On 2016-02-18 7:18 PM, Risker wrote:
June-July-August is the most expensive period for just about everywhere in the world; March, April, September and October tend to be much less expensive in lodging, travel and direct conference costs. Maybe we need to rethink*when* we are holding Wikimania as much as anything else.
That is true, and availability of venues etc would be greatly increased.
The flipside, however, is that those months are not ones where *availability* for travel are high. Most schools/universities are in session, and employed participants (those most likely to have disposable income to travel) are generally less able to take time off they those months fall outside the general "summer vacation" period [at least in the Northern Hemisphere].
It's not clear to me that a cheaper event fewer people are able to attend is preferable.
-- Marc