CanJam '09

[thrice]

Well location is largely determined by what's been mentioned:

local crew willing to organize (you need people on the ground)

good location for a large conference (airports/restaurants/potential music venues)

Someplace vendors are willing to travel to.

That said
I think a good shortlist might be:

Chicago
Columbus/Cincinnatti
Washington DC area
Boston area

or one of the 3 previous cities.

All of those areas have pretty large Head-Fi groups many of whom have organized large meets.

Some people have tossed Vegas out there and that's certainly a possibility since Vegas is a great conference city and lots of vendors go there for CES anyway. But who would organize it?

[philodox]

I think that the idea of having other simultaneous meets in Canada, Europe, etc and then networking them all together is brilliant... Shouldn't be THAT hard to arrange.

[GlendaleViper]

With simultaneous webcasts to keep everyone around the world in on things... go big or go home! Of course, there could be a west coast, east coast and central meet for US and Canada, then broken into regions for Europe and Asia, and let's not forget our Aussie and Kiwi friends.

Wild, man. Wild. Even my pipe dreams are putting me in over my head.

[Uncle Erik]

The first meet was on the east coast. The second was west coast and the third was east coast. Makes sense for the fourth one to be on the west coast. It was San Jose last time, so it should be Los Angeles this time.

There are dozens of hotels near LAX - conventions are not a problem here - and transportation is easy. This is a major airport, as well, with lots of flights.

I know this area well and would help. I know all the good places to eat and drink in the area, too. And no one much complains about the weather around here, either.

[GlendaleViper]

After CanJam, I'll travel anywhere. I'm a lifer. This looks like a real hot location.

[jp11801]

I am willing to get LA going if the Midwest does not go for it. Ideally we would have a site selection commitie made up of members with large meet experience, select vendors ( to ensure we do not select a site with built in hassles) and 2-3 rotating headfiers selected by the mods/admins. At this stage of the game the annual meet is too important to not select the place without some serious consideration.

I love the simulcast from around the world concept!!!

[Edwood]

If it's hosted in Los Angeles or Cincinnati I'll help out with organizing.

I have family in Cincinnati, so I can easily make it out to Cincy earlier to help with setup, cleanup, etc.

-Ed

[tyrion]

Just say "no" to annual meets.

[crappyjones123]

yeah i second tyrion. canjam was boring anyways. all i did was sit around and listen to music and talk to people and then later hung out with people who has consumed more alcohol than at a super bowl party...by themselves. it was an awful idea and i never want to do it again.

















...what a buncha crap

[Edwood]

Originally Posted by tyrion

Just say "no" to annual meets.

How about Quarterly?

[grawk]

I just found this topic. I'm willing to do the next one at the BWI Airport Marriott next year or the year after. I think DC is a strong location because it's got 3 local airports, is driving distance from LOTS of people on headfi, and the venue seems well suited to the task. I've already floated it with a few people, but I am cool with doing it either next year or the year after. I think a case can be made that the main body of the east coast has been longer since a big meet than the west coast, since south florida wasn't really driving distance from anyone outside of florida.

[crappyjones123]

Originally Posted by Edwood

How about Quarterly?

i see your quarterly and raise you a DAILY!!! CANJAM 365 DAYS A YEAR. WHOSE WITH ME!!!

i second grawk. i vote for dc over la/vegas simply because of what someone said at canjam - it would be hard to keep people in the meet room because of the inherent nature of the cities. not to say that dc doesnt have stuff to do, and i may be extremely wrong but i dont think dc has as many distractions as la/vegas. from a logistics point of view i think dc would be better suited than florida. i am skeptical though...can anyone besides the florida crew throw that mean of a party? guess we shall see in a year.

[grawk]

O yee of little faith

Besides, I'd say JP at least is sufficiently of the florida crew as to be indistinguishable from them, and could throw any party he wanted.

[stargirlga]

Originally Posted by grawk

I just found this topic. I'm willing to do the next one at the BWI Airport Marriott next year or the year after. I think DC is a strong location because it's got 3 local airports, is driving distance from LOTS of people on headfi, and the venue seems well suited to the task. I've already floated it with a few people, but I am cool with doing it either next year or the year after. I think a case can be made that the main body of the east coast has been longer since a big meet than the west coast, since south florida wasn't really driving distance from anyone outside of florida.

This is Tom Hankins' wife - DC is my favorite area of the country, and if you hold it anywhere in the metro area, I guarantee he'll come!

(BTW - I work for an event services company so I can help with negotiating hotel contracts if you do it in DC)

Sorry about the Caps!

[jp11801]

I'm good either way and would help with a DC event if needed/wanted or head up the LA experience. DC has the added value of numerous top flight beer bars. BeerFly Search - Washington DC (United States) - Beer Advocate

Either location has sufficient draw to guarantee attendance. DC would draw from NY metro, Philly and DC with some hearty souls driving from Boston potentially. Heck maybe Thrice will even show. LA has more than enough headfiers and with a solid Norcal showing we'd be fine as well.

We absolutely have to have a moratorium on local meets before and after the annual meet this IMHO is essential. If either of the NE cities or the Bay Area holds a meet within say 60 days it lessens the motivation to go to the annual as they just saw all their buddies and most of the vendors although they miss the absolutely amazing time the National was this year and last.