Somebody not me...

Well, it's their fault because they're so large.

They're too large maybe even for Vegas. Vegas is also a disaster area for fan conventions. They want businessmen on expense accounts, not fans who will spend their money in the dealers' room before spending money on drinks, expensive food and gambling.

It's not their fault because facilities in San Diego have them captive. Hotels can give them smaller room blocks, knowing people will pay rack-rate when the blocks fill, and they do. The convention center can jerk them around because they've outgrown any alternative convention facilities (except, maybe the Mirage).

Frankly, I already had no interest in going, though.

Oh, I agree about no desire to go.

But I am utterly croggled at people *defending CCI* and saying that none of this is their fault.

I agree, not all of it is their fault.

But yanno, they've spent an awful lotta years pumping attendance at the sacrifice of available hotel rooms. And now it's bit them in the kharmic ass.

It's worse than that. They've driven hotel and convention center construction, and now the hotels and convention center are turning on them to squeeze out even more profit.

Oh, please.

Anyone complaining about availability of hotels in San Diego is a baby and a whiner. Also, they've never been to a real convention of any type and tried to get a room.

I've been going for five years and have had rooms right next door and out in Hotel Circle. Guess what - it's not that big a difference in experience. I've both rented a car, taken the trolley and gotten cabs - depending on what activities I had going and how much I was intending to buy that day.

On top of that, I've been able to get decent rooms at competitive rates at the very last minute (one year, my work plans changed about a week before, allowing me to go). Here is your measure - I dare you, whether you're going or not, to go to hotels.com or Orbitz one week before the show and NOT find a reasonable, decent hotel within a 30 minute drive of the Convention Center.

I've been to normal conventions in New York, SF, Chicago, Houston and Orlando. SD is much, much nicer than all of those, logistically. And a hell of a lot more pleasant than Vegas.

Re: Oh, please.

I've been going to conventions ranging in size from a couple hundred to, yes, Comic-Con in 2004. A number of WorldCons and two Dragon*Cons in there. And yep, I'm the one in the group who does all the hotel arrangements.

Last year, I tried to get a room for Comic-Con...the Sweet Baby Jeebus knows I tried...via Orbitz, Tavelocity, hotels.com etc.

Ultimately, when I realized that the only additional cost I would incur by opting for Dragon*Con would be the membership -- and that's factoring for cross-country airfare -- I did just that and had me a grand time.

Something is rotten in Denmark if it only cost me an additional $75 to attend a con on the other side of the country versus one practically in my backyard.

Re: Oh, please.

And I'm still totally uncomprehending of why anybody would want to bother to attend either of these bloated cadaver-like monstrosities.