Taipei IDA Conference

First, is anyone else going to be at the IDA Conference and ICSID General Assembly in Taipei next week? I am leaving tomorrow and will be there through Friday.

Grab a beer? Coffee?

It has been about 8 years since I’ve been to Taiwan. Can anyone give me some tips…especially with respect to what kind of cash should I have on me when I land to grab a taxi, etc.? Will Visa work in these cases?

Jon:

I won’t be able to make it to IDA/ICSID, but I travel often to Taipei so I can give you a few tips.

  1. Cost from the airport to downtown:
    taxi: 1,000-1200 NTD
    bus: 140 NTD
    I usually take the Airbus bus, since it stops at most of the big hotels (Grand Hyatt, Far Eastern, etc.) Just make sure to get on the correct one (there are East and West lines). Assuming you are landing in Terminal 2, take a right after you get out of customs, then another right, then a left. The bus station is inside the airport.

  2. If you are traveling around town at all, learn to take the MRT (subway), it is a fantastic way to get around (and much faster since it avoids the terrible Taipei traffic).

  3. If you don’t have NTD when you land, there is an ATM in the airport. ATM’s are the quickest and cheapest way to get cash (they typically give you the best exchange rate).

  4. Design Sights: If you have time, definitely check out the large Eslite bookstore near Taipei City Hall, lots of interesting design-focused products.

-K

Thanks, sfpd! I am here now and I will do what I can to check out Eslite. The IDA conference has been a great experience so far.

Cool! Write something up about the show if you have time, I would definitely be interested in hearing about it.

The whole trip was pretty astounding. The IDA conference was your typical conference. Some good speakers, some not so good. Some good break out sessions, some not so good. The organization of it was mind blowing. Taiwan, and the the investment they made in this whole thing was nothing short of astounding.

The thing that struck me most were the exhibits. The Taiwan Design Scene is rocking. Some pretty amazing work on display…student work in particular. What caught me most was the exposure to Design the kids of Taiwan were getting. Children were being brought to the expos by the bus load. I believe that kind of exposure to this industry is going to have a profound affect in 10 - 20 years.

If you had that kind of expo in North America, you would be able to shoot a cannon through the hall and be hard pressed to hit a person, let alone a child.

I also attended the ICSID General Assembly as a representative for Art Center College of Design. That was nothing short of a life changing experience. I’ve been wading around in Design’s version of the kiddie pool up here in Vancouver. I got a chance to interact with some of the best Design Minds in the world. Chat over lunch, over beers, etc. A true global community of Designers in one room. Simply amazing experience.

If you haven’t considered getting involved on the leadership level of design…be it ICSID, or IDSA, or some other group…I highly recommend it.

Thanks for the write-up ip!