You too @RosemaryOrchard. I’ll get to thank you in person for all of the indispensable Shortcuts help you have given to me! Stoked to meet folks this great community in person.
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I booked my ticket after seeing MPU 500 would be live at Macstock. Been a listener for over 5 years, can’t wait to finally connect in person with folks in this community (and get some stickers)!
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I’m in. Looking forward to it.
Oh for mac’s sake, people. Chicago is so easy to negotiate by public transportation. And the location for macstock is reachable from O’Hare or Midway by “L” and Metra train (fun fact: same train that stopped a stone’s throw from last night’s live podcast event!) and a short ride on the bus or Uber. If you’re worried about traffic, car rental, etc., you can get there from either airport without a car. All that info is on your Maps.app, by the way. You could get away with all public transportation, even coming from Midway if you wanted to, with little to no Ubering required. Now, the Midway to Crystal Lake commute isn’t exactly a quick one, but it’s not exactly close and hey, you get a nice tour of the city.
Anyway, the point is that my kids had this system figured out in elementary school; you clever mac folk should have no problem. (But feel free to PM, plenty of experience here.)
And as someone pointed out, Southwest doesn’t fly into O’Hare, although basically every other airline does. So either pony up for a regular airline ticket, or for the cost/time to get to the NW burbs from the south side (the best side, btw. 
)
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Last year, I got to Crystal Lake without any major issues. Couldn’t find that part of my public transportation leg that I needed to get me to the hotel. At that point, I took an Uber that cost me $21.72.
Train (Metra) comes into Crystal Lake:
https://metrarail.com/maps-schedules/train-lines/UP-NW/stations/MCHENRY.
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I loved it. You get to meet like minded people like yourself. I met a number of podcasters I listen to on a regular basis there.
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As a Chicago native I didn’t know I needed this rant in my life! I live in the city and am just debating getting a hotel for the night to make things easier.
From my understanding people tend to hang out together in the evening as well, I’m not sure what the timings will be for things either, I heard that we should be seeing the speaker list soon though!
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There was hanging out last year. There was also karaoke and games.
Well, that settles it, I’m staying home.
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Australian here - someone convince me why going would be worth the cost of the flights - probably AU$1500.
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Being from Chicago I can tell you O’Hare is the best choice for this trip. Midway is at least a 1.5 to 2 hour trip vs O’Hare which is a little bit over 1 hour to Macstock.
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It doesn’t hurt to have more than one opinion on the matter.
I’m in there and super geeked to be attending (pun intended)
Looking forward to chilling with like minded folks and seeing my first live podcast! woot!
can’t wait to meet everyone
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I just signed my son and myself up for the conference. This should be interesting as it will be my first non-programming conference (MacHack, WWDC) I’ve attended.
Do I have to sign up to attend MPU #500 or is there room for everybody to attend that?
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I also had the chance to meet @MacSparky last year. Also have the chance to have lunch with @mikeschmitz and his wife at last years MacStock. I am really looking forward to this year.
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I get it. I live in Elmhurst. Attended last year for the first time. This year i am staying a the Hampton. 
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MPU episode 500 is part of one of the days. I think away but check the site.