I'd be curious as to whether IBM Share is subsidized by IBM
in whole or in part?

I'd be curious as to whether HP World is subsidized by HP
in whole or in part?

Their own marketing participation notwithstanding.

Tracy Johnson
MSI Schaevitz Sensors


-----Original Message-----
From: Wirt Atmar [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2001 2:07 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: HPWorld cost


Kathy writes:

> In 1997 the 5-Day Passport was $1,590 and it has remained the
>  same through 2001 with no increases.
>
>  In 1997 the 4-Day Passport was $1,490 and remained the same
>  through 2000.  In 2001 4-Day Passport price has been reduced
>  by $100 to $1,390.
>
>  In 1997 the 3 1/2 Day registration was $895 and it has remained
>  the same for 4 years through 2000.  In 2001 the price has
>  increased $295 to $1190.


And Greg writes:

> I don't think Wirt's examples are apples to apples comparisons. IBM Share
>  is a better comparison IMHO; a large vendor specific user group
conference.
> Their prices (from http://www.share.org) are:
>
>                                         Early Bird   Advance   Full
>  Full Conference Member - Individual       $895       $945     $1070
>  Full Conference Member - Company Badge    $895       $945     $1070
>  Full Conference Non-Member - Individual  $1225      $1225     $1425
>  Full Week Speaker - Individual            $750       $750      n/a
>  Sunday Seminars - Member                  $275       $350      $430
>  Sunday Seminars - Non-Member              $350       $430      $510
>  One Day Registrations                     $365       $365      $365

Greg's comments are perhaps the most important of all. The pricing structure
that is appropriate to the market very much depends on the model that you're
using as a comparison basis, and there really are two different models:
trade-shows vs. user-group meetings.

For a trade-show, as Greg mentions, the prices Interex charges are not out
of
line. But they are quite high if the primary purpose of the meeting is user
education, networking, and advocacy.

For a more fair comparison to this second model, I believe that the American
Association for the Advancement of Science's annual meeting is a better
comparison.

The AAAS was formed by Alexander Graham Bell in the 1890's, modeled after
the
British Association for the Advancement of Science. The AAAS has now become
a
very large society, with membership dues at about $95/year. However, with
that membership, you receive 51 issues a year of the journal, Science, which
is widely regarded to be the premiere scientific journal in the world.

In such a large society, only a very small fraction of the membership ever
attends one of their annual meetings, but that still means meeting sizes
generally of 5,000 or more people. Because of that size, AAAS meetings are
held in the same venues as are the Interex meetings. The most recent meeting
was held in San Francisco in February, at the San Francisco Hilton. Although
I didn't go, I understand Bruce Toback of this list did, and he might say
something about the meeting itself.

On-site registration cost for the 6-day meeting, if you just walked in off
of
the street, was $360, which is a little higher than my standard $50/day
registration costs, but it's still $1200 less than the HPWorld cost. On-site
(non-early-bird) registration information can be found at:

     http://www.aaas.org/meetings/2001/onsite-reg.htm

However, the most impressive thing about the AAAS meetings are their
content.
The meetings are organized around symposia. What that means is that half a
year prior to the meeting, one person takes the initiative, proposes a
symposium topic, and if accepted, then invites three, four, five or six
other
leading scientists in that particular area to prepare a talk. All of the
symposia are 3 hours long, so each speaker gets his fractional share of that
3 hours to speak. Once you've paid your registration fee, you can attend any
function that you care to.

The list of symposia at the last meeting is at:

     http://www.aaas.org/meetings/2001/alpha_program.htm

and it's worth taking an extended look at some of the links you'll find
there. There is more extraordinary information presented in the six days of
the conference than you can possibly take in. You just do your best.

Wirt Atmar

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