vienna waits for me

When it rains, it pours. Now with three papers accepted to the CHI conference in Vienna, I was just notified that our AVI submission (to be presented in Italy in May) has also gotten in. This has an important implication: in order to reduce air fare costs I must make the sacrifice of staying in Europe for a month between conferences. So I will be a bum, but only out of consideration to the financial concerns of my advisor and the good folks at PARC. Looking at the preliminary CHI conference schedule, it looks like Nathan and I are scheduled as the first talk in the first listed session (entitled "Keeping Safe"). This means that not only might we be the very first paper in the proceedings (yay visibility), but we get our talk out of the way early (translation: more time to enjoy Austrian beer halls free of all worries).

To make things even better, I just got back from STA travel on Telegraph and was able to get a one-way ticket for under $500. I'm not sure how much more round-trip costs. The only catch was that you had to be a full time student and be 25 or younger (at least for the Northwest flight I got, I'm not sure what availability for other airlines is like). One-way tickets through other carriers (ITA, Orbitz, Expedia) were coming up ridiculously expensive, with the exception of a previously unknown-to-me Polish airline that routes you through Warsaw and includes a segment in a prop plane. I'll save that adventure for another day. So if you're a student going to CHI, check them out (www.sta.com). Of course, the sweetest part will likely be the layover in Amsterdam. Good times :)