Each booth visit, each conversation with each vendor, each side meeting, and each presentation was full of detailed technical information, interesting abstractions, competitor bashing, and predictions, all of which needed time to be understood and fully absorbed. For a variety of reasons, one couldn t really adequately cover an Interop back then. Nowadays, the event is much bigger, physically. Too big for the San Jose Convention Center and for the Moscone Center combined. So it has migrated to Las Vegas, at least for one instantiation per year.
Nothing is too big for Las Vegas.
If there is not enough room, Las Vegas can just sprawl a little more into the desert to accommodate things. So there you have it. I attribute it to the invasion of people who wear ties and nice dresses. The entire thing has become a marketing event, rather than an industry development event. Marketing communications managers and temporary workers staff booths.