I'm not sure if it's the economy, just really good planning, or a combination of both but Blizzcon and Quakecon have already announced dates for their events.  Quakecon is going to be held August 13-16, and Blizzcon will be held the following weekend August 21-22nd.  During normal times these events would be announced usually sometime in April, but I guess they are getting better organized and giving gamers the best advanced notice that they can give to allow attendees to book WAY in advance.