For the conference I recently attended- with appro...

For the conference I recently attended- with approximately 1800 attendees, I would say this venue has it's pros and cons. A HUGE pro was it's FREE, yes FREE, parking! I don't know if the parking is always free, or if it's something negotiated for each conference event, but this was absolutely an unexpected plus to discover when we arrived.

Traveling to get to the conference center is another story, if you're arriving from the East Bay. 237 is consistently a nightmare (like most commute time traffic in the Bay Area). Leave yourself plenty of time to arrive

The event space, itself, was manageable in size, but to register and navigate the space, there was no real centrally-located command center. The books sold at our event were near impossible to find. And the Wi-Fi was sketchy for me during my entire 3 days there.

As for the other aspects of this particular event, free breakfast and lunch were also provided (If you could get there between 6:30-8:00 in the morning- after which it is all promptly put away. No chance to graze between breakout sessions or if you missed arriving before the keynote address.) Great, right? Well, yes and no. Given the Santa Clara Convention Center's location, there are absolutely no food places to go to. You have no food options. This event space is surrounded by other event spaces (The 49ers stadium is on one side of the street, and Great America is on the other side. Business buildings also abound in this Silicon Valley gateway city. So, it's great that lunch is provided, sure, but it's not much and there are no other options.

Additionally, and most importantly. lunch was just not good. One's lunch consisted of a sandwich, an apple and a small bag of plain chips. There were vegetarian options, but if you're vegan you're way out of luck. You're better off packing your lunch instead (this really goes for all).