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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 don't think NYC "doesn't want it back", there was a good turnout of people, though vendors were lacking. people may not have been 100% happy with it, but they still came out. they still stayed in hotels, ate in resturants and shopped locally. there is a lot more to do in NYC after expo hours than Boston. the people that run the expo (not Apple) were offered a sweet deal to go back to Boston, while in Javits prices were going to go up. inflation makes prices go up... it happens. Boston has to promote this huge expensive new convention center so they are offering a good deal to IDG. as for the Big Dig, it's federally funded so Boston itself isn't paying for it anyway.... we all are.
personally i prefer it in NYC because it's a hell of a lot closer to the regions of Philadelphia, Baltimore, DC etc... i would think a lot of the day trippers will be lost. it will be interesting to see what the turnout is like.
The Big Dig will probably be operational by summer or fall 2002, but the demolition of the old elevated artery won't be complete until 2005 so, so the project technically won't be "complete" by the time Macworld opens. Worst case only the northbound lanes would be open, but they're making pretty good progress.
FYI, the Silver Line extension to the convention center is not part of the Big Dig. The FEIS just went out to bid a couple of months ago (my firm was on one of the loosing teams) so don't expect to see the Silver Line at the converntion center before 2006.
This may be off-topic, but you're wrong about the Big Dig being federally funded. There is *some* federal aid, but much of the burden is being placed on the Massachusetts tax payers.
Let me know when tolls in your area are doubled to pay for the Big Dig, then we'll talk.
"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge"
- Charles Darwin
The Boston area is a hotbed for open source development, with the W3C, OSDN, O'Reilly, and a lot of other names you'd recognize. Maybe you could find as many in NYC, but I doubt the density is as high. Wonder what that will do for MacWorld attendence?
Boston is only 190 miles from NY, on the Northeast Corridor, and easy to reach from Baltimore, DC, and Philly by plane (most flights are non-stop). Moving to Boston might cut down on the day trippers from Philly to NY, and the hour-trippers from NY, but that's about it.