You'd have to be eager to take offense to make a fuffle out of Matt's comment. It is a normal and completely understandable complaint that the midwest and south get little play in the interim get togethers. Geography conspires against them. I am certain that his comment was not pointed at anybody in particular, and not even necessarily about this event. He'd just like to see people more often. That's not offensive.

And I like Chicago, but dude, we're talking frickin' December.

Purely anecdotal, and perhaps anomalous, but Chicago was less cold when I visited last December than it was the night we arrived in Chi for the first F2F.

You'd have to be eager to take offense to make a fuffle out of Matt's comment.

It's all how you read it, and just saying, it read snippy to me. If it didn't to you, cool. Also, see above, since we're talking geography lessons, David. The original suggestion was for Las Vegas, which is tucked inland in the southwestern corner of the United States.

edit: and people seriously offering to host and organise? Put it out on the table. I'm betting there'd be a good solid show of hands. But there's a reason things tend to gather where the majority of any given group live, which I rather understood was why b.org has these annual affairs....?

edit redux: and I neither took offense at Matt comments, nor have I the faintest interest in kerfuffles. I did think it was snippy. If it wasn't, my mistake and I'm sure Matt will tell me so himself.

You'd have to be eager to take offense to make a fuffle out of Matt's comment.

I have no problem flying into the middle of the country. The phrase "for future reference" always reads snippy to me, which is why I got defensive, but I am/was certainly not "eager to take offense".

Matt, I apologize if I overreacted. I agree that the coasts get more attention.

Tired now. Going to sleep. Night.

Huh. I'm going to check Vegas prices again, just to see. Sometimes as the date nears they will run discounts if the hotels aren't filling.

I'm the one that pitched this in the first place. It was a lot about me just really liking Vegas.

I think we should all meet in Spokane.

The phrase "for future reference" always reads snippy to me, which is why I got defensive, but I am/was certainly not "eager to take offense".

Yep. What Kristin said. It's phrase that sounds to my ear as if the lecturer is assuming the lecturee is a fool, which for future reference, I am emphatically not. And I generally hear it being used sarcastically.

Matt, I apologize if I overreacted.

And, yep. What Kristin said, again.

For the record, I will always vote Seattle or write it in for any informal F2F location mention.

This would be because it's, sadly, the only place I can afford to go. Well, okay, not go so much as be, but you get the general idea. (When even Spokane is a non-starter, well.. you know it's time to step up the job hunt, for one thing.)

However, I'm perfectly willing to be filled with envy at gatherings all around the globe. In the last week, I've found myself green with the stuff at L.A., SF, NYC, and Chicago, and that's just counting events in the US.

So yeah, a quick scan of Vegas shows rooms sitting at about $250-$300 a night, which is a bit steep.

No need to apologize, I was being snippy. My comment wasn't meant to imply anyone is a fool, but it was intended as a sarcastic reminder after seeing an entire string of west coast alternatives suggested for something that was (at least back when it was mentioned to me) a general holiday gathering rather than a regional f2f.

edit: Ouch, $250+ a night is on the steep side. I'm guessing 10 to a room won't fly with the Vegas hotel folks, eh?

after seeing an entire string of west coast alternatives suggested for something that was (at least back when it was mentioned to me) a general holiday gathering rather than a regional f2f.

Yes, but consider who was doing the suggesting. I hardly think "Hey, let's get together at my place!" can be taken as a slight against the middle of the country. I don't automatically assume that people forget NYC exists just because they're not inviting themselves over to my apartment for the holidays.

Was it "get together at my place!" or "where shall we get together?" The former doesn't need feedback other than an RSVP. That's not the feeling I got from the posts.