I'm all for Madison! It is very walkable, with lots of evening entertainment, quirky shops, the Capitol and the Memorial Union on campus all less than a mile apart. There's a farmer's market on Saturday morning, right on the Capitol square for those looking for very fresh fruits, veggies, pastries and other baked goods for their hotel room. The Monona Convention Center is a fine example of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture located just off the square. There's a number of hotels around the Capitol, so finding a place to hold it wouldn't be a problem.

Madison gets my vote. we have other friends in that area - so it has a a bonus attraction for us.

I love Madison -- I guess my one caveat would be: are there alot of direct flights from anywhere to Madison?

Or would people fly into Chicago and meet up and drive to Mad-city?

I don't know about direct flights, but there used to be a regular (as in, several times daily) bus to and from O'Hare. But it's about a 3 hour ride each way.

While Madison is lovely during the warmer months, it's too close to people I prefer to avoid.

While Madison is lovely during the warmer months, it's too close to people I prefer to avoid.

The first F2F was about three blocks from work for me. I was slightly nervous my bosses would run into me and wonder who were all the weird people I was hanging out with.

Depends on the airline and the city, but just about everything comes through Chicago first or whatever city is used for that airline's hub (Delta, for example, goes through Cincinatti.) If folks wanted to carpool it from Chicago for the sake of having a car, that would definitely be feasible. But the daily cost over the weekend and mileage could still make it more expensive than flying into Madison.

Milwaukee is also a reasonable place to fly in to to get to Madison. Either Chi or MKE are okay, we'd just need to plan things out a little more than usual.

Did anyone ever admit to bringing the Vietnamese vodka to the Atlanta hospitality suite? I ask because I finally tasted it. It's faintly reminiscent of hazelnuts. I looked it up and it turns out to be rice vodka, and, according to the distiller's website:

At the palate, a kind of softened and passionate flavour that pull us into ecstasy of happiness. The attractive yeasts mingle and intertwine with glutinous rice fragrance behind green bamboo ranges, beside the alluvial Red river holding lotus flavour in the ponds. Nep Moi taste intertwines and fascinates anyone who enjoys once to remember forever.

I looked it up and it turns out to be rice vodka, and, according to the distiller's website:

Does it taste at all like sake?

Were you pulled into an ecstasy of happiness?