Oh geez, that sounds like a stressful way to go. I can see why you wouldn't want to do it that way again. Which Hicok did you get signed? I only have This Clumsy Living. I only read it once, but it didn't really stick to me. I'll give it another read though. I always get Hicock and Christian Hawkey mixed up because when I bought This Clumsy Living I also bought Hawkey's Citizen Of, which I didn't really understand most of. Foolishly, I left it behind during my last move and now I want to read that again too (but I don't want to pay another $14 for, sorry Hawkey). I think the networking aspect is what drives a lot of people to go and that's something I would definitely find valuable as I haven't kept up most of my poetry connections. One of these days I'll make it out to one, just to check it all out for myself. Thanks for writing all that out :) Oh and, I use my old student IDs often. I used to be able to go to the MFA for free, but I guess that arrangement has changed.