The ticket was 1000 USD for industry people, which is a huge hike from previous years. Academic rate should've been much lower, but IDK. Then there's the hotel cost. Mine costs ~2k USD for the week, but I've heard people pay way less for an AirBnB. Travel costs depend too heavily on where you're coming from to give a decent estimate.

It's crowded, but that's always been the case. There's a few thousand people here. It's okay most of the time, although it is hard to talk to people during poster sessions, which is unfortunate.

Overall, I'm happy to be here again and meet my old friends and acquaintances that you make working in the field over time. I missed that. And the general sense of being around ML people 24/7, it's nice. On the other hand, I can't wait to have a real meal again and not just fast food all the time. I'd give it an 8/10.