Along with airfares, we'll also need to think about average cost of things at the location. A location could be cheap to get to, but hella expensive to stay in, and vice versa.

Also, after this weekend, the idea of F2Fing in a low-humidity zone has definite appeal.

Would people be skeeved/irked/annoyed by starting planning in the near future? Early planning could very well allow us more options (such as renting out an entire small hotel/bed and breakfast/etc.)

Heh. X-posty with ND. I've already made a list of cities, etc. that have been suggested.

Buffista most likely to succeed at herding cats: Hil, who got a rowdy disorganized rabble of Buffistas in and out of train stations to their various destinations and safely back again. More than once. Thanks, Hil.

Thanks. Also have to give Drew some credit here for acting as human megaphone and repeating everything I said when the station got too noisy for me to be heard.

Would people be skeeved/irked/annoyed by starting planning in the near future?

It's never too early to start discussing location. But we don't need to make any decisions right away. (By which I mean, we don't need to have hotel reservations made by Halloween.)

I think this year we ended up with a more expensive hotel than the ideal (at least for me) because we pushed the decision back so late, and I'd like to avoid that in '05 if possible. Also, the "renting a whole B&B" idea is *awesome.*

And of course we won't be freaking out people there. Although somehow I like our inadverent tradition of scaring the locals and other vistors.

:) Though Minnesotans are very polite about being wigged out.

I'm more than willing to do a cost sheet for MSP, and any other pre-planny type stuff that may need to happen.

I used to lean towards NOLA. Thanks, orthopaedic shoes.

BWAH!

OK, I've got all the stuff that was left in the hospitality suite. If something is yours and you want it back, let me know where to send it, and get the money to me to cover shipping, and I'll send it to you. If something is yours and you don't want it, let me know so that I can get rid of it.

• Two panda headbands
  
• a green gift bag containing a box of Pocky, insect repelant, and a Hello Kitty in the Jungle bag
  
• A navy blue hoodie that says "ZERO" across the front.
  
• A navy blue folding umbrella
  
• A water bottle with a "Follow Your Bliss" sticker
  
• A CD binder
  
• A Nellie McKay CD.
  
• Whiteboard/corkboard and markers.

Thing is, that pretty much knocks out the south for consideration, which isn't right. I wouldn't mind Austin- I can get there really easily, but I feel like NO keeps losing out.

Oddly, though I am in Dallas and could obviously get here- It's a bad place for an f2f. Aside from expensive travel- we're about to build a new arena which we'll likely pay for by taxing anyone who comes to visit making everything else expensive. Any trips to do things would mean at least a half an hour of travel time.

Oh! The gift bag is mine; Anne gave it to me at the Prom and I forgot it in all the, you know, debauchery.

This is a completely random and off-the-wall suggestion, but what if we moved the F2F much earlier so we could hold it in the South? Say, Christmas Break earlier (late Dec./early Jan., either between the holidays or right after/before then)?

I bought the panda headbands but I took the one I wanted home. Actually I think I took two home but I'm not sure.

Trudy---did you get your panda headband? If not, I'll check and see if I have an extra.

Anyone who wants the two extra headbands can have them.

I'm pretty sure the gift bag belongs to Trudy Kate.