Re: [Tccc] Cost of attendance from developing countries / in general

Joe,

> Finally, the IEEE model of overhead and contingency isn't exactly the
> same as the ACM model.
>
Correct. The ACM is a relatively lean organization, but at the same
time if this turns out to be the main reason for cost differences (I am
not sure it is), then I believe that as a community we need to
understand that this the case, if only to be able to express our opinion
on the matter, whichever way we choose to.

>> In particular,
>> some conferences have a tradition of freebies for volunteers that I
>> personally find distasteful, and that play no small role in raising
>> their costs (e.g., CoNEXT has no free registrations or travel subsidies
>> for anyone except local student helpers who receive a free student
>> registration).
>>
>
> Well, none given out from the conference, but there are subsidies given
> out by the SIG - and that money comes from conference surpluses. For the
> SIGCOMM conference, this includes the SIGCOMM award winner (who is
> typically the keynote), the student award winner. There are also funds
> for the GeoDiversity grants.
>
Sure, but as you point out, these have *nothing* to do with the budget
of an individual conference. As a matter of fact, that the SIG has a
significant surplus so that it can afford subsidizing all these
expenses, including the GeoDiversity grants that are explicitly aimed at
supporting attendance from places that otherwise could not afford it,
and generates that surplus with lower registration fees, is something to
ponder.
>> I believe it is time to take a hard look at what this is
>> costing all of us.
>>
>
> Keep also in mind the difference in the size of the meetings. CoNext had
> 100-150 attendees in past years (the recent numbers aren't posted).
> Infocom has 600. That means, effectively, that every 'free' registration
> costs Infocom attendees only 1/4 what it costs CoNext - e.g., even if
> Infocom gave out 20 free registrations, that's only about a $30
> difference in the overall fees.
>
I guess then this makes it even harder to understand the cost delta,
> As chair of TCCC, I'll be glad to look into this issue further and
> discuss how your concerns can be addressed, though.
>
Maybe conferences could make public how many free registrations were
given and to whom (besides student helpers), and how much was spent to
cover travel expenses of people associated one way or the other with the
conference.

Roch

> Joe
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