4 Aug
2005
4 Aug
'05
10:33 p.m.
Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2005 00:23:46 +0100 (BST)
From: ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk (Tony Duell)
Subject: Re: VCF Midwest update?
To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
Message-ID: <m1E0SaU-000IxvC at p850ug1>
Content-Type: text/plain
I've been to sevearl HPCC 2-day conferences (these are the UK HP
calculator conferences). There is an attendance fee, but this
is reduced
if you give a talk (or contribute to the conference in some
other way).
It's not free for anyone, but certainly the people who do
something for
the conference are not penalised.
People are attracted to the VCF presumably to see the
machines on show.
To charge the exhibitiors (who are the ones to attract the
public) and
then not cheage the public for coming in sounds to be totally
ridiculous
to me.
-tony
You, and a lot of others on this list, don't get it. This isn't a
for-profit enterprise like most conferences. This is a hobbyist show,
put on and financed by a hobbyist on a shoestring budget at considerable
risk. I would put up serious money that Sellam in the best years does
little more than break even on the shows he does, and has probably lost
money on some of them. Moreover, if you factored in all of the time
that he and other expend putting on the show, and value it at any
reasonable level (or even at minimum wage), these shows would show a
substantial deficit. All this talk about exhibitors attracting dollars
is absolute nonsense in this context - no one is trying to or even
expecting to make money on these shows (though it would certainly be
nice if that were the case, and I'm sure that Sellam was originally
hoping it would grow into something big and profitable). Rather, those
that participate merely hope that there is enough continued interest so
that the show will continue for another year.
I have exhibited at VCF for the last five years. Since the first year I
have felt that I am part of the show and have a personal stake in how it
turns out. That's because it isn't a show run by some corporate
monolith trying to turn a profit and wring every possible penny from the
participants; rather it is a show run by a hobbyist, for other
hobbyists. So, when Sellam started asking the exhibitors to pay a small
exhibition fee a few years ago, it made perfect sense to me, even though
I'm a cheapskate (as I take it many others are on this list). Like most
other exhibitors, I am invested in the show and want it to succeed and
continue, and by contributing something financially (albeit a very small
amount) I am doing a little bit more to support something that I really
enjoy and look forward to. The reality is that most exhibitors would
much rather attend the show as exhibitors than as non-exhibitors (why
else would we do it?) so the notion that they should free ride on
attending the show because the show derives a benefit from their
presence really doesn't fly in the least bit. Sellam is the producer
and the exhibitors and speakers are the "co-producers." It's our show;
only the vendors make money.