You don't have to come to Redmond to drink the Kool-Aid, you can mix up your own batch at home!
The entire Firestarter is streamed online... so curl up in front of your monitor, or find another bunch of like-minded geeks and have pizza delivered!
In all likelihood, unless you live in the sticks, somewhere nearby might be a UserGroup having a Firestarter day event.
However you attend, I've been told I can say that you shouldn't miss this event!
If, however, you are going to be there in person, ping me so we can meet up.