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

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Hi, Sumit (et al.),

sroy@u.washington.edu wrote:
...
> 1. So in the interest of public disclosure - is there a public URL we
> can see
> COMSOC and conference budgets? As non-profits, what are the laws (at
> least here in the US) re such disclosures - anyone? WOuld love to be
> enlightened re this. There is no obvious link from www.comsoc.org on
> anything financial at a quick glance.

The Comsoc is part of the IEEE. See the main website, esp. at:
http://www.ieee.org/web/aboutus/financials/index.html

> If this information is difficult to obtain - should some of us proceed
> via Freedom of Information (FIA) Act here in the US to obtain this ?

As far as I understand, FOI applies to US Government documents, not
those of private organizations (even those that are non-profit).

> 2. Joe - can I get you to analyze the recently concluded 2009 Globecom
> registration fees (I've attached the form just FYI) and pronounce -
> according to your expert insider's insight - as to what an appropriate
> pricing should be?
> Note- $600 (limited registration) does NOT include any banquet or any
> other lunches, but does include coffee breaks, and food at selected
> committee meetings. Also, the approx. attendance exceeds 1000.

Sigcomm 2008 was in Seattle:
http://conferences.sigcomm.org/sigcomm/2008/registration.php

That included lunches Tues and Wed - but because they cut their
contingency too close, they had to cut lunch on Thursday. They did
include a banquet and reception.

Let's look at the base advance rates for members:

Globecom 780

Sigcomm 625
w/same food 465

Omitting the banquet would drop the Sigcomm fees by around 80, and 2
lunches another 80. The base rates are quite far off - and I think
that's the community's concern.

Consider student conference costs:

Globecom 300

Sigcomm 400
w/same food 240

(students get the same level of service at Sigcomm as full registrations).

Let's consider (full) 1-day workshop costs:

Globecom 350

Sigcomm 250
w/same food 210

So the Comsoc is charging rates that are, AFAICT, considered high as
follows:

conf, member 68%
conf, student 25%
workshop 67%

That's quite steep, and the reason for legitimate concern.

However, the food costs are similar (as adjusted), the room and A/V
costs are similar, and the overheads (including revenues for the
organization and budgeted contingencies) are similar.

So the question is where the rest of the money is going.

I do know that at Sigcomm, we pay for 1 staff member to run registration
on-site, and have public recommendations for how to limit expenses (that
I helped create, FWIW) at:

http://www.sigcomm.org/about/conference/

You'll find specific recommendations on the number of student
volunteers, and how to limit prepaid registrations (note that I changed
the term from "complimentary" to "prepaid" to change the perception of
those handing them out that they were "free", because they are decidedly
not).

> 3. Joe, Celia - can I get a statement from you re the following which I
> am told
> is paid from the conference budget (this falls into the category of
> conference "overhead")

I don't have that info, but I will ensure that it is found and posted as
soon as possible.

Joe

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