And how cosmopolitan is it? Because the question of corsets and tiaras, worn en masse to a bowling alley in mid-afternoon, drawing hostility has to be considered.
Lawrence has a weekly fetish show. KU has the second-highest gay student population in the US and hosts an annual drag show on campus. William Burroughs used to live there. Also, I'm convinced it's home to 90% of the state's hippies. You can fit in wearing anything.
As for how "serious" my suggestion is, it's just that--a suggestion. Lawrence is my favorite town in the whole wide world and I can't see anyone not enjoying it too. Have a look around the town's Web site if you like. I'm not offering my services for organizing because that would be a cruel, cruel thing to do to anyone, but I see it as being more comfy for Buffistas than KC; all KC does well is barbecue and jazz, and Lawrence has both of those too.
Um. I'm done now. ...how many people are we talking about, roughly?
Lawrence has a weekly fetish show. KU has the second-highest gay student population in the US and hosts an annual drag show on campus. William Burroughs used to live there. Also, I'm convinced it's home to 90% of the state's hippies. You can fit in wearing anything.
Dude.
Now, that is what I call a good solid answer. I call that nicely cosmopolitan. Plus, information from someone who lives there.
Thanks, Mr. Broom. Lawrence sounds good.
The last two years have been around 65 people.
I could get behind Lawrence. Hey, you think they'd let us have a Buffista Smackdown!?
Would both Lawrence and KC be up? I don't really have anything invested in the answer, but it might split the KC contingency (if there was one built) in a poll.
Wait- we're doing a vote on our favorite 2 first.
Nebbermind.
That's one of my definitions - a fairly broad-ranging one - of a cosmopolitan destination: one where variance in the visitors to said destination can be absorbed without making said visitors wonder why they're throwing tourist dollars at said destination in the first place.
Lawrence, KS is largely defined by the fact that it is the home of a Big 12 university. I suspect you'd find the atmosphere to be similar in Columbia, MO or Ann Arbor or any number of towns in which the bulk of the population is associated with a university (some comparison could be made to Evanston as well). Will corsets and tiaras be the norm there? No. Will they draw some stares? Probably. Will the attention be enough to make you uncomfortable? I doubt it. (Same goes for KC). The phalanx of courdory jackets with the FFA conventions draw similar attention from the locals.
I'll try to get some KC pros and cons posted in the next few days.
aurelia, yup - your take confirms Mister Broom's take on his city, and his info.
Works for me.
I could get behind Lawrence. Hey, you think they'd let us have a Buffista Smackdown!?
Oh, hell yes. Buffistas would own at trivia night. Might finally be able to assemble a team that could win. Plus, Sunday nights at the Bottleneck are dollar-fifty draws. Had me one tonight.
That's another thing--Boulevard Beer. My favorite beer in the world, and it's made in KC. Some Midwestern Buffistas may know what I'm talking about--I know it gets at least as far as Iowa. Damn good beer.
My thinking is that KC and Lawrence are close enough that for the voting we treat them as one city. If we end up choosing KC/Lawrence as our F2F location we'll spend 2 weeks looking at costs and such in both locations and then choose. A similar thing happened with Baltimore/DC this year.
Cool. I just know if say (having no idea how close KC and Lawrence are) NO and Metarie were pitted against each other along with the others, I'd not be happy.
