

Ask HN: Coming to Silicon Valley for 14 days, some help needed - CWIZO

Hey fellow hackers,<p>my boss just made me a very happy camper by announcing that he and I will be taking a trip to Silicon valley in March/April for about 14 days. We live in Slovenia (EU) and we're running a pretty successful (for our standards) company (no longer a start-up). We have many products (some are among the biggest web pages/portals in our country) but now we are looking into new fields (mostly mobile). So that's why we are coming to CA. To do some soul searching, maybe catch some inspiration, check out the start-up scene and attend a conference if possible. And take a short break. Kinda like working vacation or something :)<p>Anyway, since neither of us has ever been across the pond, I'd like to ask you, fellow hackers, for some pointers:<p>1. where to stay (hotel, hostel, something else?) so we can work on our laptops while we are there? Nothing fancy, cheap and preferably somewhere close to various meet-ups (if there is such a place)<p>2. what conferences/workshops/events are happening in March/April? We will base our trip around this. We're looking for something that will cover mobile apps (and or mobile web pages) for me (the developer). And something for my boss ("designer", UX, marketing, ...) in the social media, social gaming, ... something along those lines. So far I've found this:  http://where2conf.com/where2011/ http://www.web2expo.com/webexsf2011 and http://en.oreilly.com/mysql2011 (they are all rather expensive, remember we're from Slovenia)<p>3. what to see, where to go, etc. If somebody knows how to get a tour at Google, Apple, Facebook (or at some other cool kids) that would be awesome too.<p>I must sound like a kid in a candy store, probably because I feel like one right about now :)
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waseemsadiq
Check this out: <http://startupdigest.com/>

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CWIZO
thanks, I've subscribed to the SF & bay area.

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cgart
Hi, my suggestion on the hotel is the Cardinal Hotel in The heart of Palo
Alto. I've stayed there couple years ago for a week. For the price they ask
this hotel has anything one do need. The university ave is jus couple of
blocks away and Palo Alto, at least in my opinion, is the heart of Sillicon
Valley.

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CWIZO
Cool, will check it out!

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Psyonic
I can probably help with the Google tour. Send me an email if you're
interested.

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CWIZO
You have mail :)

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andrewtbham
here are a few links of places paul graham and scoble suggested to see:

<http://paulgraham.com/seesv.html>

[http://scobleizer.com/2010/10/04/silicon-valley-places-
that-...](http://scobleizer.com/2010/10/04/silicon-valley-places-that-paul-
graham-cant-get-into/)

~~~
CWIZO
thanks!

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CWIZO
Clickable links to conferences:

<http://where2conf.com/where2011/>

<http://www.web2expo.com/webexsf2011>

<http://en.oreilly.com/mysql2011>

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Swizec
Let me convey some advice as a guy from Slovenia (EU) who just went through
such a trip last October. You are also required to buy me a cup of tea
somewhere in the next few weeks when I'm done with exams :P

Here are some random notes in no particular order.

1\. Decide what you're going there for, just doing a general soul search and
so on can get pretty wasteful. Have events/conferences lined up, if you can
also have meetings with interesting people lined up. A fortnight blazes away
sooper fast if you don't know what you're doing!

2\. Go see the Golden Gate Bridge, I didn't, it still feels weird telling
people I was to SF and didn't see it.

3\. Alcatraz is over-rated.

4\. I can get you contacts with a guy that might be willing to get you a tour
of Apple. He's a friend of a friend and works there. You won't be able to see
much more than the restaurant and backyard. They're hellishly secretive.

5\. Google is a bit less secretive, but you need to find someone who will give
you a tour. I was lucky enough to get in with the Startup School tour last
year.

6\. A lot of everything seems to happen in Palo Alto, so perhaps try staying
somewhere close by. You should definitely check out University Street, it's
pretty nice.

7\. Cheesecake Factory is not just a thing from The Big Bang Theory, it exists
and the cheesecake is absolutely delicious. (university street Palo Alto)

8\. Five starbucks checkins get you a free coffee.

9\. There are only two starbucks open after midnight in the whole general
area.

10\. Use yelp and foursquare to find good places to eat. Foodspotting might be
a good choice.

11\. Do visit San Francisco, Mission is pretty cool because that's where the
hipster/startup scene is. Go visit the mom&pop coffee shops to get a blast
from the past and an awesome experience of how homely something can be (also
awesome places to work from)

12\. Don't buy the large Cola if you go to the cinema. It's something like a
liter of cola.

13\. If you're into that sort of thing, there's a lot of cool culture to be
seen in Mission, Victoria theatre seemed awesome.

14\. Don't forget to go partying at Ruby Skye one night. You can get in for
free if you sign up via the internet a day before. It's the club where
Zuckerberk meets Timberlake in the movie.

15\. Everywhere you will eat the portions will be way too large, everything
other than fast food can get pretty expensive. You will likely eat meat at
least twice a day, try to avoid this, I nearly died ... but it's hard to find
somewhere that doesn't serve primarily meat (or maybe I'm just very silly in
finding places to eat)

16\. For a cool shopping experience visit the huge mall in SF financial
district, it's about the size of the downtown area of Ljubljana.

17\. We mostly stayed in motels, they're very cheap and they all mostly have
wi-fi. I think we ended up spending something like $20 per person per night.

18\. The weather is very warm, but you will acclimatise quickly and start
feeling cold at anything below 20C.

19\. Remember that this is the US. Everything is very far away. Plan
accordingly. If you're savvy enough I'm told it's possible to get super cheap
rent-a-car at the airport. Think we ended up paying something silly like $20
per day for the car.

20\. Visit Dog Patch Labs at Peer 13, it's an extremely pretty incubator and
overall awesome.

21\. There is a nearby chocolate startup, we didn't visit, but I'm told they
hand out free chocolate.

22\. Fly with Lufthansa, it's cheap and sufficiently comfortable.

Ok I can't think of anything more, if you buy me tea I might come up with more
little tips I picked up along the way.

PS: don't get lulled into spending too much money. Everything is at a roughly
40% discount in regards to the Euro and it can get you spending really really
quickly.

PPS: <http://meetup.com>, go find meetups.

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CWIZO
Thanks man! Lot's of great advice. You can count on that coup of tea :)

Regarding 15; I don't eat meat :)

I'll be coming back to SF in September with my friends, so I'll probably
concentrate on the hacker-ish things now, and leave sight seeing (such as
golden bridge) for September.

