I use an AOL account expressly for this purpose. This way I can travel anywhere in North America and stay in any hotel and be able to check my email without any additional fees except the 50 or 75 cents that a local call costs. How much longer does it take to check email via dial-up vs dsl? Not much.
I hear ya though; it would have been a good idea for the show organizers to have made sure every room had a on-the-road dsl option for those of you who are into it.
But I think most attendees and frequent travelers probably do something similar to what I do to avoid these problems.
Just my
