yapc: Yet Another Perl Conference

YAPC::NA 2003 will be held on the campus of Florida Atlantic University, located in of Boca Raton, Florida, United States.

Currency: US Dollar. Visitors from outside the US will need to exchange currency to the dollar.

• Currency convertor

Climate: In June, Boca Raton will be warm/hot and humid. Bring cool clothing. It would not be unusual to expect temperatures to be 90F/30C with 85%+ humidity.

• Boca Raton weather forecast

Getting There

Boca Raton is in the Southern tip of the US and is easy to get to via planes, trains and automobiles.

By air:

Palm Beach International Airport
Located between Southern Blvd. and Belvedere Rd. just off of I-95. Here is an map. It is roughly 20-30 minutes drive to FAU. There is a directory online airlines. They include Delta, American, Continental, Southwest, and others.

Ft. Lauderdale Airport (FLL)
FLL airport is located in Ft. Lauderdale. It is located about 25 miles south of FAU (20-30 minute drive). The drive time is roughly the same as Palm Beach International, and it is also close to I595 and I95 for driving, and has Tri Rail shuttle service to use Tri Rail. You can also see a list of airlines serving FLL online.

Tri Rail
The Tri Rail system is a train which travels between Palm Beach and Miami for commuters. It can provide quick access between cities or the airport. There is a Tri Rail shuttle bus which will pick up and drop off from the airport (Palm Beach, FLL, and MIA airports). Info is on the website.

Palm Beach County and Broward County have extensive bus systems, if needed.

By train:

South Florida is served by Amtrak. The Silver Service makes multiple stops here in South Florida.

By car:

Parking will be available on-campus at $1 USD per day.

Those roadtripping from home should use MapBlast to get general driving directions. Check back here for local maps.

By bus:

Greyhound Bus does service South Florida and Palm Beach.

On Campus

Check back for more campus info, or visit the FAU Website

Map of the Campus

Map of the University Center Lectures and meals will be in the Grand Palm and Live Oak Pavilion.

Networking

Some attendees will be using FRS radios to coordinate meals, transportation, etc. The primary channel for FRS radios at YAPC is 5. CTCSS-enabled radios should set to 107.2 Hz, or code 14 on most brands (check yours here). If for any reason channel 5 cannot be used, we'll switch to channel 6, code 14. If you're new to the FRS/GMRS world, freeside recommends the Motorola Talkabout T6250 (approx $30 after rebate) and the Garmin Rino 120 which also does GPS. (approx $210).

Accommodations

Seeing Boca Raton and South Florida

There are many many things to do in the area. You can find a list of some things on the Palm Beach Gov't website. Of course, there is the beaches for swimming, snorkeling, boating, parasailing, fishing, people watching, SCUBA diving and tanning. There are also fun places like the Morikami Museum & Japanese Gardens and the Palm Beach Zoo. There is surely an activity, museum, restaurant and place for nightlife for everyone of every age. I highly recommend one of my favorite (and my daughters) places, Lion Country Safari (maybe a group trip could be done?).

Between the things to do in Broward County and Palm Beach County, everyone in the family will keep busy! Also, Disney is only 3.5-4 hours away, Key Largo is about 2 hours away, and the Everglades are minutes away. The Bahamas are a short cruise away, there are night cruises to nowhere (a.k.a. gambling cruises) from FLL and Palm Beach (Palm Beach Princess).