I think you made a number of valid points in both the good and bad. My perspective, btw, is that at least in the Jewish world (which I recognize was just one segment of the Conference planning) the good far outweighed the bad. Some excellent questions were raised in (semi) public; the networking was incredible and this will all ultimately help the diaspora community and Israel.

Just to add my two cents about media coverage. Lone Star (and I agree with you on the no website) was hired strictly for English language PR. I have been working with them since Pesach and they have done a superb job. A second firm was hired for Hebrew PR within Israel; from what you say perhaps they did not perform as well.

As to the foreign press, my only experience is with the Washington Post and they had at least two stories that I know that spoke of the Conference, who was here, aims etc. More probably could have been done in the U.S., but I suspect if you review the stories filed by the 110 member White House Press Corps there are probably several references to the Conference within this broader coverage. However, many Jews in the U.S. are simply not interested in reading about Bush’s foreign travel, even if to Israel.