At least for a Space Access conference. There's no broadband in the rooms. There is a wireless connection in the lobby, from which I'm posting this. Michael Mealing is attempting to set up a wireless connection in the room in which the proceedings are occuring, so we can blog from there, but there's a problem with the network connection to the router, and there will be no resolution before tomorrow morning. The restaurant took half an hour to take out orders, and an hour to deliver them, then screwed up the check. Not to mention that my linguini was spaghetti., and overcooked.

Other than that, everything is great. Hopefully better news on the morrow.

Look on the bright side: it removes any need to think about that perfection question, should they ask.

Good point. I don't think that subject will come up...

That will teach you to disrespect Marriott.

Is it possible that some folks will be more focused on presentations because of this, as opposed to their laptops?

T-

I think you're under-estimating the attention spans of the people that are attending the conference. Unless you know something I don't know, I'd assume that having a broadband connection in a conference such as this would not be nearly the same distration level as having a broadband connection in, say, a high school classroom.

The fact that there isn't even broadband or wireless in the individual rooms is pretty ridiculous, IMHO. Even if people didn't need to live-blog from the conference itself, what kind of "hotel and conference center", which is presumably business-oriented, doesn't have internet access for its guests?

And the inability to serve meals to a full hotel during a scheduled conference is pretty specious, too. It sounds more like a seedy pay-by-the-hour motel on the side of a road than a true hotel.

Well, it's a Best Western...

Well, the one they had it at a couple years back (don't remember which one it was) had enough food, but only had a buffet. The people running it didn't speak english, so if you couldn't remember the words for grapefruit juice in spanish you were out of luck.

(And I suspect if you did know they probably didn't have any anyway. I eventually went to a grocery to get some. Yes, the one a half mile down the road. Yes, I walked, because I didn't have a car...)

I mean, sometimes you just have to have some grapefruit juice.

Take it up with Henry. He is trying to keep registration costs down so regular human beings can afford to attend. He isn't trying to make some hotel rich off of all of you.

Bring a cooler next time. 8)

Hi, Rand. I made it home OK after the conference, and am catching my breath. Heh. Worst hotel ever? How quickly we forget, how soft the focus becomes as time passes. Were you at the '95 Space Access, at the old Caravan on Van Buren with the hookers parading by the restaurant window, and where the hotel didn't have a clue who this "Dan Goldin" fellow was so when his staff failed to confirm with credit card his room was given away to spring training Cubs fans? Now *that* was a bad hotel. Great price, though!

That said, the internet problems were a bit of a surprise. The restaurant did get their act together after that first night, at least as far as delivering decent food somewhat expeditiously - I'm afraid that Phoenix is just the wrong city to come to for authenticity in Italian food; the nearest really good Italian place I ever found is in Tucson, oh well.

Remind me for next year, though, to put in the contract, no karaoke sessions in an otherwise perfectly good bar... Once they finished that we got some use out of the place; good place to talk. And great people to talk to, as usual!

Henry