Heh. Jon, honestly - what's to pimp? That's the deal about this year's choices; they're three enormously popular tourist destinations, and with really good reason.

I love Paris with the kind of love most people seem to reserve for hobbits, but if asked by someone, I'm thinking about going to Paris, tell me what's there, I'd just blink at them, and go, um, hellllloooo?

Deb, is it possible that there are two issues going on here? I agree that there isn't really any need to pimp SF, LV, and Seattle as great-things-to-do destinations. It's generally known what those cities have to offer generally. (Though I'd offer "classic movies in theaters!" as one attraction of Paris, so a review of the lesser-known things to do might not be a bad idea)

But one issue for any city is going to be, can we find a hotel that meets our needs affordably? As far as I'm concerned, any city that can't is out of the running. Also, my preferences right now are weak enough that the right hotel might affect my vote.

But one issue for any city is going to be, can we find a hotel that meets our needs affordably? As far as I'm concerned, any city that can't is out of the running. Also, my preferences right now are weak enough that the right hotel might affect my vote.

Yes, exactly. This is very much my feeling: I'm not trying to sell anyone on San Francisco as a Cool Exciting Place to See, because I pretty much figure everyone knows that. SF does a good job of selling itself. This city flaunts its attractions like a Parisian streetwalker in 1935. It costs more, though.

I was seriously wondering if a "this is the downside to the city" blurb might not be more useful than pimpage.

Last year the "pimpage" included bulleted lists of pros and cons. I think we should probably follow that pattern.

t so totally not here

Last year the "pimpage" included bulleted lists of pros and cons.

I'm going to suck at doing that, partly because my idea of pros and cons are likely to be completely different than most peoples' idea of same, and partly because I don't know how to do a bulleted list.

But I'll give it a shot, if that's what's wanted.

Oh, forgot, from Debet's earlier question: my feeling is that the sooner we can get the city vote done, the better. I don't remember how early on last year's vote was, but I do remember that, when NOLA was chosen, I was able to clear the entire reality of "ok, going there, need to plan, need to budget for it, need to think about it, need to discuss it with Nic, need to devote chunks of brain and time to it" off my plate early on, and move along.

I'm all about getting stuff settled, or reasonably settled, as early as is feasible.

Kristin! Shouldn't you be on the road by now?

Jon!

I'll be on the road this evening. Leaving between 7-8, in theory. Packing like a mad thing at the moment, but I was taking a 20 minute sanity break. Back to work...

I do know quite a bit about what's popular in SF and Seattle, so a big list of popular attractions isn't high on my list. I guess, for me, I'd be interested in finding out what's close to the hotels that are being pimped.

Since I'm going to be in SF in a week for the first time ever (running through airports doesn't count) with a bunch of other first-timers, I'd welcome suggestions of cool things to do with a group of family, ages ranging from 5 to 70 (no sex please, we're British). Profile addy is good.

Ok, then, how's this pimpage format sound to people:

City

• Hotel blurbs (cost, ammenities, Prom & HS plans, parking, etc), plus a few Things to Do in the immediate area. Try to keep it short.
• Transportation (public transit, especially. Where does it go? It is reliable? Easy to navigate?)
• Anything else you'd like to highlight (or that other people have highlighted.)
• Concerns, based on the above and other discussion.

Basically, I think, think of it as the Cliff's Notes of the city discussion.

That said, then, if people want to look at the whole hotel proposal in-thread, works for me.

Deb, I think it's that we're coming at it from different directions. I was thinking that coordinators may be putting out pretty wide nets (which is sounds like Aimee, at least, is), for which details (even at a relatively low volume per hotel) could get overwhelming, so a summary/overview of the kinds of stuff that's out there could be useful. If you're focused on only a few, then that changes the givens of the situation.

How about City Pimpage due on the August 12th, and voting from the 18th-22nd? (Looking for 3 yes votes here, or not)

Thoughts, anyone?