Discuss! Discuss! Discuss!

Well since it is my proposal and all, I guess I’ll just say that my rationale is that I’ve seen a pattern over the past few years that when we start the process early, we tend to have a better turnout. I know some people can’t make plans so far in advance, but I think that the earlier we have a date on the calendar, the more likely we are to avoid booking anything else for that weekend (either business or personal) and have time to watch plane flights prices to get the best deal. Having 6+ months to save money helps. I also think it gives us more time to raise funds as a community so no one gets left with a big bill. We are all such busy people and many of us have families and personal situations that arise, obviously, but my hope is that by voting and booking early, we might be able to work around some of these. I know the year I arranged the NOLA F2F part of the problem was also overall costs (at the time, flights were pretty expensive) since we were only a few months out by the time we’d made final decisions.

I also think that if someone proposes a location and then has to back out due to personal issues--which again, is completely understandable--having voted and booked early will make it easier for someone else to take over the process.

I know that early booking isn’t going to solve everything and I think it’s natural that there are some years we will get a larger or smaller turnout based on uncontrollable factors, but this is my attempt to give as many people as possible the time to buy their tickets and book their rooms ahead of time.

I vote yay. Yea.

I think the upsides outweigh the downsides. Some people may get conflicts late, but that can happen even with a decision made at the last moment. Whereas with advance notice, some people will be able to avoid conflicts. I think it will help a lot more people attend than it will hurt. The latter number may even be zero some years.

Also (a tad off topic) I totally hope someone will pimp Portland, Oregon this year. Because POWELLS!

Well it isn’t as big as Powells, but Vromans is pretty cool too! Largest and oldest independent bookstore in SoCal, and yep, it’s in Pasadena! [link] It has a pretty amazing philanthropic history, including:

During World War II, Vroman’s donated and delivered books to Japanese Americans interned at nearby camps, returning on several occasions despite being fired upon by camp guards.

Sorry. Back on topic. Ahem.

I vote yes

Being the Buffista procrastinator that I am, it took me a while to wander over and give my input.

Yes, IAW this proposal.

Who would be willing to count votes?

I will.