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San Francisco loses 2 big conferences

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Re: San Francisco loses 2 big conferences

#111

Post by tlogan »

knome wrote: post #88
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, an…

> The wharf wasn't even overrun as

> I had seen claimed.

The comments like are part of the problem. So the fact that my neiborhood is going to shit does not matter: The wharf wasn't even overrun as I had seen claimed so be quiet. And please do not think I have anything aginst your opinion. It is 100% correct.

And my question is: why? Why people (leaders and ones who can live near marina) dismiss the problems parents and mortals like me experience? Is it because they think this is some republican's vs democrats issue? Just wondering. Maybe if I understand why we can work on platform to fix this.

Re: San Francisco loses 2 big conferences

#112

Post by znpy »

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…

> It's a 10 minute Uber to get from the airport to the strip.

if that's your metric for fitness... Milan has recently opened a subway line that goes straight from the Linate airport to the city centre, and you can get a fairly big congress centre (MiCo, Milano Congressi -- big enough to host the AWS Summit) very easily, and with a single subway ticket (which costs 2,20€ at the moment and is also valid for buses, trams and regional treins within the city).

Re: San Francisco loses 2 big conferences

#113

Post by reaperducer »

gretch wrote: post #86
reaperducer wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Why are you bringing up stuff about Vancouver in Canada?

Because anecdotes are not useful for anything other than making strangers indignant on the internet.

HN posters used to strive to be better than the comment section of a newspaper web site.

Re: San Francisco loses 2 big conferences

#114

Post by inferiorhuman »

benatkin wrote: post #74
inferiorhuman wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody's going to take Caltrain from the airport to Moscone. Spending a few billion dollars on a bus station is ridiculous but it's orthogonal to the issue at hand. Moscone now has a subway stop, which may help with downtown connectivity (but I won't hold my breath).

Nobody? How about people staying at an airport hotel? And you realize that conference attendees have to fight traffic if they aren't staying at a hotel downtown, because conferences start at about the same time a regular work day starts.

Have you ever made the BART–Caltrain connection? Nobody in their right mind is going to do that if their final destination is Moscone.

It takes the better part of half a mile to get from platform to platform, and originally I thought the connections weren't timed. Turns out it's worse. BART refuses to do timed connections on the weekends, and on the weekdays they pretend to time it. Connections from Caltrain to BART are 15–20 minutes. Going from BART (e.g. the airport) to Caltrain is not "timed" and is a 20–30 minute transfer. Icing on that shit cake is that BART doesn't run when the first few and last few Caltrain runs are made. So, yeah, nobody will do that. There's no reason to unless BART isn't running, in which case you're reliant on taxis/ubers or one of the scarce SamTrans buses that was gutted to pay for BART to get to the nearest Caltrain station (Millbrae).

If they're coming from the airport they'll take BART to Powell and walk to Moscone or do the ridiculous transfer at Powell to the subway to nowhere and get off at Moscone station.

It's all moot though as BART's not even stopping at Millbrae today because reasons.

Re: San Francisco loses 2 big conferences

#115

Post by inferiorhuman »

ohjeez wrote: post #109
CydeWeys wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

It is a full mile from the entrance of the MGM Grand to the convention center. A full _mile_. I agree that Las Vegas is a good convention city, but please don't suggest that it's easy to get around.

So a fifteen minute walk?

Re: San Francisco loses 2 big conferences

#116

Post by benatkin »

inferiorhuman wrote: post #114
benatkin wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody? How about people staying at an airport hotel? And you realize that conference attendees have to fight traffic if they aren't staying at a hotel downtown, because conferences start at about the same time a regular work day starts.

Have you ever made the BART–Caltrain connection? Nobody in their right mind is going to do that if their final destination is Moscone. It takes the better part of half a mile to get from platform to platform, and originally I thought the connections weren't timed. Turns out it's worse. BART refuses to do timed connections on the weekends, and on the weekdays they pretend to time it. Connections from Caltrain to BART…

I've made that transfer. It sucks but it's still a relevant option, especially for people who live next to a CalTrain station. A CalTrain that goes downtown would likely get them to make it easier for airport passengers to get to Millbrae. Because of that a CalTrain that goes downtown would be worth a lot, but still a tiny fraction of the proposed budget. I hope it doesn't happen if it's going to cost that much.

The conference attendees when at the airport have their luggage. The airport hotel is a more realistic scenario. Or a CalTrain accessible hotel. And some of the airport hotels have good access both to CalTrain and the airport. I think more would if this extension were made.

Re: San Francisco loses 2 big conferences

#117

Post by inferiorhuman »

benatkin wrote: post #116
inferiorhuman wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever made the BART–Caltrain connection? Nobody in their right mind is going to do that if their final destination is Moscone. It takes the better part of half a mile to get from platform to platform, and originally I thought the connections weren't timed. Turns out it's worse. BART refuses to do timed connections on the weekends, and on the weekdays they pretend to time it. Connections from Caltrain to BART…

I've made that transfer. It sucks but it's still a relevant option, especially for people who live next to a CalTrain station. A CalTrain that goes downtown would likely get them to make it easier for airport passengers to get to Millbrae. Because of that a CalTrain that goes downtown would be worth a lot, but still a tiny fraction of the proposed budget. I hope it doesn't happen if it's going to cost that much. The…

  people who live next to a CalTrain station
Right. Nobody's taking Caltrain from the airport to a conference at Moscone.

  Or a CalTrain accessible hotel
How many area hotels offer shuttles to SFO? How many offer shuttles to Caltrain? Airport shuttles will stop at the international terminal which is where the BART station is. Shuttles to Millbrae (Caltrain) don't exist ergo nobody's taking Caltrain to Moscone.

Even if there were shuttles to Caltrain, it's a much shorter walk from Powell at 4th and Market (or the Moscone station at 4th and Folsom) than 4th and King or the transbay terminal.

Re: San Francisco loses 2 big conferences

#118

Post by benatkin »

inferiorhuman wrote: post #117
benatkin wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've made that transfer. It sucks but it's still a relevant option, especially for people who live next to a CalTrain station. A CalTrain that goes downtown would likely get them to make it easier for airport passengers to get to Millbrae. Because of that a CalTrain that goes downtown would be worth a lot, but still a tiny fraction of the proposed budget. I hope it doesn't happen if it's going to cost that much. The…

people who live next to a CalTrain station Right. Nobody's taking Caltrain from the airport to a conference at Moscone. Or a CalTrain accessible hotel How many area hotels offer shuttles to SFO? How many offer shuttles to Caltrain? Airport shuttles will stop at the international terminal which is where the BART station is. Shuttles to Millbrae (Caltrain) don't exist ergo nobody's taking Caltrain to Moscone. Even if t…

You said nobody in your original reply to me and reiterated it in your other two replies. Are you sure that the vast majority of the conference attendees from other states fit the same profile of staying in a hotel downtown? Maybe they are but I would like to see some data.

Re: San Francisco loses 2 big conferences

#119

Post by inferiorhuman »

benatkin wrote: post #118
inferiorhuman wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

people who live next to a CalTrain station Right. Nobody's taking Caltrain from the airport to a conference at Moscone. Or a CalTrain accessible hotel How many area hotels offer shuttles to SFO? How many offer shuttles to Caltrain? Airport shuttles will stop at the international terminal which is where the BART station is. Shuttles to Millbrae (Caltrain) don't exist ergo nobody's taking Caltrain to Moscone. Even if t…

You said nobody in your original reply to me and reiterated it in your other two replies. Are you sure that the vast majority of the conference attendees from other states fit the same profile of staying in a hotel downtown? Maybe they are but I would like to see some data.

I said nobody is going to take Caltrain from the airport to Moscone. In fact I looked at three hotels near SFO and they all offer shuttles to SFO but not to Millbrae. Who's talking about downtown? I have no idea what you're on about.

Re: San Francisco loses 2 big conferences

#120

Post by wenc »

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…

> I've never understood this obsession in the tech industry with holding small to medium sized conferences in major cities.

It's because there are advantages to major cities: (1) connectivity; (2) incumbent audience; (3) capacity; (4) entertainment;

LV mostly wins on 3 and 4 but loses on 1 and 2. NYC and Chicago win on all 4.

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