Registration for the SLA 2010 conference in New Orleans has been open for several months. There was a $395 discounted price for registrations completed by Sept. 4, 2009, which was about four months earlier than the deadline for the extreme early-bird price for SLA 2009 in Washington, D.C.
The current early-bird price for 2010 is $445, an increase of $150 (50.8 percent) since 2006. Here are the registration rates for 2006-2009 (compiled by Teri Vogel, Chemistry Division Chair-Elect):
·
2006 - $295 http://www.sla.org/content/
·
2007 - $325 http://www.sla.org/content/
·
2008 - $325 http://www.sla.org/content/
·
2009 - $395 ($350 if you registered by Jan
31) http://www.sla.org/content/
[Editor's note: If you were one of the first 100 to register for SLA 2009 on Jan. 7, 2009, it was $295.]
Nancy A. Sansalone, SLA's COO/CFO, sent this note to the association's leaders today (Dec. 10) explaining the 2010 costs:
Dear Leaders,
Conference registration fees have risen for two reasons:
* The cost of producing conferences continues to rise.
* Sponsorship funding, which heavily subsidizes registration fees, continues to fall.
Everything from the cost of electricity to food and beverage services for conference increases each year. For 2010, we expect our expenses to increase by 20%. Based on conference surveys, attendees also expect, and receive, much more from their conference experience, from wireless connectivity ($20K) to more sophisticated audiovisuals to "unconference" sessions to more food in the INFO-EXPO ($150K), all included in the registration fee. In New Orleans, we will incur additional expenses for busing ($40K), insurance ($20K) and to subsidize community service projects ($3K). We will have to pay state sales tax, and we are adding a virtual conference component to our offerings.
At the same time, the revenue we receive from sponsors declines each year. Last year, we were fortunate that some of our sponsors boosted their support in order to celebrate our Centennial; unfortunately, we do not expect that to happen this year. This trend of reduced funding for sponsorships and advertising is affecting virtually every association.
Attendees will pay about $50 more than last year to register, but they will find that increase offset by much lower rates for hotel rooms and dining in New Orleans.
Nancy
Nancy A. Sansalone
COO/CFO, SLA
T: +1 703.647.4935
F: +1.703.647-4903
E: [email protected]
W: www.sla.org