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Earlier this week, I was at TechEd in Boston.

It’s a charming city as always, and the new convention center is really nice. 

However, getting back and forth to the hotels was a mess.  The city is a maze of little streets, and there is constant construction.  It’s incredible — Boston has been in a perpetual state of construction since the beginning of time.

So Microsoft provides nice buses to go back and forth, but the traffic in Boston is something just short of hell.  I forgot my business cards in my hotel on Monday morning and had to go all the way back, and it was a long ride. 

And coming back Tuesday meant I avoided a strike.  That’s right:  The buses went on strike!   Typical northeast nonsense.  (Note:  The actual effect was apparently fairly minor.)

Next year, Microsoft plans on holding TechEd in New Orleans, which is not my favorite idea (this is a city that soaked for a month in a toxic sludge fed by three superfund sites and is still barely back on its feet). Perhaps Microsoft is feeling charitable and is trying to help rebuild the city, but I’m not sanguine on being there. 

Note to Microsoft: Great cities for tradeshows:  Vegas. Orlando. New York.  Tampa.

 

Alex Eckelberry