David,
I understand your concern (and your frustration about the locale of the upcoming meeting). Those points aside for the moment, I think you are hearing that Tahoe was something a bit different from the ACUC, but was no less of a conference. It was much smaller, much less formal, and much more user directed. The attendees were mostly (but not entirely) experienced AC users so the topics tended to be more tailored to the group. The fact that Jon B was there for a day added a dimension to those discussions.
It was in no way a "regional" meeting, and was by no means a short trip for us. We found the 2010 ACUC to be one of the most worthwhile CME conferences we had ended; we felt equally positively about Tahoe.
The timing and the location of this year's ACUC along with family and work issues will make it a challenge for us to attend both conferences, but that is not because either is of any lesser value, from an academic or social standpoint.
