>>>>>>Ya think there would be one in Vancouver. Half the MS staff is up here on any given weekend.
>>>>>
>>>>>Now I'm just speculating, but I'd guess that anything in Canada is considered risky because of crossing the border and currency exchange and so forth. That is, that there's a concern that US companies might not be willing to send their employees to conferences in Canada.
>>>>
>>>>You are probably right, holding a Devcon in Canada is just one more hassle to overcome.
>>>
>>>Evan - why would this be a hassle? As far as the cost is concerned, it would be considerably less expensive for the American attendees (considering the current exchange rate) to attend a conference in Canada.
>>
>>JMO, but the savings seen with regard to hotels, restaurants, etc. would probably be overshadowed by the increased air fare for the US people. Most of the cities chosen for DevCons US are tourist attractions and as such, airlines have a tendancy to run specials for these cities.
>
>Let's run a query at Expedia.com
>
>Austin TX - Vancouver BC September 23, 2000 (Saturday) - September 28 2000 (Thursday) - plenty of flights for lowest price of $422 -
>
>Austin TX - San Francisco Ca, September 23, 2000 (Saturday) - September 28 2000 (Thursday) - plenty of flights for lowest price of $306
>
>Austin TX - Seattle, September 23, 2000 (Saturday) - September 28 2000 (Thursday) - plenty of flights for lowest price of $422
>
>Boston - San Francisco/Vancouver $406/484
>
>A hundred bucks difference compared to 1.5 exchange rate and lower prices?
>Come on, I have seen people in the Pelican bar at NOLA spending more for drinks... :)

Hey Nick,
I wasn't one of them. :-)

IAC, working for a corporation, I would be shelling out my own money (and benefiting from the savings) for drinks at the local tavern while my company would be out the extra money for plane fare. It can be impossible to hurdle that last 100 bucks with those accounting types.