Last night I went to Ravinia with some stranger-friends that I met on the train platform last time I was at the venue for Matisyahu. We saw UB40. You know, the “Red, Red Wine” guys.
Quick story: my roommate Eric and I are waiting for the train back downtown, which, of course, is delayed. We noticed two attractive ladies hopping the fence to get to the platform. One of them was whining about having cut her hand on the fence. Having sampled a few adult beverages at the concert–one of which was a big bottle of Rogue ale–I went up to talk to them, and we were fast friends. They were jobless recent Arizona grads, so I guess we should not have been surprised. We had a good time on the Metra, which, of course, was packed.
Back to last night: Ravinia is ridiculous. There’s a Pavilion (shown…the first image in the post) with seats (for the rich folks) and an enormous lawn for the rest of us. People bring pretty lavish spreads, and they show a huge variety of music, ranging from Rachmaninoff to the Backstreet Boys. Which, by the way, is sold out. So don’t try. I scalped a Pavilion ticket for the price of lawn admission, just in case the stranger-friends I was meeting were stranger than I thought. I also barely made the 6:44 train (delayed, yes!) and bought a round-trip Ravinia special ticket. If you’re wondering, I had a great time.
Anyhow, this ode to Ravinia has a reason. Two, really:
- Ravinia is a pretty ridiculous “system”, in terms of it being a fully integrated, interactive experience. From the $5 round-trip Metra ticket price (leaving from the swankiest station in Chicago, Ogilvie Transportation Center), to the design of the ticket, to the train stopping right in front of the venue, to the lawn, to the email-reminder system, to the landscaping, the design and the amenities, to the always-fun trainride back… the whole thing just works. I like seeing real-life examples of experience design that work out well. Moreover, the Ravinia brand isn’t what’s on their about page, but generally about what happens once you enter the doors of the train depot.
- Yesterday was a day off from training. I feel SO much better today having recovered for a full day, other than my bike commute to work. If you’re training for something, anything, recovery is just as important as activity.