[KB] RSA Portland Conference

[Wess, Robert Victor]

I assume many of you saw RSA's post that no final decision has yet been made 
regarding whether to delay or to go ahead with its conference this spring in 
Portland.

Here is "my two cents" on the issue: I would stay away from Portland and the
Portland airport. In addition to the general value of staying away from crowds, 
there are these considerations:

1) Washington has been hit harder than anywhere in the US. People in Washington
often cross the Columbia River to come to Portland to shop because there is no 
sales tax in Oregon, whereas in Washington there is a 6.5 sales tax statewide and 
additional local taxes so that overall, depending on the locality, the sales tax ranges 
from 7 to 10.5 percent.

2) The initial Oregon cases are close to Portland.