Harry writes
>I think that it would be nice if the IFC opened it up to discussion on
>the FML as to the location for the 2007 event.
 
There are many factors that go into choosing the location for a
Symposium.  Some of them are: availability of suitably sized facilities;
ease of getting there, by car and airplane; ease of getting to the
facility from the airport; costs of facility rental, food, rooms, local
travel, etc; legality of ferrets in the location; where previous events
have been; possible number of interested ferret people in the area;
availability of local ferret people to assist in local planning; and
many others.
 
Ours is a big country, and saying for example that a symposium in Atlanta
has covered the south, or Las Vegas has taken care of the west, is simply
not accurate.  Each of those regions has large cities a thousand miles
away that could be considered in the same region of the country!  And
many people would consider the events in Toronto, Atlanta, Louisville
and Niagara Falls to be "east coast".
 
The truth is that I wish the IFC had the resources and volunteers to do
more events (both symposia and forums) more often so ALL ferret lovers
could have something near them.  After each event, dozens of people
approach us with suggestions for future locations and future speakers.
We listen to and consider their suggestions, but we've never seen a
consensus of where or who that can point us where we need to go.
 
Anyway, pointing all this out may be futile, so here is what everyone
wants to know!  We are currently looking a Portland, Oregon as the site
for the next symposium in Spring of 2007.  Because a facility and date
have not be determined yet, we have no further information.  Because no
contract has been signed, it may not happen, and we may end up giving up
on Portland if we can't negotiate an appropriate deal and choose another
place entirely.
 
Input and comments are always welcome though!
 
Linda Iroff
International Ferret Congress
http://www.ferretcongress.org
[Posted in FML issue 5370]