It's obvious the forums have been slower this year (at least in terms of number of people posting).

My question is -- does that mean PCB is going to be slower this year? Or will it be just as crowded as last year? Or somewhere in between?

I have my opinion (which I'll post later), but I live in CA and am not in school anymore, so a lot of you probably have a better idea. How crowded do you think it'll be, based on what you know about:

• how many people at your school/area you know are coming down
• how much space there is at the hotels
• what the PCB locals are expecting
• how much activity (in terms of website hits, # of visitors, # of posts) there's been on this site (obviously a good place for SWN to chime in)
• anything else you think will make it more / less crowded

Personally, I don't think it's a problem that the forums have been slower. I think there's two main things to explain that:

1. In the past, 90% of posts seem to have come from a small number of people (Daniel Lee, Lakeland, Trigger, etc.). They haven't been posting as much this year, so it makes the forums look a lot slower. Meanwhile, there's still just as many non-registered visitors on the site (every time I sign on, anyway) this year as there were in years past, and they're just browsing all the great stuff that's already been posted on this site. So I don't think the forums are actually as slow as they feel (obviously SWN would have a better idea of this than me)
2. MTVu isn't coming, so there isn't as much advanced buzz about it, but ultimately, you know that if someone wants to go on SB, they're going to go to PCB - it's close, it's affordable (especially important in this economy), and it's where everyone goes

I think it's possible PCB is a tiny bit slower this year, since MTVu did draw some people -- but I still think it'll be almost as crazy, if not the same

Great questions and thread Dave!

I'll post a complete analysis of stats comparing forum traffic from last year to this year on Monday. Overall traffic was up last time I checked, but registration and participation was down.

I think it may have something to do with all the options there are now for social media participation (Facebook groups, Twitter lists, etc) I really think most people only tolerate a certain amount of participation for themseleves, then they reach a saturation point. While these other social media groups haven't taken away from our overall traffic, they may have affected our visitors' willingness to join and participate cos they already participate elsewhere. Just a theory.

BTW - Hotels have been reporting solid booking this year, comparable to last year... which was a BIG year for PCB numbers-wise.

That's great news, SWN, and exactly what I expected. Looking forward to seeing those stats, and to hearing from other locals, students, and everyone else

looking around for condos, apartments, hotels etc which all seemed booked up or very close to completely booked up i'd say its going to pretty busy...13th-20th particularly seems massively subscribed

I think there MIGHT be fewer people because of the economy and the fact MTV isnt gonna be there. But even if it is fewer, it's still gonna be crowded and busy.

almost everything is booked up for the 6-13th as well. i think its going to be crazy, regardless of the economy. the mentality of a lot of my college buddies is that you have the rest of your life to make money, but you only get a few years of your life on college spring break.

yea, im goin the 6th-13th an i think p.c is still going to be busy, because on bookit.com alot of hotels have only about three rooms left.

Dude and if anything, the economy was worse as of this time last year. I definitely don't think the economy will affect it in any way.

If anything, a bad economy is probably better for PCB, since it's the cheapest spring break option...people are less likely to go to Cancun / Mexico when money is low. Any student can scrounge together the $500-1k that you need to do PCB

For the money you can't beat PCB, period. I had friends doing all inclusive packages to Cancun for $1500 which is insane, I could get by spending just a third of that at PCB. Most people know this which is why I doubt spring break will be any slower this year

1. I know a ton of people going down to PCB this year. Last year it was nuts. There were people EVERYWHERE! Doesn't matter where you stay, there are breakers all over.
2. Since it's January, hotels are selling out fast and the prices go up every month. So if you're still needing a place to stay, better hurry. OH & if you need help... hit me up. It's my major/job to plan events and trips. :]
3. PCB locals, I'm sure are expecting craziness. Last year a girl was shot at La Vela... I don't know if they expected that to happen, but **** happens on spring break, that's not always good. For the locals who are in college, a lot of them will be out there partying with you... except for the few who don't like this time of yr.
4. If MTv doesn't go to PCB this year, I don't think it will really affect Spring Break. I didn't even go down to any of the MTv events last year and still had a lot of fun. I'm sure there will still be tight concerts and events without them.

=]

I think it well be better without MTV there, but I have noticed that the major events are losing their luster. The didn't do a pub crawl last year, just a wrist band to get you into a bunch of places free that didn't have free drinks. The foam parties are getting played out, too crowded and too many dudes.

Foam parties are gross to begin with. I've been to a few before, and can't stand the soap going everywhere...

You gotta admit the free concerts were a nice change of pace. It pretty much brought everyone out. I haven't heard about any such line up this year though.

And as far as activity at PCB...I think it will be about the same if not more. Hotels and condo owners appear to be charging more, which to me indicates that demand is way up. I could be wrong though. Just a theory.

This is incorrect. The girl was shot outside butterfingers or whatever the hell that place is called (where joeys pizza use to be) and it was not related to La Vela or Spins in any way.