Bus Trip Update

Just wanted to give you all an update on the bus pilgrimage to Cupertino on June 5th. We had a tremendous show of interest. Approximately 300 people expressed an interest, plus several people tweeted and e-mailed after the interest form was closed down. Last year, we took 100 people.

Scott Knaster is investigating bus options, including a possible bus directly from SFO to the Apple Store and then up to WWDC for people who wouldn't be able to get up to San Francisco in time for the bus.

We'll start the official signups the middle of this month, once all the arrangements are squared away and we know how many seats there will be. Once the arrangements are made, the seats will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis. If you filled out the interest form, you'll get an e-mail with details of how to reserve your seat and pay for it as soon as signup opens. If you didn't fill out the interest form, you probably want to follow me or Scott on Twitter, as we'll tweet when the signups start and then periodically re-tweet until the seats are gone.

I want to set expectations, especially for first timers. The only thing open at Apple HQ will be The Company Store, which is similar to an Apple Store, but with a lot of Apple schwag and paraphernalia (t-shirts, pens, mugs, sweatshirts, etc). Being not just a Sunday, but the Sunday before WWDC, don't expect to see many Apple employees coming and going, and you will definitely not be able to get into the quad (the inside portion of One Infinite Loop). There is no official Apple recognition of this trip, and we don't have any expectation that there will be.

In the parking lot near The Company Store, there is a restaurant called BJ's, affectionately referred to as "IL7" by Apple employees (the buildings at One Infinite Loop are named IL1 through IL6), which is fairly good for what it is. You can have lunch or a drink there, but if you do, I advise you to order quickly and have your check brought with your food. Since the same bus will be used for multiple trips, we won't be able to wait for stragglers. The bus will leave at the scheduled departure time with or without you. We didn't leave anybody behind last year, but we had one table that cut it awfully, awfully close. It's an awfully long damn walk back to San Francisco, and they get pretty busy on Sundays even without a bus full of additional customers.

Lastly, if you see Scott on Sunday, make sure to say a big thank you to him. Scott has done nearly all of the legwork again this year and the trip is happening very much because of him, so thanks Scott!

Pre-WWDC Pilgrimage Sign-Up

If you think you're interested in traveling from Downtown San Francisco to One Infinite Loop, Cupertino on Saturday Sunday, June 6th to go to Apple's Company Store, or if you live in the area and just want to join us for lunch, please fill out this questionnaire. This does not obligate you to attend, it just will help us make sure that everybody who wants to go down, has a chance.

If there aren't enough drivers to carpool, we may look at what it would cost to charter a bus or van. We will notify everyone before we do so with the cost so people can decide if it's worth it. Hopefully, we'll be able to get everyone down without the hassle though.

Please do spread the word on your blogs and over Twitter so we can include everyone who wants to be included.