The biggest reason I'm not at NECC is money, Washington DC is too rich for my blood -- well, yeah, I'm going in two weeks but a) the trip is on someone else's dime and b) prices are cheaper then.   Plus I get three days to play.

I have not gone to NECC, and I might next year, depends on the budget, but going to the Games Cruise is my priority.

I've been to TCEA twice and was really disappointed.  I'll say that one of the workshops I paid extra for was really good though I haven't actually used the idea.  It's still in the back of my mind, years later though. My biggest problem with TCEA has been the CS to other ratio and the availibility of space to actually sit in a room and get anything out of the presentation.

I understand now they do at least a full day of Computer Science only but haven't tried.  Also with the reimbursement system my district uses, it still cost me major money if I can get them to pay for it.  It's also during the school year, so the opportunity to stay home and teach is much more attractive.

I'm going to look into some alternative funding arrangements for NECC next year, maybe try to raise funds via Twitter or something -- which is sort of an interesting idea for the Games Cruise now that I think of it.

I'm also glad I didn't go this year because of the Middle School Girl's Camp -- we still have 3 days with the girls and I really want to spend the time with them. I'm going to show them how to use Windows Movie Maker on Monday.

I will say that the CSIT is the absolute best one day event I've every been to.  I went to San Antonio last year and there was only one bad session (I really should have picked the other one).  It was very dull but the rest were very good, and I might have liked it if I were more into Open Source things. Alfred was mean and teased me about not being there earlier.