The Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference begins Tuesday in San Francisco. (The pre-conference tutorials are on Tuesday, with the conference itself starting Wednesday.)
Last year's conference hotel was awful, and the weather was worse. I wrote at the time: http://www.politechbot.com/p-01791.html >Unfortunately, the only bar in the hotel and all but one restaurant are >closed for repairs so there's no useful congregation area to estimate >attendance. This year it's in San Francisco, and the weather is fine -- sunny and windy, and perhaps even warm enough for sunbathing by the pool (sheltered from the wind on three sides). Some observations so far: * The hotel does have a bar this year -- not that large but serviceable. * Location is on Van Ness, in what the locals call one of the less-desirable neighborhoods of San Francisco. Seems fine to me. Also it probably makes the hotel a bit cheaper than downtown. It's about a 12-block walk from downtown or Chinatown (head downhill on Bush st.) * Decide when you're checking in whether you want a room with a view of downtown (sorry, the hotel isn't high enough for a view of the bay) or the courtyard. The courtyard is quieter but not as interesting. * The hotel is shaped like a T, with one of the two ninety-degree angles framing the courtyard. Of those two sides, only one has balconies. You may want to ask for one when you're checking in. * All the conference events, including the typically off-site EFF Pioneer Awards (http://www.politechbot.com/p-03378.html) are in the hotel. * About 450 people have registered (not all of those have paid), with a maximum expected attendence of 500. This is in line with previous years. 60 of the registrants are journalists. * There should be an 802.11 wireless network. If you haven't RSVP'd for the Politech dinner on Tuesday evening, this is your last chance. See: http://www.politechbot.com/events/cfp2002/ -Declan ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sign this pro-therapeutic cloning petition: http://www.franklinsociety.org -------------------------------------------------------------------------
