SNIA's Luxury Academy

Got an invite this week to SNIA Europe's latest event -- a day of talks about storage standards, archiving, data protection, and other fun things. And I'd be tempted to go, except it would blow my travel budget for all of 2008.

SNIA Europe's latest event will take place not in Paris, London, or Madrid. No, SNIA Europe is having its one-day "academy" in Dubai, at the five-star Mina A' Salam hotel. Typical night's charge for a single: $1,000. Add to that the cost of airfare, food, etc., and you have one splendiferous venue.

No wonder it's a one-day affair!

Would it be worth it, even if I could afford to go? The fine print is a bit chilling: "This one-day seminar, which is free to attend for end-users and qualifying channel partners, combines content from SNIA's extensive tutorial program with local market expertise and sponsoring vendors' own views on the latest technology and market trends."

Clearly, you'd have to take in a few vendor pitches between spa treatments. Then again, another day or so of this resort at $1,500 plus might make it worthwhile. [Ed. note: Stimulating beverages may be a bit thin on the ground, no?] Of course, the corporate beancounters might garnishee your pay later.Maybe I'm missing the point. Perhaps SNIA Europe finds these annual junkets to be worth their weight in gold. Maybe important local markets are tapped and vital standards work is undertaken, I don't know. And I won't find out, since I can't go, and neither can anyone else I know.

One bright spot: This event proves, if nothing else, that the sponsors aren't suffering from any IT spending slowdown. Have a comment on this story? Please click "Discuss" below. If you'd like to contact Byte and Switch's editors directly, send us a message.