Here's the first of what could be several "did you know" reports about SABR 39. This report will focus on the early registration numbers.

• Did you know ... that 389 SABR members have registered early for SABR 39?
• Did you know ... that the above figures does NOT include four members under age 18 who have also registered?
• Did you know ... that these numbers exceed SABR's own projections by nearly 24 percent?
• Did you know ... that among the 389 + 4, a whopping 68 of them will be attending their first SABR convention? That's 17.4 percent of the total. For the sake of comparison, in Cleveland last year, there were 130 first-time attendees (20.57 percent); in St. Louis in 2007, there were 157 first-timers (21.45 percent); and in Seattle in 2006, there were 141 rookies (26.16 percent).
• Did you know ... that our biggest early-registration numbers come from the great states of New York (41) Virginia (40), Maryland (38), Ohio (31) and California (29)? (People in Congress tend to refer to their colleagues as coming from "the great state of" someplace or other before they verbally twist a knife in their back.)
• Did you know ... that on a percentage basis, we've gotten the most early registrations from Oregon (15.7 percent of all SABR members in the state), Maryland (15.4 percent), Virginia (14.2 percent) and Delaware (9.7 percent)?
• Did you know ... that 11 of our early registrants hail from outside the United States?
• Did you know ... that rooms on some nights at the J.W. Marriott, the official convention hotel, are already limited? Early attendees should not that SABR's block of room is already sold out for Monday, July 27, three days before the official convention kickoff, and that there are only seven rooms available for Tuesday, July 28. (Most people register the day before the official convention start date and settle in inside their hotel room or take part in a variety of pre-convention activities.)
• Did you know... that 156 rooms have already been reserved for the night of Friday, July 31? They'll come in handy after SABRites and their families and friends make it back from Baltimore after having taken in the opener in a series against the Boston Red Sox.
• Did you know ... that SABR 39, July 30-August 2 in Washington, D.C., will be a monumental experience? What, you didn't? Well, you know it now!