I just got off the phone with a very interesting guy behind this G4G7 event (Gathering for Gardner). We talked for about 20 minutes.
This sounds like a stellar event (Conway, Penrose ... Knuth), but so far I haven't cobbled together a travel/hotel budget for any event like that. My work in education is largely uncompensated. I get minimal perks.
However, given I'm to be with family in Nashville the following weekend, I might be able to swing something. If not, I'm aiming for G4G9, by which time I may well have a bigger budget (some wheels turn very slowly within the Fuller School -- in part because they're very big (lots of inertia)).