The staff is starting to look at sites for the 2012 Netroots Nation conference, and there's two potential host cities among several we're considering which poses an intriguing, but potentially difficult situations.
City A:
- It's a part of America where we haven't been.
- That's generally regarded as progressive.
- But the host hotel (the only union hotel large enough for us) is a mile and a half from the Convention Center.
- But there's a free, 3-4x hourly light rail line (at street level) connecting the two, with a minute or two walk on either side
So you see the dilemma. On the one hand, "public transit, yay." On the other, "is this reasonable for persons with disabilities to be asked to handle?", and "does having the two facilities so far apart disrupt the mojo of the conference?"
City B:
- It's a part of America where we haven't been.
- That's generally regarded as progressive.
- But where we'd be in 4-5 hotels within a block of the convention center, instead of just one or two.
- Also, as with Austin, many people traveling to this city would have to change planes somewhere to get there.
Your thoughts are welcome; these are not the only cities we are looking at but they are ones which present unique questions. (Not only are there more cities, but there are all sorts of financial issues and negotiations we have to go through before securing any host site. Ask Nolan about the cost of coffee in Las Vegas.)
I assume one of you will name the cities within the first ten comments, but I will neither confirm nor deny. In the meantime, have you registered yet for Netroots Nation 2011 in Minneapolis, June 16-19?
Updated by Adam B at Wed Feb 16, 2011, 05:23:13 PM
Let me be clear: this isn't "which do you prefer, between A and B?" but rather "given these conditions, and assuming that otherwise they meet our criteria on affordability, space, etc., is A acceptable? is B acceptable?"