This year the American Society for Mass Spectrometry is being held in Nashville, TN at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. The resort is 20 minutes outside the city. At first I thought this would be lame. Well, I was mistaken. This place has 5 conservities (yes, a big greenhouse) all with gorgous plantings. Each is set up like a courtyard with some rooms facing inward. You don’t even have to go outside. I’ve been refering to it as the “BioSphere”. Bad part is that since the have you inside they feel free to charge premium prices, though you do get quality.
One funny bit. There are little signs in the rooms asking guests to turn off lights and TVs when not in use. They will even recycle your daily newspaper, only change bedding every 3 days (unless requested otherwise), and not swap out towels unless you put them in the tub. All environmentially conscience things. But how much enery does it take to air condition a place with 5 huge glass roofs and enough space for about 5,000 people?
