TAM 9 Dates

I find TAM is a lot more fun if your dates aren't planned out.

Besides, Scrut has more of a chance with the ladies that way.
 
bumlet5 said:
Besides, Scrut has more of a chance with the ladies that way.
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Of course. Otherwise, they've all made sure they have a date already to avoid him.

Or am I thinking of someone else ... :D
 
Wherever they hold it, I'd vote for a cap on the the number of attendees, maybe even less than 1300. TAM should be best kept as a relatively intimate gathering and not allowed to turn into another DragonCon.

Our skeptics group was discussing this recently...those of us who went enjoyed TAM8 very much, but the overwhelming number of people made it harder to meet & socialize with people, not easier. The overall consensus was that it's probably getting too crowded to want to go back.

(and don't get me started on the Skepchick party)

I'm very happy that the skeptics movement has become more popular, but as far as TAM is concerned, more people means a less meaningful experience.

Sorry..I guess this is a bit off topic.
 
LilaMae said:
Wherever they hold it, I'd vote for a cap on the the number of attendees, maybe even less than 1300. TAM should be best kept as a relatively intimate gathering and not allowed to turn into another DragonCon.

Our skeptics group was discussing this recently...those of us who went enjoyed TAM8 very much, but the overwhelming number of people made it harder to meet & socialize with people, not easier. The overall consensus was that it's probably getting too crowded to want to go back.
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Less people = more money. :)

LilaMae said:
(and don't get me started on the Skepchick party)
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From the skepchicks I have talked to, I think you can assume that the party will be much smaller next year.
 
LilaMae said:
Wherever they hold it, I'd vote for a cap on the the number of attendees, maybe even less than 1300. TAM should be best kept as a relatively intimate gathering and not allowed to turn into another DragonCon.

Our skeptics group was discussing this recently...those of us who went enjoyed TAM8 very much, but the overwhelming number of people made it harder to meet & socialize with people, not easier. The overall consensus was that it's probably getting too crowded to want to go back.

(and don't get me started on the Skepchick party)

I'm very happy that the skeptics movement has become more popular, but as far as TAM is concerned, more people means a less meaningful experience.

Sorry..I guess this is a bit off topic.
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The other option is to split it again, but they've already done that a few times and it didn't change anything really. "The" TAM is Vegas. As much as it pains me to say it, Scrut's right. To cap the attendees would mean that the JREF gets less money, and the people actually going would have to pay more.
 
bumlet5 said:
The other option is to split it again, but they've already done that a few times and it didn't change anything really. "The" TAM is Vegas. As much as it pains me to say it, Scrut's right. To cap the attendees would mean that the JREF gets less money, and the people actually going would have to pay more.
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That's not necessarily the case. For instance I know that for TAM Australia they had to cap attendance. The reason is because venues have a tier system, and the next level up would have been significantly more expensive. It would mean they would have to charge much more for tickets and the JREF would end up making less money.
 
LilaMae said:
That's not necessarily the case. For instance I know that for TAM Australia they had to cap attendance. The reason is because venues have a tier system, and the next level up would have been significantly more expensive. It would mean they would have to charge much more for tickets and the JREF would end up making less money.
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And I'm sure that's part of the problem they're trying to figure out, and why they haven't announced dates or venues yet.
 
The Central Scrutinizer said:
Less people = more money. :)



From the skepchicks I have talked to, I think you can assume that the party will be much smaller next year.
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Indeed. I was hanging out with Rebecca on Saturday, and she said that TAM was too exhausting for her next year, and wants things to be a bit more low-key next year.
 
rustypouch said:
Indeed. I was hanging out with Rebecca on Saturday, and she said that TAM was too exhausting for her next year, and wants things to be a bit more low-key next year.
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The impression I get from talking to her and others, the goal is to make it invitation only for people they actually know as opposed to an open cattle call for anyone who happens to reply to a blog posting.

I can see it already: Waaaaa!!! Why are the skepchicks being so exclusive? Who do they think they are? Skepticism should be more inclusive!! Waaaaaa!!!!
 
The Central Scrutinizer said:
The impression I get from talking to her and others, the goal is to make it invitation only for people they actually know as opposed to an open cattle call for anyone who happens to reply to a blog posting.

I can see it already: Waaaaa!!! Why are the skepchicks being so exclusive? Who do they think they are? Skepticism should be more inclusive!! Waaaaaa!!!!
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I got that too.

We also talked about the possible whining. It would be huge. Considering that at TAM7 there were people whining about having to RSVP, even though it was open to every one who read the blog. TAMs have been gettin ga bit stressful lately, and they want it to be fun and relaxing for them too.
 
Well, it's either that or move the skepchick party to a much larger venue, which is not going to happen.

And as TAM-London and TAM-Australia apparently show, there's definitely a market for TAMs, but even so, TAM Vegas still remains hugely popular. Partly no doubt due to the fact the hotel is so unbelievably cheap that the overall expense is the same as past TAM's in big strip hotels.
I also get the impression that every time the question is asked who's attending for the first time, about one third to half the people raise their hands. So they're all there possibly because they've heard us regular attendees say how awesome the previous ones have been and deciding they weren't going to miss this one. I wonder how long that trend can keep up ...
 
The Central Scrutinizer said:
The impression I get from talking to her and others, the goal is to make it invitation only for people they actually know as opposed to an open cattle call for anyone who happens to reply to a blog posting.
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I don't care. I'm gonna crash that gay atheists party anyways. ;)

I think TAM UK and Oz have had a noticeable impact on TAM Vegas. According to Richard Saunders and the rest of the Aussie Skeptics that attended TAM 7, there weren't nearly as many Aussies at TAM 8 as there were in previous years. However it appears they more than made up for that with additional local attendance.
 
Holy crap! Hope the dates are announced soon. I just found $1100 return flights from Melbourne direct to Las Vegas at around the TAM time of year. Cost me $1700 just to get to LA this year, plus the Southwest flight to Vegas. $1100 is super cheap!!
 
exarch said:
So they're all there possibly because they've heard us regular attendees say how awesome the previous ones have been and deciding they weren't going to miss this one. I wonder how long that trend can keep up ...
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So, what you're saying is, we need to start bad-mouthing TAM?



I can do that.



:D
 
The Central Scrutinizer said:
The impression I get from talking to her and others, the goal is to make it invitation only for people they actually know as opposed to an open cattle call for anyone who happens to reply to a blog posting.
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Sweet! I know at least TWO Skepchicks...one of whom is a fellow co-organizer of our skeptics group. I'm so in.

While we're at it, how about a screening process to keep out some of the, oh shall we say, creepy/unnervingly-intense/stalker douche-bags?
Walking on eggshells around these weirdos is kind of a party buzzkill.
 
LilaMae said:
Sweet! I know at least TWO Skepchicks...one of whom is a fellow co-organizer of our skeptics group. I'm so in.

While we're at it, how about a screening process to keep out some of the, oh shall we say, creepy/unnervingly-intense/stalker douche-bags?
Walking on eggshells around these weirdos is kind of a party buzzkill.
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I guess if I ever make it to TAM U won't be going to the skepchick party along with scrut and Buzz0.
 
rustypouch said:
I got that too.

We also talked about the possible whining. It would be huge. Considering that at TAM7 there were people whining about having to RSVP, even though it was open to every one who read the blog. TAMs have been gettin ga bit stressful lately, and they want it to be fun and relaxing for them too.
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Well, consider the whiners' point of view. This year was my first TAM. I knew exactly two people there (one being my wife), but had a lot of fun. One of my personal highlights was the Skepchick party. If that had been an "invitation only" event for the in-group (celebrities, speakers, and personal friends of the organizers) I surely wouldn't have been there.

One of the things I really enjoyed about TAM was that many of the speakers were really accessible. Having events everybody wants to go to, but only a few are invited to, and these few include the people everybody would like to meet, you take more from the other attendees than just a great party.

I can totally understand that the Skepchicks too want to relax and have fun at TAM. Maybe other people want to organize a big party. Maybe no party has to be organized at all. But if you start excluding people from a party everybody knows about, you will make TAM less attractive.
 
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