It’s that time of year again, when the fans of Apple and its various iThings pile into Moscone Center in San Francisco to ogle products, learn a few things, or just hang out and talk about Apple tech. I’m talking about the MacWorld/iWorld event (I wish they’d do something about that weird slash-enabled name) which starts this Thursday, March 27th, and runs until Saturday the 29th. If you are one of those last minute shoppers, you can still get tickets on the event’s web site, BUT I’ve tracked down a couple of promo code links that will get you some discounted tickets. For example, currently the Expo Hall pass is $25 at the site, but using the promo links you can get it for $10! The Conference Pass is cut from $299 to $149. Don’t wait too long though, I don’t know how long the codes are good for and it’ll be $30 at the door.
- http://www.retailmenot.com/view/macworldiworld.com
- http://sf.funcheap.com/macworld-discount-tickets/
Naturally, they have a mobile app to help you get around and stay on schedule for those conference sessions you paid for and you can get the iOS version here, and the Android version here. This year they are using Passbook (finally), on your iPhone, to manage your ticket and speed up registration so you can get down to the Expo Hall quicker before it gets crowded. They will also be implementing iBeacons which they will be using for their Interactive Scavenger Hunt. Here’s the details on that;
“The theme for the interactive scavenger hunt is “30 Years of the Mac”, and through a series of clues found on posters throughout the Expo Hall, participants must find and scan four specific 2d barcodes. When an attendee downloads a beacon enabled pass and is in range of a Bleu Station iBeacon, a hint will be presented to find the next beacon-enabled pass. Participants who collect all four beacon-enabled passes will receive a three-month free subscription to MacworldMagazine and will be entered into a drawing for a MacMania cruise to the British Isles.”
For those of you that don’t know, the original MacWorld Expo was first held in San Francisco in 1985. In later years, versions of the Expo were held in Boston, Washington D.C., Tokyo, and London. Throughout those years, Apple maintained a large presence at the Expo, usually with large product displays, training sessions, and providing Apple product specialists to which to direct detailed questions. Starting in 1997, Apple used the Expo for the announcements for their newest products, presented as a keynote presentation by Steve Jobs, which was the kickoff to the rest of the Expo. 2009 was the last Expo that Apple attended, rumored to be, in part, due to no longer wishing product announcements to be constrained to the Expo’s event dates. From 2010 to the present, there have been a number of changes to the conference to adapt to the changes in the industry, but it is essentially the same quality event that it has always been…it’s just that most of the cool parties are gone. :'(
Hope to see you there!