[Tccc] Result of Conference Cost Exploration

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Hi, all,

Below is a summary of the result of the TCCC exploration of conference
costs, with specific suggestions going forward.

We'll be discussing this and other issues at the TCCC meeting at Infocom
next Tuesday.

Comments on-list, off-list, or at the meeting next week are welcome.

I would like to also take a moment to thank the ComSoc for their help in
exploring this issue, esp. Bruce Worthman, whose patience and assistance
are deeply appreciated.

Joe (TCCC chair)

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TCCC/ComSoc conference finance telecon 22 Jan 2010

In attendance (alphabetical by last name):
B.S. Manoj, UCSD TCCC member
Sumit Roy, Univ. Washington TCCC member
Henning Schulzrinne, Columbia Univ. TCCC member (and former Chair)
Joe Touch, USC TCCC Chair
Bruce Worthman IEEE ComSoc Dir., Confs., Finance & Admin.

We discussed conference finances for over an hour. The meeting centered
around detailed information about three current conference budgets:

GLOBECOM 2010 - 1300 attendees (large)
INFOCOM 2010 - 500 attendees (medium)
SECON 2010 - 150 attendees (small)

All three conferences are located in the US for consistency.

ComSoc budget:
ComSoc currently has a $1M total deficit for 2009, and is projecting a
minor deficit for 2010 that relies on an 800K 2010 conference surplus.
Our total budget is $17M, of which $7M is conferences, and we also have
a $6M reserve. Our budgets are overseen by the IEEE overall, and we
abide by their requirements to avoid two consecutive deficit years, and
to spend down surpluses, except to keep a buffer to accommodate some
loss. Current ComSoc revenues are down.

ComSoc conference oversight:
ComSoc specifies very little for individual conferences. There is a
required 20% budget surplus, re-evaluated each year by the BoG, that
helps support ComSoc and also covers staff time in support of
conference coordination. Conferences are also required to include a 3-4%
contingency excess, to accommodate unknown expenses. There are 25
conferences sponsored by ComSoc, of which only half are 'owned'
(controlled) by ComSoc; of the total, only two ran a deficit last
year. ComSoc does try to help manage costs by aggregating our buying
power, to negotiate site costs, and to share expenses across meetings.
ComSoc staff travel to support meetings at the expense of
conference, but their travel is limited to coach class.

Conference budget oversight:
Budgets are managed largely at the steering committee level. Individual
meetings make decisions for each year, and ComSoc tends to stay out
of things so long as the meeting doesn't persistently lose money.
Steering committee meetings for large conferences - ICC, Globecom,
Infocom, in specific - are open, and anyone is welcome to attend.

We concluded with a number of ways the TCCC could make a positive impact
in reducing conference costs, and addressing our overall budget concerns:

1. At the next possible BoG meeting, TCCC will raise the need for a
ComSoc policy requiring recurring meetings have a steering committee.
This committee should be overseen by a ComSoc officer (a new volunteer
position, e.g., "ComSoc Conference Management Monitor" (TBD)), with
periodic review of conference costs and policies. ComSoc should offer a
default set of policies, encouraging cost containment, and avoiding
conflicts of interest (where steering committee members receive benefits
from their decisions).

2. ComSoc conference staff should encourage ways to reduce costs.
One specific example is the use of free Xplore publication services.
Current typical practice is to use Xplore for final PDF collection,
which can run $15/page. This can be replaced with a volunteer to collect
papers and prepare them in the format that Xplore accepts for free (NB:
there are nominal-cost services that can help automate this process),
saving up to $50-80 per person at large meetings.

3. The TCCC will establish a TCCC Conference Management Monitor (TBD)
position to arrange representation at the organizing meetings of large
conferences, to encourage reasonable economies. This notably includes
scaling receptions back to light snacks and a few drinks, targeting a
cost of roughly 50% of a banquet dinner at the same event. This could
save up to $40 per person at large meetings. Some other policies we
should promote at these meetings, and find ways to encourage ComSoc to
endorse at the steering committee oversight level include:
- following IEEE financial conflict-of-interest rules at the
steering committee level (as already followed by conference
finance and general chairs)
- paid rooms or room upgrades
- paid airfare/travel for non IEEE-staff organizers
- paid regular registration except for award winners
OK to provide "access badge" with no services
- consideration of 'lite' meeting styles, with all/some days
of box lunch, optional food, etc.
- consideration of avoiding or reducing the cost of unwanted
materials
This monitor position can also review access to finance information, and
if needed encourage ComSoc to find ways to make the information
available more directly (e.g., post on the web).

4. The TCCC will establish a public, open Wiki for conference
management information
- TCCC will encourage other TCs to participate, and to
promote this as a ComSoc-wide resource of 'notable experience'
- where appropriate, TCCC will determine which of these
experiences TCCC recommends as 'best practice'

5. There are other issues which individual TCCC members may continue to
explore as a service to TCCC and the ComSoc, esp. ways to either reduce
costs or increase revenues, including exploration of remote presenters,
video of conference talks, etc.

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