Regarding the Wi-Fi each seminar room had coverage, but there wasn’t a global ‘mesh’ with a single SSID, each room was a seperate network, and coverage was nil inside the exhibition hall. In fact there were big warnings in the exhibitors guide which basically said we’ll throw you out if you snag a wi-fi signal, if you need coverage you pay us (silly money) for an ethernet cable to your stand.

I agree with the location – it is not easiest but sure it is possible to do a booking of cheaper hotels and you often have friends in that area (or know you will need some until then). In regards of what was happening, I am a bit irritated about how few people where blogging from the conference (i heard a rumor about wifi not being available?), especially since some of the major bloggers are out there.

In regard to hopping over the pond to a conference in the middle of nowhere with costly transportation from and to the conference, one has to think about perhaps attending Gnomedex instead.

Oh and for those searching… The USS Enterprise in balloons.

The LA Podcasters website is actually http://www.lapodcasters.com. We’re no longer associated with the MeetUp grou.

Thanks for the mention.

- dK

Plus you can make an Enterprise out of balloons! That is just damn cool and I’ve got the picture to proove it.

Thanks for official confirmation on the attendace numbers, I’ve tweaked the article. Certainly splitting out a couple of tracks is something to look at for next year. The number of people who have different slants to podcasting (ore even how to monetise them) was very apparent, so it’s going to be a fun mix for you to cover all of them.

To quickly answer the points on the Hotel room I find it very easy to get decent rooms at the $50-$75 mark when attending US conferences in the big cities. My worry is that three nights sets you back $300 (inc tax) plus your food bill, and your transport, so small podcasters are presented with a very very big financial hurdle to overcome if they want to attend.

I’ve already prepped the family that I’ll be out again next year, no worries in that respect.

It was great meeting you at the Expo. There were actually 2037 attendees there. We don’t fudge on our numbers and we don’t count people twice like some tradeshows do. In terms of the “show me the money” conference sessions – it’s true. Next year though we’ll have a track for the folks who just want to do better shows and that track will be devoid of any monetization talk.

Finally, we’re going back to Ontario because it is inexpensive. Hotel rooms in 2006 at the Marriott across the street will be $92. Try getting that rate in New York or San Francisco!

Thanks for the comments and hope to see you next year!

Tim