Boston hasn't always been known for its diversity, but, according to this editorial in Sunday's Boston Globe, the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority's work in wooing the black convention market is starting to pay off. It says that next summer the city will host up to 15k attendees at the National Urban League and Blacks in Government conventions. I loved this bit, which I believe is so true of Boston:
"If conference attendees encounter sneers next summer it will be because of “geography of personality,’’ not race hostility. A 2008 University of Cambridge study on the phenomenon ranked Massachusetts residents near the bottom of the 50 states on extroversion and agreeableness. And that study controlled for variables such as race. But the same study ranked Massachusetts near the top of the nation on openness to new ideas. Urban League attendees may not get a cheery greeting from our twisted lips. But they are sure to find an open-minded local audience for their presentations on the state of black America and other research topics."