'Copia has drifted over the years to be less "canoe-centric."  When I first began to make the trip to Madison, I WAS doing it to go to the conference ... going to presentations and at least looking at gear.

Now, its all about people.  Quite frankly, if the get-togethers were eliminated, I wouldn'd come.  (And there have been years where I didn't actually go to any presentations ... only to the gatherings and walking the halls to see who I could find.  One year I didn't even do that!)

dd