#ACIAfterDark, the conference after the official conference goes to sleep, is legendary. The discussion, fueled by the day’s mix of great sessions and great people and by a few cocktails, continues strong into the wee hours. Whether you’re looking for good food, good drink, or good conversation, we’re promised to find it. Amanda Godward shares her thoughts on that and other things to do in Detroit.
Welcome to Detroit!
Detroit is excited to host the 2014 ACI National Home Performance and as one of Metro Detroit’s home performance contractors, I would like to personally invite you to enjoy our great city.
Michigan and Detroit are embracing home performance. Programs such as Home Performance with ENERGY STAR have been ongoing for years. Our contractor driven advocacy organization Michigan Energy Efficiency Contractors Association (MEECA)* is active in promoting the benefits of home performance. BetterBuildings for Michigan programs and our non-profit financing organization Michigan Saves* are helping consumers improve their home’s comfort and reduce energy consumption. As Mike outlines in other posts in this series, the ACI’s National Home Performance Conference is all about sharing lessons learned. Michigan is looking forward to sharing ideas to help grow our amazing industry. But this blog post is not just about the technical reasons to come to The D, it’s about all of the fun things you can do in my home town.
AROUND TOWN
The People Mover is one mode of public transportation and what most of you will be taking from the hotel at The Ren Cen (Renaissance Center) to the conference at Cobo Hall. Detroit has a few distinct districts or neighborhoods including Cork Town, Midtown, Campus Martius Park, Mexican Town, Arena District, Greek Town, and Eastern Market. The People Mover will take you to most of these, and where the People Mover won’t take you, your feet, a taxi or a bus will. Areas all over Detroit are seeing great signs of redevelopment, especially the districts and neighborhoods mentioned above.
EATS & DRINKS
There is plenty of good networking at the ACI Conference and there are a lot of good eats and drinks to enjoy while you network. These are just a few of my and my employees’ favorite places.
- Coney War: The family feud over Layfette Coney or American Coney being the best coney causes great debate. These restaurants are right next door to each other making it easy for you to pick your favorite.
- Cork Town: Slows BBQ (award winning BBQ), St. CeCe’s Pub (limited artisan menu of local goods) and Two James Distillery.
- Midtown: Traffic Jam & Snug (brewery & full menu), La Feria (Spanish tapas), Seva (vegetarian and vegan), Great Lakes Coffee.
- Greek Town: Fishbones, Pegasus Taverna (authentic Greek) and Old Shillelagh (Irish pub).
- Campus Martius Park: Fountain Bistro (great views and food), and Grand Trunk Pub.
- Grand Circus Park: Cliff Bell’s (live Jazz and delicious eats), Hockeytown Café, and The Town Pump Tavern.
FUN
Casinos: Motorcity, MGM Grand, and Greektown, or hop over to Canada to Casers Windsor Casino
Museums: DIA (Detroit Institute of Art), and Motown Museum
Breweries: Detroit Brewing Co, Atwater Brewery, Traffic Jam & Snug, and Motor City Brewing Works
Sports: Visit Comerica Park home of the Detroit Tigers, cruise the Indy Car course at Belle Isle, or if the Wings make the playoffs (fingers crossed) catch a game at The Joe.
Landmarks: Detroit Riverwalk (great views right outside the Ren Cen Hotel), Old Michigan Central Train Station (sight of many movies including Transformers), Joe Lousi Fist, Michigan Theater/parking garage, and The Spirit of Detroit Statue.
We hope you enjoy your visit to Detroit Rock City and gain a wealth of knowledge at the ACI National Conference.
*Full disclosure I am a board member of Michigan Saves, Vice President of MEECA, and just in case you couldn’t tell I am a huge fan of Detroit!
