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San Francisco loses 2 big conferences

sfgate.com

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Re: San Francisco loses 2 big conferences

#81

Post by benatkin »

Calvin02 wrote: post #17
benatkin wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More expensive and a pain to go to the conference. I guess that's a big part of why they're attempting to extend CalTrain to Salesforce Transit Center at a ridiculous per-mile cost.

But aren’t most conference attendees from out of town? My guess is either shrinking demand for the conference (vs the cost) and or location desirability.

I'd have to see a map of where conference attendees stay. I assumed some would be commuting every day just like residents. I also could be wrong but I thought a lot would stay in hotels near the airport, especially those who live out of town but work for companies that have offices in South Bay and are going to visit the offices while they're in the Bay Area.

One option for commuting conferencegoers is to take transit into the conference to beat the traffic and take Uber or Lyft back after having dinner near the conference, when there is less traffic. Except some would take it on the way back as well because the traffic got them to familiarize themselves with public transit.

Re: San Francisco loses 2 big conferences

#82

Post by isatty »

brenns10 wrote: post #76
thatswrong0 wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to work near Moscone. I know far too many people who share OPs experience. It's a shit show.

I live near Moscone and walk around there during conference season, never had an issue for several years now.

Okay, and? Are you seriously arguing as someone that lives there that it’s not a shitshow? Wake up - this is not acceptable in any modern society.

Re: San Francisco loses 2 big conferences

#83

Post by srj »

temp0826 wrote: post #75
SoftTalker wrote: post #71

Have conferences outlived their usefulness? Is it worth the upheaval in routine to travel, stay in hotels, eat overpriced restaurant food, and tolerate the unsavory street environment of most big cities, to sit and listen to a bunch of companies and authors promote their latest products and books? I'm scheduled to go to a conference in October and seriously thinking about canceling, there's really nothing attractive…

I can't speak for tech conferences as I haven't been to one in a very long time. I was recently at the Psychedelic Science conference in Denver and it absolutely was useful. There were just too many people from too many different fields that I never would've had a thought to look up or reach out to, that I was constantly acquainting with myself. A great experience imo.

The after party scene at the Psychedelic Science conference must be fun.

Re: San Francisco loses 2 big conferences

#84

Post by rhaway84773 »

avar wrote: post #69
DebtDeflation wrote: post #30

I've been to tech conferences in San Francisco (Moscone specifically), Vegas, Orlando, Chicago, and Boston. While I'm not ordinarily a fan of Las Vegas, it is hands down the absolute best place for conferences, logistically. It's a 10 minute Uber to get from the airport to the strip. Tons of hotels on the strip. If the conference is at one strip hotel and you are staying at pretty much any other strip hotel, you can…

I've never understood this obsession in the tech industry with holding small to medium sized conferences in major cities. For something truly humongous you need a Las Vegas, but as a participant I'd much prefer the conference just book a hotel somewhere in the woods, or in a relatively small town. The usual counterargument is airport connectivity etc. But in most cases you can simply drive for X amount of time away f…

You hold a small to mid conference in SF and the plurality of your audience and presenters will not need to pay for a place to stay. That means the quality of your conference will increase significantly.

Place it in another major city and they can easily fly there and find a place to stay there. Being a major city their companies may have subsidiaries there so they may be able to do other company work and add this onto a company trip.

And if you’re an international conference, you should probably limit yourself to something like 5 cities or else everyone from outside the US will likely struggle and not be able to make a real trip outside of it.

Holding conferences anywhere outside major cities does not seem to make any sense to me.

Re: San Francisco loses 2 big conferences

#85

Post by sottol »

CydeWeys wrote: post #35
DebtDeflation wrote: post #30

I've been to tech conferences in San Francisco (Moscone specifically), Vegas, Orlando, Chicago, and Boston. While I'm not ordinarily a fan of Las Vegas, it is hands down the absolute best place for conferences, logistically. It's a 10 minute Uber to get from the airport to the strip. Tons of hotels on the strip. If the conference is at one strip hotel and you are staying at pretty much any other strip hotel, you can…

Definitely not true that you can walk the length of the entire strip in ten minutes. The strip is not super great for pedestrians because you have to keep walking up, around, and through various escalators/bridges/casino entryways. The strip would be much more pedestrian friendly if they closed the main street to cars and let you simply walk at ground level in a direct line. Anyway, it takes over an hour to walk from…

Also, good luck walking anywhere outside the strip. I tried to explore a bit like I do other cities - on foot - but sidewalks end a block away from the strip.

Re: San Francisco loses 2 big conferences

#86

Post by gretch »

reaperducer wrote: post #33
netfl0 wrote: post #6

I was only assaulted once at my last conference there (2023).

I was only assaulted once at my last conference there I was only assaulted once the first time I was in Vancouver, BC. What's your point?

GP is relating a personal experience at a SF conference, which is what the article is about. It seems like the most on topic thing ever.

Why are you bringing up stuff about Vancouver in Canada?

Re: San Francisco loses 2 big conferences

#88

Post by knome »

tlogan wrote: post #29

In separate news, sf chief economist is saying that everything is great [1]. Why is there such strong denial among city leadership and many individuals? [1] https://sfist.com/2023/07/06/san-franciscos-chief-economist-...

There seems to have been a popular hatred of the SF area spreading around online for the last few months or so. At least that's when I noticed it. I went out there as a tourist early last month. I never managed to happen across the roving bands of homeless and wasteland of closed businesses I keep hearing about online. The wharf wasn't even overrun as I had seen claimed.

I can't speak to the economics of the area, and it is certainly expensive, but most of the jabber I've seen online seems overblown. I never felt any more at risk there than I do in any other large city.

Re: San Francisco loses 2 big conferences

#89

Post by xnx »

avar wrote: post #69
DebtDeflation wrote: post #30

I've been to tech conferences in San Francisco (Moscone specifically), Vegas, Orlando, Chicago, and Boston. While I'm not ordinarily a fan of Las Vegas, it is hands down the absolute best place for conferences, logistically. It's a 10 minute Uber to get from the airport to the strip. Tons of hotels on the strip. If the conference is at one strip hotel and you are staying at pretty much any other strip hotel, you can…

I've never understood this obsession in the tech industry with holding small to medium sized conferences in major cities. For something truly humongous you need a Las Vegas, but as a participant I'd much prefer the conference just book a hotel somewhere in the woods, or in a relatively small town. The usual counterargument is airport connectivity etc. But in most cases you can simply drive for X amount of time away f…

Most conferences are field-trips/paid-vacation for businesspeople. A large part of the attraction is being in a fun destination.

Re: San Francisco loses 2 big conferences

#90

Post by [deleted] »

sokoloff wrote: post #43
DebtDeflation wrote: post #30

I've been to tech conferences in San Francisco (Moscone specifically), Vegas, Orlando, Chicago, and Boston. While I'm not ordinarily a fan of Las Vegas, it is hands down the absolute best place for conferences, logistically. It's a 10 minute Uber to get from the airport to the strip. Tons of hotels on the strip. If the conference is at one strip hotel and you are staying at pretty much any other strip hotel, you can…

> you can complete the entire walk underground What? I’ve been to Vegas dozens of times (conferences and pleasure) and I’ve never seen nor heard of this. What specific casino pairs have underground walks between them (intended for public use, not stormwater or utility tunnels)?

[deleted]
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