Been trying to talk my girls into a 3 day canoe trip down the Buffalo River this summer - I've told them how amazing it is....but alas no one ever listens to me. ;) Seriously - anyone that has any interest in mining stocks has to make a pilgrimage to mecca. There is the Cambridge House show in Jan that I personally think the the big one. PDAC in Toronto in March is bigger - but it's less focused on junior miners. There is another Cambridge House miner convention in summer - if you can't make the one in January, that is a distant second. There is one in about a week and a half - I don't know the name of it, but I'll be up there so I'll go. They have hard rock shows in other towns - but they aren't the same. FWIW. (rumor has it Vancouver has supplied more Playboy centerfolds than any other town in the world - in case you needed one extra reason - I suspect most worked at Cactus Club or Joey's)