[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Oh yes. I do Defense work and that is a big no-no. In fact, I've had my bosses disapprove travel for people to travel to a place when there is an airshow in town or a big festival (like Fiesta Days in San Antonio). Too much hassle if people find out and start complaining.

And I don't get the $7000 price tag without food included. I don't know if these people are staying at a lavish resort or the conference fee is outrageous or what, but I question that price. My last 5-day cross-country business trip cost $1100 and I stayed at a pretty decent hotel.

[patton]

That was the price for a number of them, not per person.

But it doesn't matter - even if it were free, John Q Public would have a FIT.

[Kirkwood]

"My last 5-day cross-country business trip cost $1100 and I stayed at a pretty decent hotel."

Sorry, but I don't believe it. We're talking conference travel here, not a business trip. I'm on the speaker's circuit and travel to up to 12 conferences a year, plus incidental personal travel. Some conferences charge as much as $900 for registration fees. The cheapest conference I went to last year charged $300. There was one occasion with back to back conferences over 6 day period and the registration alone was $1450. It isn't cheap to rent out a conference center. For a national or international meeting the cost can easily go over a quarter million.