Good move. Holding a conference in San Francisco these days is a pointless waste of money for attendees.<p>I also know that a certain large scientific society moved its annual west coast meeting from San Francisco to Phoenix about a decade ago, after a union dispute. Apparently a presenter plugged his own laptop in (or something similar) instead of waiting for Moscone staff to become available to do it for him — the union started a huge stink about it and the society decided San Francisco was no longer worth the trouble.