Yesterday we received news that President Obama will be attending a rally at 1300 Cecil B. Moore Avenue, which is one block from Alter Hall. This has the potential, obviously, to make travel to WordCamp Philly very difficult. We have contacted Temple Parking Services, and they have informed us that the Liacouras Parking Garage will still be open as expected (it opens at 5:30am). However, as with any presidential visit, there will most likely be road closures and detours installed by the Secret Service and local police. We have contacted the Temple Police Department, and unfortunately, they are unaware of the specific strategy at this time. They do expect road closures and said that the Secret Service will most likely start their processes about 4-5 hours before the scheduled appearance, which is set for 9:00am. Obviously, this is an unforeseen occurrence that is completely out of our control, so all we can do is cross our fingers that everybody arrives at the event without incident.
That being said, for those driving to the event, you may want to consider driving to a SEPTA Regional Rail station and hop on a train straight to Temple. In an event such as this, public transportation will most likely be your best choice. You can view all of the stations here – http://septa.org/schedules/rail/index.html and attempt to plan accordingly. Of course, trains may also be swamped with passengers making their way to the rally, causing delays, so there are no guarantees of anything at this point. The only real recommendation we can provide is to plan on beginning your journey to WordCamp Philly earlier than expected.
Just a heads up! Fingers crossed!