, and it’s always magnificent! We lucked out as the evening was crystal clear, so we got some great photos of the Empire State Building and the city.

After the TOTR, we walked through Times Square – my friend was amazed at the lights, the activity, the crowds (and as I mentioned before, the crowds weren’t that bad). We saw a very minor fender bender between an SUV and a yellow cab, and the driver of the SUV pulled around the cab and blocked him from proceeding. The SUV driver then got out and started yelling very colorful language at the cab driver. It looked as if it could have escalated into a nasty scene, so the passengers in the cab got out and quietly walked away. After a lot of yelling, the SUV driver took off, too.

We got a very tasty hot dog from a street vendor, then walked over to the Majestic Theater to see The Phantom of the Opera. The show was great! We had seats in the second row in the first balcony, so we had a fantastic view of the stage and the chandelier dropping, etc. I got discount tickets through www.broadwaybox.com. After the show we walked back to the Waldorf to touch base with our group, then went out for something to eat.

Originally I wanted to go to Maggie's Place after the show, but it was open only until midnight, and we were looking for somewhere to eat around 11:30 p.m., so I asked the concierge at the Waldorf to suggest somewhere that served later and he directed us to P.J. Clarke's (http://pjclarkes.com/pjclarkes/). My friend suggested walking, but since it was late and we had already walked quite a bit, we got a cab to the pub. The front was the bar area and it was PACKED.....! I had no choice but to press against more bodies than I ever have in the past, both coming in and going out. A couple of the guys looked like they were enjoying it just a little too much! We went back to the dining room area and ordered hamburgers and Bailey's Irish Cream, with both tasting very good. By now it was past midnight, and my friend exclaimed, “Don’t these people have to get up and go to work in the morning?” It does seem as if a lot of them have no problem with late nights, whereas if I tried this with any regularity, I’d look like death warmed over!

We got a cab back to the Waldorf at about 1 a.m., and heard that the dinner was over by around 10:00, so the students got a couple of hours to tour the city. Some went and walked around Times Square, some walked up Fifth Avenue and window-shopped, plus we also heard that one of our alumni told the group that he owned a bar in Alphabet City and invited the students to come check it out. On the bus earlier in the morning, we heard one of the students exclaiming to another about the anniversary of John Lennon’s death being the day before, so she was going to try to get to the Strawberry Fields memorial in Central Park. (I was amused by her comment, “Can you believe it’s been 30 YEARS?” when she couldn’t have been more than 21 or 22….). Despite my pre-trip fears that we’d lose some of them or they’d show up totally loaded, all of the students arrived back at the Waldorf in fairly good condition by 1:30 as we told them, but the bus driver never showed up for another hour (he told us traffic was heavy. Really? At 1:30 a.m.?) We loaded up the students and got out of the city by 3 a.m. and back to the university at 9:30 a.m. It was a L-O-N-G day!!!! I didn't go to work on Friday, because all they would have seen was me face down on the desk!

While being a bit of a whirlwind visit (essentially nine hours of actual on-the-ground time), it was great! The students’ enthusiasm was infectious (and they have been emailing me with feedback, and they all thought the whole event was grreat), and the weather, holiday spirit and decorations all made for a wonderful time for all of us!
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Old Dec 15th, 2010, 11:57 AM
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All I can say is wow. That was a looooong day. Glad you were able to make good use of it and glad you didn't get saddled with babysitting the kids.
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Old Dec 15th, 2010, 12:02 PM
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mclaurie - yes, it was extremely long! I think I catnapped for brief periods of time on the way home, but nothing substantial. The students seemed to be able to sleep through everything, including a brief break at a rest stop when the driver turned on the bus and a few of us got out to use the facilities (there was a restroom on the bus but I'm not sure that anybody ever used it, although it was nice having it there just in case).
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Old Dec 15th, 2010, 12:02 PM
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Meant to say - turned on the bus LIGHTS.....
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Old Dec 15th, 2010, 12:26 PM
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I have come back into the city from Newark late at night and yes it can take a long time to get through the tunnels back into the city. So while your bus driver may have been exaggerating, it's true, sometimes it's taken an hour or more to get back into the from New Jersey.
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Old Dec 15th, 2010, 12:32 PM
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Did any body throw up in the bus as you had feared?
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Old Dec 15th, 2010, 12:36 PM
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If they did, they did it very quietly!
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Old Dec 15th, 2010, 01:34 PM
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It sounds like it all worked out wonderfully! I'm so glad
Thanks for a great trip report!
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Old Dec 15th, 2010, 04:41 PM
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Sounds like great trip. but next time I would get a different bus company. Even without a GPS you can hardly miss the Waldrof. (And yes, it's nothing like it's former glory - in the 1940's and 1950s). the public areas don;t look bad - but are very old fashioned - but most of the rooms are very tired. And there's nothing new or trendy there.
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Old Dec 16th, 2010, 04:37 AM
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Traffic into the city at 1AM, no I don't think so, I'm guessing he got lost again, especially without you to guide him,

Sounds like you had a great timem and maybe this will end up being a yearly event. Next time you might try staying overnight and seeing more of the city or arrange interviews for the students for internships and jobs, be a great learning experience,
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Old Dec 16th, 2010, 05:08 AM
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nytraveler - unfortunately, the university has a contract with this company, so our hands are somewhat tied. We are having our contract department look into a some kind of refund.

One funny story - as we were walking through Times Square, I said I wondered where the naked cowboy was. My friend looked at me and said, "The WHAT?" I explained about the guy who plays his guitar dressed only in a cowboy hat, cowboy boots and briefs, and she said, "You're kidding, right?"
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