March 2: Live MPU Recording in Chicago

What has been the biggest challenge to keeping MPU content fresh and engaging? Or have there been any challenges?

Do you see email going away or moving to something like Slack?

  • if not macOS: Windows, Linux or else?
  • which was your worst tech purchase ever?
  • why do you rarely mention perfectly capable open-source software?
  • did you inhale?
  • island question: which 3 things (pro level: non-tech or only 1 from Apple)?
  • what skill do you miss/would like to learn?

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Suddenly a Rosemary Orchard appears

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It’s Hurley time!

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Could have streamed this on Twitch or YouTube!

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The episode will be out tomorrow though! :slight_smile:

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58%20PM

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Did they dress alike on purpose?

My first thought was …

and my second…

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The fact that Myke and Stephen were wearing the same shirt did come up. :smile:

Mac Power Users Live in Chicago

When I saw that MPU would record a show live in front of an audience in Chicago in early March, I jumped at the chance to. I was able to grab one of the tickets that included not only the show itself, but a meet and greet with @macsparky and @ismh after the event.

As much as I like MPU, flying to Chicago just for a few hours seemed like a bit of a waste, so I decided to make a full weekend out of it. I love visiting museums and the Museum of Science and Industry and the Field Museum of Natural History are two of my favorites. I visited both many times when my grandparents lived in the Chicago suburbs, but I haven’t been to either in over a decade. The two museums and the recording of MPU would make a nice weekend trip.

Friday

One of the nice things about Chicago is that it’s one of the few cities I can get a direct flight to from Wichita. I was able to fly out late Friday afternoon.

Saturday

I spent the day on Saturday at the Museum of Science and Industry. It’s changed quite a bit since I was last there and it’s a very interesting museum. I went all out and took the tours of their coal mine mockup and U-505, a captured German submarine. Despite spending the entire day there I wasn’t quite able to see everything.

Over at the Mac Power Users forum I’d arranged to meet a couple of folks for dinner before the show (@Scottisloud , @MacGuyMI, and @Waldemayer). We rendezvoused at an Apple Store near the venue and to a nearby Mexican restaurant. The food was quite good (better than I expected for Mexican in Chicago) and it was great talking to fellow MPU listeners.

MPU Live!

We headed over to the venue and got there just before the doors opened at 7pm. Before the show I had a chance to talk with @mikeschmitz, as well as recent Focused guest Chris Bailey.

Three microphones

One that was obvious as soon as we entered the theater was that there were three microphones up on stage. This lead to some speculation about who might be guesting on the live show.

David and Stephen

Things got rolling about 7:30 as David Sparks and Stephen Hackett came out (to much applause). After some discussion of David’s misadventures with a missing Documents folder on his iMac Pro, they were joined by @RosemaryOrchard! She and Stephen discussed the new MacBook Air, which they both seem to like quite a bit.

David, Stephen, and Rose

Rose was not the only special guest though. After the discussion of the Air they brought out Relay FM co-founder Mike Hurley!

David, Stephen, and Myke

Getting two guests to take transatlantic flights to appear at your live podcast recording is pretty impressive and seeing Myke and Rose was a real treat.

The rest of the show just flew by. Afterwards folks who scored the “VIP” tickets (about half the audience) got to hang around for a meet and greet. David, Stephen, Rose, and Mike put in a lot of time talking to folks (it seemed like David in particular was really enjoying it).

In addition to the hosts and guest there was a selection of other podcasters/bloggers in the audience as well. Beyond aforementioned Mike Schmitz and Chris Bailey I also had a chance to talk with Mike Potter, organizer Macstock. Talking to him has me pretty excited about going to Macstock for the first time in July (I’d bought a ticket even before they announced that Mac Power Users episode 500 would be recorded live at the conference). I didn’t even get a chance to talk with Alex Cox of Supercomputer or John Voorhees of MacStories.

But beyond the big names I enjoyed the opportunity to talk with fellow Mac Power Users listeners. It’s always good to get a chance to share some fellowship with folks who have common interests.

All told it was quite late by the time I headed out and about midnight when I got back to the hotel.

Sunday

This morning I’m off to the Field Museum and a very late flight back home.

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And the same jacket!

The jackets aren’t quite identical. And Myke, being the dapper Englishman, has accessorized his with a pocket square.

Nice write up about the event @ChrisUpchurch. It was a pleasure to meet you last night.

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Editing waiting for my flight home!

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aaaaand it’s live!

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Definitely a fun time - it was interesting watching the podcast in process, and it sounded as good as any other “studio” show. Kudos to Stephen for dialing up the humorous commentary - I certainly have never laughed as much at an MPU podcast.

Lol. As opposed to where – Mexico City? Chicago population is 1/3 Hispanic, majority Mexican. You might say that affects local cuisine. I mean, half the restaurants near my house are Mexican - and I live in a Polish neighborhood!

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As opposed to Phoenix, which is considerably more Hispanic (almost all Mexican) than Chicago is.