>>I've never been before, so I can't use the full LL Cool J title <g>. Out of the blue, the boss informed me today that I'll be able to go to San Diego for my first DevCon! If all goes well, I'll be there in September.
>>
>>Now I'm trying to figure out if my wife can come along for a little getaway. Any tips? Southwest has a "Take Along Fare" right now that adds about 70 bucks round trip if you book before June 11. Actually, the hard part is finding someone to watch the three youngsters for a week. At the conference, are spouses allowed to attend the lunches and after hours events, or are these for geeks, er, I mean conference attendees only? <g>
>>
>>We'll be staying for an extra day if possible. Any must see attractions?
>>
>>Hope to see you there!
>
>Joel,
>
>Highly recommend either bringing her out toward the end of the conference or going early and then let her fly back when the conference starts. My experience has been that spice are distractions at DevCon. They want attention, but you want to learn a lot.
>
>OTOH, I'm now single so perhaps I didn't do everything right. < g >


Curtis,

I agree with you. A big part of DevCon is the social aspect. You learn just as much talking with people in the bar in the evenings as you do in the sessions. If your spouse isn't a "geek" as well, they will get bored (and annoyed) pretty quickly.

Last year, I brought my husband with me to the Miami Devcon but only for the beginning. We came out several days before the conference and had a little mini vacation. Then as Devcon attendees started strolling in on Friday and Saturday, I was able to introduce him to a lot of the people and we all hung around the pool and bars together and went to a group dinner together. But on Sunday, he flew back home and I stayed for the conference. I think that arrangement worked out great! He was able to meet a lot of the people I had been talking about over the years, yet it didn't distract me from the conference itself.

Cathy