Not helpful. I'm a government scientist. I need thirty days. I would imagine a lot of corporate travel offices couldn't make a trip like that happen in a week either. Not to mention the long odds that someone's calendar would happen to be open on the right days with short notice.

You asked so I gave you what I had :)

I understand that. They do also tend to livestream the workshops, which is not the same as being there, but better than nothing. I imagine if you tweeted at them / emailed them they might start to understand that proactive communication is a better approach