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Macworld Expo Comes Back To Boston in 2004
analog_line writes "According to this article in Business Today, in 2004 the summer Macworld Expo will move from New York City and the Javits Center back to Boston, where it rightfully belongs! As a Boston area resident, I'm ecstatic! Can't tell you how much I look forward to not having to go to New York. ;-)" This was rumored a few months ago, and I am glad to see it happen.
I sure hope that they've finished the Big Dig (the I-90, I-93 construction project in Boston) by then. Otherwise everyone will be stuck in the potholes of South Boston before they ever get to the convention center. The Silver Line mass transit system is supposed to go to the convention center, but it's part of the Big Dig too.
In 1996, the Big Dig scheduled completion date was 2000.
In 2000, the Big Dig scheduled completion date was 2002.
In 2002, the Big Dig scheduled completion date is 2004 or 2005.
My person prediction has always been that they will finish the Big Dig when they have the contract signed for Big Dig II.
And no one can go past the whole Apple in the Big Apple stigma.
The last Mac expo in NYC was such a dis-appointment to all that went (public, developers, media) that it is not shocking that NYC didn't want it to come back. That, and the fact that the charges for JJC are going up, while Boston offered it up for free! 10's of millions of dollars is a huge overstatement of the effect of the expo, at least in terms of $ for the host city. Besides, the Boston metro area has far fewer people than NYC does. Expect the attendance to be down in comparison to expo's of the past in NYC.
According to the Herald, Macworld is scheduled for two weeks after the opening of the convention center. Given Boston's track record with large state funded construction projects, what do you think the actual chances are that the center will be completed within two weeks of their deadline? :)
Being a resident of Boston (JP to be exact), worries over the Big Dig are too exaggerated. Even if the Big Dig is incomplete, I doubt this will matter much. As long as you aren't driving, which you would be crazy to do with or without the Dig, the T is easy to use and convenient. Additionally, most hotels in Boston are near the proposed convention center or within walking distance. Boston is easy to walk and is relatively small in terms of surface area. Even if you get lost or confused, the Big Dig and Boston's inherent quirky layout make it interesting and Bostonians love to talk about their city and are more than happy to guide the lost Mac user through the Big Dig. Granted, there may not be the penetration of Apple in Boston in the graphics community as was suggeted of NYC. However, Boston is an educational and research center, another large segment of Apple's user base. I think Boston is a great choice.
Just have one more conference. SF in Jan, NYC in May and Boston in Sept. That way I can travel to all cities as a business write off (à la Kramer/Seinfeld).
I'm looking forward to this Jan in SF. Maybe there will be some G5's? NOT!!!
So they could get Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in thier comercials.
I am not too bothered by this at all. I never attended Macworld when it was in New York, I am certainly not going to attend the ones in Boston. It just seems to me that the east coast Macworlds were starting to bring nothing but controversy, what with .Mac, the $129 upgrade for Jaguar and so forth. Macworld was getting weak. But I have to counter some points that were brought up.
1) Someone said that Boston has a large segment of educational users. While I do not dispute that, New York also has a very large educational market. Columbia University, New York University, St Johns, Fordham, Hofstra, The Cooper Union, Pratt Institute, Parsons School of Design, The New School, The CUNYs and so forth, plus the largest public school system in the country. However, the point is moot because Macworld takes place in July, which is usually when schools are out of their main sessions. Even though many students still stay, it wont be as many as there are during the Fall and Spring semesters.
2) True, public transportation around the airports is pretty bad. However, Airtrain which will connect JFK to the Jamaica terminal is nearing completion. That would give you a free ride to a huge transit hub that features the Long Island Rail Road and numerous subway lines. The LIRR pulls right into Penn Station, which is then a quick taxi ride to the Javits Center. That cab fare should not be more than $4. If it is, you are getting ripped off.
3) I just want to know exactly how the convention center is going to make money on this if they are offering free rent? I dont blame IDG for taking that offer, anyone would take that offer.
The entire Advertising/Marketing world runs mostly on Macs, and 99% of the big players are based in New York. As has been pointed out, the education market is huge, too.
I've been to MW Boston, it was ok, but if you want to have some fun after looking at all the pretty hardware and icons, there's not much there. Boston is to New York what Staten Island is to Manhattan. I asked a friend to show me the infamous "combat zone". It was three or four joints on a single block. You could get into more trouble at a nursing home.
There is a thin line between genius and insanity. I have erased that line. -- Oscar Levant
Oh pish, it was cleaned out by mayor white in the early 80s. Ah, how I miss sullivan square in the 20s - the debauchery, the wildness. And liquor, often served in the open!
Unfortunately, it looks like a recent accident will delay the Airtrain project.
Having it in New York was great. I could get up early, drive up from Philadelphia to Princeton (only takes 25 minutes at 3am), hop on the first NJT train into NYC, get there in time to get a good seat for the keynote, wander around all day, and come home to sleep in my own bed. I scheduled my summer vacation around it, and it made for a pleasant way to spend one of those days off.
I went to Boston for MacWorld in '95, and it sucked. I won't be going back. Traffic in Boston was horrendous then, and even if Boston is okay once they finish the Big Dig, driving up there still means going through the mess around the New York area. As for flying, no matter how cheap flights are, the airlines can't beat round-trip train fare on NJT. And the final nail in the coffin, there's not much to do in Boston-- I'm not going to blow multiple vacation days in a boring city!
You said it all brutha. Now that shit is too far for a daytrip from Philly, DC, or Baltimore.
What's the difference. I say let's have a Macworld Expo in Des Moines, the City of Certainties!
...hello, is this thing on? ; )
Come on, if it's good enough for Gnomedex, it's good enough for Macworld, right?
I am a homosexual. I bought an Apple computer because of its well earned reputation for being "the" gay computer. Since I have become an Apple owner, I have been exposed to a whole new world of gay friends. It is really a pleasure to meet and compute with other homos such as myself. I plan on using my new Apple computer as a way to entice and recruit young schoolboys into the homosexual lifestyle; it would be so helpful if you could produce more software which would appeal to young boys. Thanks in advance.
with much gayness,
Father Randy "Pudge" O'Day, S.J.
~A'Ëq'i4d)^'$ÊSÈòB