Ask and you shall receive—almost

I was just in the middle of an email to a friend of mine about how I may not be able to attend Web Directions North in February last night (which is a real shame, I've been wanting to go ever since I found out about it in September), how the price was too high for me, and the affiliate badge I had put on my site had yet to yield any results. But last night as I was checking the WDN site to reference what presentation topics were being covered, I noticed a special announcement of a student scholarship program, where I'd be able to get a ticket for a much more affordable $195! It was as if my prayers had been answered! Quite a coincidence, I must say. For a while it made me forget about how crappy I was feeling from losing my iPod earlier that day. Thanks Dave, Derek, Maxine, and John!

But alas, the Fates may have determined that this was not meant to be for me. As much as I've been yearning to go these past months, it simply may not be possible for me. Not for now, at least.

Also coming up soon is SXSW in March, which promises to be excellent week, and twice as costly.

Here are th Top 5 reasons I'd prefer attending WDN over SXSW:

1. It's Canadian (comme je suis) ;).
2. They've got an excellent speaker line-up. I was giddy with excitement just from reading the names of the presenters
3. SXSW is huge. Maybe too huge for my first out-of-town web conference. I find the (relatively) smaller atmosphere more comfortable to be in.
4. I've already met Joe Clark at a Toronto Interacts event he spoke at in November (my first time listening to a web guru live and in-person), and I'd really like to see him speak again, as well as to get a chance to hear all the other great speakers who, up until now, I've only had the pleasure of listening to via podcast.
5. I've always wanted to go to Vancouver, but I've never been.

And being on a student budget doesn't help my situation much. I'd have to work twice as much to be able to go to both events, which might not be possible.

Pros for SXSW:

• way more people will be there (and in turn more presentations with more prestigious speakers, more parties, etc.), therefore more opportunites to meet interesting people and web luminaries
• 4-day event vs. 2 days for WDN

Cons:

• it'll cost nearly CAD$1500 for me to go to SXSWi. WDN would only cost half as much.
• It's in the U.S., so I'd have to get my passport details sorted out before March (but I'd need to get that done eventually anyways)

Sigh... I really would like to be able to attend both, but sometimes things are not meant to be. However I'll be working hard to try to do everything in my power to get things sorted out soon and hopefully they'll still have a student ticket available for me by then *fingers-crossed*.

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