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In addition to the elements on John Garison's list, there are often extra
charges for:
* setup and breakdown of exhibits and other spaces
* equipment rental, including phone lines and Internet access, as well as
A/V-type equipment
* security (especially nowadays)
* receiving and handling materials
* entertainment (yes, that's a legitimate item)
* management fees (if the conference management, including registration - as
opposed to the content - is done by an outside firm)
...and a bunch of other things that don't come immediately to mind.
Remember, we're talking union scale wages, too. Professional societies often
negotiate discount rates for their members for hotel rooms at the main hotel
(and possibly others), for airline fares, car rentals, etc. These are not
costs to the society, but they do help encourage attendance.
Keep in mind to, that a conference is often not a "stand-alone event;" that
is, any profit from the conference may well go to finance other activities
that benefit members but do not generate revenue. This is a key point that
most posters in this thread have ignored.
Sure, you CAN run a low-budget conference. And you CAN run one at which you
charge high registration fees (and therefore need a lower attendance rate to
break even) and at which you compensate speakers. Or you can be somewhere in
the middle. Each society makes the decision it feels is most appropriate to
its own membership.
Take a good look at that last word, "membership." Seems like most, if not
all, of the people complaining about the cost of the STC conference are not
in that category. BTW, a full, nonmember registration for the some
conferences often includes a year's basic membership.
WinWriters is a commercial undertaking, not a society. If it doesn't make a
profit, it goes out of business. We've all seen too much of that. They have
their business plan, and it works for them.
Arlen, to answer your request for figures about conference costs, etc., I
have the figures from the 1982 STC Conference somewhere in a box in my
basement. They're also on file at the STC office in Virginia. Those figures
are 20 years out of date, and the conference is now 2.5 times as big and is
professionally managed. We did almost all of it with volunteers. But if
you're interested, STC members can view a copy of the annual report, which
gives a good idea of how the society makes and spends its money. My
experience has been that they work very hard to keep the costs down and to
keep the conference, in particular, affordable to the majority of members.
YMMV, of course.
Probably more than anyone ever cared to know.
Marguerite
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