Who's going to NTI 2009 in New Orleans: 5/16-5/21 ??

CraigB-RN, MSN, RN · Mar 27, 2009

Actualy pre-hospital sessions start on the 16th.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Mar 27, 2009

Preconferences, you mean.

CraigB-RN, MSN, RN · Mar 27, 2009

Guess you can tell what I was working on when I posted thae message.

For those of you who are paying your own way. I just used priceline, got a good deal on the room. I bid $45 and got the courtyard. It's not a bad place, I've stayed there before. I got the 3star for what hotwife and other sites at the rate the 1 star places. I didn't take the time to realy research and hunt this time, but it's an option.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Mar 27, 2009

You did good! The Courtyard is on the shuttle route so you'll have easy access to the venue and you have no idea how important that is unless you've been without it!

CraigB-RN, MSN, RN · Mar 27, 2009

Yeah I did that taht much research. And I should say I use hotwire and priceline a lot and am pretty good at guessing hotels now. It's also close enough to walk if you need to work of some of the food I'm planning on eating while I"m there.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Mar 27, 2009

"It's also close enough to walk if you need to work of some of the food I'm planning on eating while I"m there."

I hear that! But if this is your first NTI you won't know that you're going to be walking 15 miles a day between sessions! Wear comfortable shoes, and bring a sweatshirt or light jacket, cuz it's Arctically cold in some of those rooms. I don't know yet what kind of food vendors are available on-site, but that's been an issue both in Atlanta (where once we found the food court at CNN was no longer an issue) and Chicago. There isn't a lot of time between sessions to go grab something to eat, so you may find you're eating less than you would normally.

PrairieRN · Mar 29, 2009

There are only a few food places within the conference center in New Orleans and not may places within walking distance. It was a big problem the last time the NTI was there.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Mar 30, 2009

That's not much of a surprise. Big breakfasts and dinners with vending machine snacks in between seem to be the rule of the day at NTI. Most of the people I know who have gone in recent years have made comments on their evaluations of the conference about the dearth of fast, inexpensive food on site. Guess we'll all be doing it again this year too.

QT3.14RNinCA · Mar 30, 2009

Hi NurseCass & Everyone -- This is my first post here :heartbeat.

I went to NTI last year in Chicago and will be attending again this year. I'm so excited! I found the best way to enjoy the conference and have a mini-vacation is to plan ahead. Your groups can either come a day or so earlier (or stay later) so you guys can explore New Orleans without worrying about the classes. Or, you guys can get an early start and leave earlier in the afternoon.

Last year, we signed up for a Sunrise Session (free but you have to sign up) that starts @ 7:30 but you get breakfast with the class. Then we picked early classes (You will get a huge book with class descriptions) and left by 2-3 in the afternoon. That gave us a few hours to explore the city. This year my friend and I are flying in a few days early so we can enjoy New Orleans. There are so many things to do @ NTI that it's like being a kid in a candy store. I loved the selection of all the classes - some are very basic while some offer "cutting edge" info.

Hope that helps :nurse: I can't wait to try the Beignets!

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Mar 31, 2009

The book isn't going to be huge this year. Much of the content from the book will be on a disc that you get with your registration package around the middle of April. NTI is going green.

CraigB-RN, MSN, RN · Mar 31, 2009

Planing ahead is def the best way to handle any conference, no matter were you are going. This year I'm going down a day ahead. signed up for some of the preconference sessions, and have maps already printed out to the resteraunts I"m planning on visiting while I'm there. I've even managed to make some networking plans for an evening dinner on tuesday. Packing clothes that work for both conference and for an evening on the town so I don't hve to go back to the hotel if I don't want to.

My primary purpose is to go to the sessions. I alternate a nurse confernce one year and a doc conference the next year. The Doc sponsored conferences are the vacation conferences. Did Hawaii last year. The Docs are always done by noon so you've got the afternoon to play. :) and i still manage to walk away with 25+ hours of con ed.

Again to those of you who haven't made houseing arangements yet, don't discount using priceline or the like. Just do your homework ahead of time. I've got a 3.5 star room for $45/night less than 2 blocks from the conference center. (your milage may vary)

RoyalNurse · Apr 15, 2009

Hi, I'm new to NTI, I have a question: How do you register for the classes? When I registered on the AACN website, they were charging $99 to $200 dollars for each "ticketed session". Aren't classes included in the 500 dollar conference fee? If you don't register for any classes, are you stuck just wandering around looking at exhibits?

Thanks in advance!! :)