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Contributed on October 5, 2016

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Tips for Navigating Tampa and Summit 2016

Blog: iDatix Blog

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN HAS BEGUN!

We are only a couple of days away from the start of Summit 2016. Everyone is very excited and I cannot wait to all get back in the same area with many Dynamics Partners, Users, ISVs, and more!

With Hurricane Matthew making a guest appearance early Friday morning on the East coast of Florida, many people are in a state of disarray and concerned about their upcoming travels. Traveling can be stressful enough, but once you add in 100mph winds and rain, frantic people, and excited Dynamics members, you have a melting… BOILING pot of chaos.

To help bring that pot back down to a simmer, I wanted to offer my local “expertise” on places and roads to avoid, as well as tips for making your traveling in Tampa much easier.

Here are my travel tips for navigating Tampa during Summit.

1. UBER EVERYWHERE
   • This is an important one. I know the convenience of having your own car when you are traveling. You never know when you may want to drive to a local restaurant, attraction or event. I get it, everyone likes to be in control. Tampa, when hit with a lot of rain, has many roads that flood and are blocked off. *Thanks Hurricane Matthew!* Many of the one way roads in the downtown area and near the convention center can also be very confusing. For these reasons, it is easier to have a local drive you around, especially when navigating many detours. Also, unlike many major cities such as New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, Tampa Uber rides are well priced and worth it.
2. Avoid rush hour traffic
   • Like any other city, traffic before and after work stinks in Tampa. Rush hour times are between 7:30-9:30am and again from 4:30-7:00pm. The highways that you need to take to get to the convention center become very congested and challenging to navigate. I would suggest hanging out at the airport, restaurant or bar while these pass.
3. Use the appropriate highways to get to where you are going
   • Whether you are headed to the Tampa Convention Center or the beach, make sure you are taking the correct highway. There are many different highways, making it easy to travel south to Miami, East to Orlando, or North to Georgia, however they can get very confusing for our visitors. Here is a link that helps explain these highways, as well as provides a key on which ones to use. http://interstate275florida.com/pdf/TIATravelerTips.pdf

4. Use WAZE
   • Waze is a free app that helps drivers and passengers navigate through traffic, construction, and more. It can help direct you on where the closures are and which the best routes to take are. I have found that this app is very accurate for Tampa. It will also help you keep track of rush hour and when to avoid the roads.

I hope this helps answer some questions, calm some nerves, and create excitement for Summit 2016! I look forward to seeing you all at Summit next week. Safe travels to all!

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