As a quick note, the ticket prices for GLAM-Wiki in 2013 were set in two tiers - simply "individual" and "institutional", and we left it to people to figure out what they felt was appropriate in their case. I don't think there was a "Wikimedian" rate, but this was implicitly who we were targeting with "individual".
Both were probably below-cost, at £20 and £50 (?) for two days, but I don't have a copy of the calculations to hand to be sure by how much - in any case, the only major cost was that of catering for two days, as the venue and technical support were covered either by the BL or WMUK, and a part-contribution to the cost of speakers travel.
One issue that might be worth bearing in mind is that a below-cost ticket for Wikimania 2014 might well cost substantially more than an above-cost ticket for Wikimania 2005 - as Wikimania has grown, it's being run at a pretty high standard and the costs are no doubt climbing to match. If we want a cheaper conference - should we be scaling back to something less expensive and less professional?
Andrew.
On 23 March 2014 01:54, Deryck Chan deryckchan@gmail.com wrote:
Wikimania indeed has a tradition of setting artificially low entry prices for the reasons Nicholas described earlier in this thread. Of course, there's nothing to stop Wikimania 2014 from raising ticket prices. I should remind though that until 2013 we basically have a hierarchy of 4 ticket prices:
- Non-Wikimedian price: supposedly the full cost (but is still effectively
slightly subsidised) 2. Wikimedian price: substantially subsidised entry and food, for those who've paid a lot to travel to the venue from the other side of the world 3. Partial scholarship: for those who can almost / just about afford to attend Wikimania on their own budget, but would use up their savings unless their air travel was subsidised. The partial scholarship encourages them to go to *more* Wikimanias. 4. Full scholarship (for those who simply can't afford Wikimania)
In 2014, the partial scholarship is removed, so I would hesitate to raise the Wikimedian ticket prices, lest we disincentivise "medium-income" Wikimedians (particularly students) from attending. However, by all means consider raising the non-Wikimedian price, or even have a "donor price" (full cost + £100, say?) with a shiny badge to let generous attendees pay more!
Deryck
Deryck
On 23 Mar 2014 08:07, "Charles Gregory" wmau.lists@chuq.net wrote:
My impression was that the prices took into account that (a) most members of the Wikimedia community are volunteers (b) most attendees have paid many hundreds, if not thousands of US$ in airfares/accommodation costs to attend, on top of the ticket price. Volunteers also have to use up their own annual leave (or forgo wages) if their Wikimedia activities are not on behalf of their employer.
You could get away with having separate rates. The other conference I have experience with, Linux.conf.au, has rates which differ by almost an order of magnitude: Professional $899, Hobbyist $399, Student $99. (These prices are Australian dollars, which is approx USD +/- 10%) (IMHO the Hobbyist rate here is still a bit high for a volunteer.) This conference is, however, a major source of income for Linux Australia, whereas Wikimania is indirectly supported by donations to WMF.
Regards,
Charles
On Sun, Mar 23, 2014 at 10:34 AM, Nicholas Bashour nicholasbashour@gmail.com wrote:
For Wikimania 2012, I remember that we wanted to make sure the largest number of people could attend. DC was an expensive enough city that we felt if registration prices were too high, it may discourage some of the people who didn't get scholarships from attending.
That being said, there's no reason why future Wikimanias shouldn't offer various pricing options, like higher "individual sponsorship" registration for those who want to sponsor on a smaller level, student registration, etc.
Sincerely, Nicholas Michael Bashour
Sent from my iPhone
Am 22.03.2014 um 19:21 schrieb Samuel Klein meta.sj@gmail.com:
Proposed prices for Wikimania tickets continue to seem artificially low. I'm not sure what the benefit to this is. Could people who have run events in other contexts comment on how you set ticket prices?
In my experience, tickets are set at roughly what it costs for each person to attend. Then there may be different sorts of tickets: for local supporters & volunteers, for school groups, for students & community members, presenters, VIPs & sponsors. Sponsorship helps ensure how many tickets of each type there are. Last-minute tickets are more expensive.
This has a few benefits:
- tickets fully cover the cost of food and materials
- tickets contribute significantly to covering the cost of the event
- scholarships and reimbursements for attendance (for scholars,
professionals, academics all getting covered by their home institutions), in paying for tickets, cover the full cost of those people attending the event.
- more accurate headcounts in advance.
Warmly, Sam
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