The Optical Society of America (OSA), the managing society of the Optical Fiber Communication Conference, said that this year's show was the largest yet. OFC 2000, which was held March 5 through 10 in Baltimore, had an estimated attendance of 16,000 to 17,000, up from 10,200 last year, and featured 475 exhibitors, up from 387. "We're excited by the explosive growth of OFC this year, up over 60 percent from '99," said John Thorner, OSA's executive director. He said the society already is preparing for the "logistical challenges" of what it predicts will be an even greater interest in the next conference, to be held March 10 through 15, 2001, in San Francisco.