The cost almost stopped me. The Driving forces that took me were - the discussion of the future of B & Bs For Vets, the A-ward (will be the high point of my career), and the chance to see family who live there. My cc is now back to HONKED when I did have it down to honked. Glad I went - learned a lot and the people I got to reconnect with and the new ones I met was great. I was able to drive on 2 tanks of gas each way which helped with costs..
I was just thinking that in the survey, it sounded like they were thinking the cost of registration was putting people off. I may have that wrong, but I think the total cost of multiple days travel and being away on top of the registration was too much for some. In person is always better, but I think a virtual option is interesting. It could allow some with family issues, or other constraints to be active participants. I hope they consider it.
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I can see both sides. I personally know that
I would be less likely to attend the virtual sessions. Being there "made" me attend much more of the social networking media/all things internet workshops than I would have paid for on a session by session price list. And the amazing thing is that some of those sessions I didn't particularly think I would learn from I actually enjoyed.
The other thing about the trade show is that you can feel the linens and towels and robes, which really helps me. There were also mattresses to test lie on, but I don't get as much out of that sort of test.
I personally can't justify going every year, and my last PAII meeting was as an aspiring and before Jay was CEO. I thought this forum prepared me better than the aspiring classes there, but there were lots of vendors for things like bathtubs, fire escapes, fireplaces, soaps (much smaller now as Riki said--not nearly as many vendors) which helped as I decided about amenities and remodeling.
I took up Joey's offer to stay with her on the way and made it a true
busman's holiday. I also had a chance to visit friends in Charleston before the conference started. I'm at a stage in my life where I don't have much of an excuse to take a real vacation, so I was glad that I could be there to congratulate our innmates on their awards. There's a good chance that I'll stay home next year.