SEGD is another organization that seems to be doing things right. They have a great national conference, and smaller regional groups. But, most of the work they do is backed up by white papers, and it’s free to the public. Their recent work with ADA signage guidelines was adopted at the federal level and they helped voice the opinion of the designer to keep our world a better looking place.
DC does sound like a fun time. Would it be across all branches of the design world? I think that would be awesome because you could mix all disciplines and get a very diverse crowd together to share their knowledge. All over cocktails!