There will be no charge for attending the talks or exhibits; entrance to the convention center will be absolutely free. I am counting on exhibitors, sponsors, donations, and merchandise sales to cover expenses. I'd like this event to be an introduction to bitcoin for San Antonio and Austin and I plan on doing my best to saturate the area with advertisements in the days leading up to it. So remember, sponsors - the bigger your contribution, the bigger your presence!

By the way, I've updated the list above to reflect the newest exhibitor and sponsor, Cryptoanarchy.com!

edd, I suggest you give Ron Paul a shot on his campaign site for being a speaker. Try to sell him on Bitcoin. I would but it has a preference for event owners.

Would anyone object to an individual paying fees to the convention and setting up a booth to promote voting for US presidential hopeful Ron Paul? I was also hoping to get a speaker to talk about the importance of ensuring government keeps its hands off the Internet and Bitcoins as a competing currency. Paul's come out in favor of competing currency, ending the Federal Reserve system mucking up the USD, and supports Internet anonymity (going so far as to support Wikileaks while most other politicians were seeking to execute Manning & Assange).

I think it's very reasonable not to want to skew the convention as supporting a political candidate, but I'm sure there will be enough sponsors there to not give off that impression. Again, if there is strong objection in the community toward either having a speaker there promoting Ron Paul, or even a booth, I will not book a spot - but if you guys are comfortable with it, I'd love to send a person or two over to talk about him and pass out literature.

I, for one, see that you're doing your best to make this endeavor a go. Since the date is fast approaching, I suggest you continue to bump this thread, adding as much info as possible daily. Keep sticking it in our face, so to speak. Slowly, but surely, users will come on board. I envision at least a couple cabbies providing their services via accepting Bitcoin, if that helps any. At the risk of being funny, Atlas could redeem himself if somehow he was able to get some bar or restaurant on board into accepting Bitcoin, for he lives in the neighborhood--Texas.

I'm sure the results of this convention would rival the NYC one, but the recent Prague Convention has set a nice bar to reach.

~Bruno~

So you're the snow hog!

Yeah, there's plenty of reasons why this is a great convention town, especially in the spring. 

The booth is cheap. I already have one for Hand Tooled Leather Wallets.

This is going to be the best Bitcoin convention ever! Why? For the live show:

ATLAS meets MATTHEW

March 17-18, St. Patrick's Day weekend. Exhibit table is 12 BTC and a hotel room in our block is $195 - $199 a night, depending on which hotel you choose.

http://www.bitcoinconvention2012.com/

I have made my travel arrangements!  Looking forward to it. 

If you get to be a speaker, I want to be a microphone, so that I can blow you. </gay>