In article ,
Bill B wrote:

I've attended "symposiums", "fests", shows" etc., for numerous other
activities and have never paid more than $15 for a 2-day event. These
typically have presentations by "big name" people in their fields too.

I can only address this from the local AAW chapter perspective. When we
have "name" turners visit for demos and workshops, we generally pay the
person something on the order of $150 per meeting demo and between $400
and $600 per full day demo (though all this is negotiable). A chapter
member usually hosts the visitor for their stay so hotel costs aren't
usually paid. We also have to negotiate travel costs - sometimes we can
pay for the leg to and from our location if the turner is headed
elsewhere before or after our dates. These costs add up very quickly.

There is no member cost to see the meeting demo but we seem to routinely
charge between $30-$50/day for the full day demos with a pizza or sub or
cookout-style burger lunch included. We consider it a good return if we
break even on the costs but usually lose a hundred or two. In other
words, these are anything but money-making programs.

Now multiply this one demonstrator by 15, 20, 30 and the costs become a
major-ly expensive - we haven't even considered obtaining the facilities
or logistics of getting proper lighting, sound and equipment. As I
understand it, most of the lathes are "on loan" by the companies and
they sell them at a discount afterwards. But there are a ton of other
details to be arranged and put into place.

I haven't paid that much attention in the past, but I believe AAW prints
a year-end income/expense report in the Journal. Let's see if I can find
a report in a past issue - hold on a second...

From the Summer '04 issue, pg. 8, (the '05 is likely at my bedside and
I'm too lazy to get up and fetch it):

Symposium expense: $216,422
Symposium income: $198,945

For a loss of $17,500 - so you can see that even at $245-$305 a person
"we" still ended up in the red. At $15 per person it would bankrupt the
organization.

I used to attend Corvette-oriented weekend get-togethers that cost about
$75-$100. But there was very little in the way of expert education or
expenses - thus, these weekends were the clubs' big income generating
events of the year. Why does our local AAW chapter and National do it if
it's a money pit? Because it's all about presenting opportunities to
educate those interested in the art and craft of turning.

--
Owen Lowe

Northwest Woodturners,
Cascade Woodturners,
Pacific Northwest Woodturning Guild
___
Safety Tip'o'th'week: Never grind aluminum and steel or iron on the same
machine or workstation - Thermite.
http://www.hanford.gov/lessons/sitell/ll01/2001-36.htm