Oh, and MY vote for the next symposium location?  As an Oregon native who
has lived in Boston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Phooenix and now
makes her home in SUNNY Seattle ... well, I guess anywhere the event is
held will be close to a herd of my friends and 'old stompin grounds!'
However, my preference is either Boston or Seattle / Portland at this
point - all of which are attractive cities in many ways.
 
BOSTON:
 
PRO: Airport easily accessable - in the heart of downtown and accessable
to a variety of transportation options (taxi, subway, hotel shuttles,
rental cars, buses).
 
CON: Airport in the heart of downtown (LOL) and smack in the middle of
"The BIG DIG" but you can get around it all or just get used to it!  My
recommendation???  TAKE THE SUBWAY!
 
PRO: Reasonably priced to fly in to - I've never paid more than $300 for
a R/T from Kansas City to Boston EVEN during holiday season (planned a
bit ahead however) but that's a good deal since I know WHEN to fly.  Cost
for a R/T coast-to-coast during regular flying (off peak) season is
usually about $220 - from Portland to Boston.
 
Sorry, can't think of any more CON'S . . . .   :-)
 
PRO: Great nightlife, tons of tourist stuff, FENWAY PARK (used to run
laps around it every day at lunchtime!), BEAUTIFUL FALL FOLIAGE season
right now, EXCELLENT FOOD places, lots of colonial landmarks for the
history buffs like me - quite honestly Boston NEEDS a FERRET INVASION!!!
 
SEATTLE: (no it doesn't RAIN 24/7, 365 days a year here!) This summer was
beautiful!
 
PRO: Great convention center location in downtown, good variety of
transportation options, To me, Seattle is very comporable to Boston in
many ways so I could go either way but of course I would love to stay
home if I had my preference!
 
PORTLAND, OR would also be a great location for many of the same reasons
listed for Seattle and Boston.  Portland and Seattle both have great
convention and expo centers downtown, the Portland airport is very close
to the downtown area as well, and the Portland Waterfront area is just
spectacular.  Like Boston, the transportation in Portland (MAX light
rail) is a very convenient, fabulous way to get around anywhere!  So why
NOT consider the beautiful Pacific Northwest ???!!!!
 
So there's my pennies worth of sense.  May the best city win!
Jen and the biz
[Posted in FML issue 4308]