OK, I am only a hack at woodturning, but why are the registration fees
for woodturning symposiums so high? $130 ($200 if I can't leave the
wife behind)to attend our local one, is this the norm for other areas?

http://www.rmwoodturningsymposium.com/

I see some big name turners are doing presentations, but jeez, how is
the little guy supposed to be able to convince the wife he "needs" to
attend? Even the guy that owns the local woodworking store, where I buy
90% of my wood working supplies and tools (turning supplies too),
doesn't attend because of the cost.

Seems to me if they cut their costs by at least half they would probably
more than double the attendance and possibly make more money. Hmmmm.
Maybe they are trying to keep us "hacks" out???

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 am heavily into astronomy and attend numerous star parties.
Registration is typically in the $20-40 range, and that's for 3 nights/4
days of instruction/classes/presentations, hands-on playing, and general
camradarie.

--
Bill Berglin

http://home.comcast.net/~bberg100

"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of
arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid
in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly
proclaiming, 'WOW! What A RIDE!!" ... Unknown

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

In article ,
Bill B wrote:

OK, I am only a hack at woodturning, but why are the registration fees
for woodturning symposiums so high? $130 ($200 if I can't leave the
wife behind)to attend our local one, is this the norm for other areas?

http://www.rmwoodturningsymposium.com/

I see some big name turners are doing presentations, but jeez, how is
the little guy supposed to be able to convince the wife he "needs" to
attend? Even the guy that owns the local woodworking store, where I buy
90% of my wood working supplies and tools (turning supplies too),
doesn't attend because of the cost.

I decided to visit the Rocky Mtn. WT symposium info site you posted
after I made my first reply.

In the RM registration fee you get 10.5 hours of instruction, 1 hour of
critique and Saturday dinner for $130/single:$200/couple (pay by Sept. 1
and get $20 off). Let's say dinner is worth $12.50 to buy in a
restaurant, *and* assuming you got your bucks to them in the next 37
days, that leaves $97.50/$155 to pay for the educational opportunity.
That leaves the cost per hour at $8.50/$13.50 - not a bad investment to
further your development from "hack" to accomplished turner.

--
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

My experience with various Symposium's and workshops over the years makes
this one look fairly reasonable (I am speaking beyond turning or
woodworking). You have to consider they are paying rent for the facility,
possibly other facility usage fees, the meal and some fee or stipend for the
guest woodturners. $130 seems pretty reasonable. Wish I was available
during that time.

I dunno... looks pretty cheap to me. As a professional woodworker, I
would be insulted if that was all I got per hour to teach, and probably
wouldn't do it considering all the ancillary expense and exposure.

For the price of a couple of dinners out on Saturday night, I am
looking at a helluva return on this type of activity. You meet other
turners, compare notes, and have a chance to yack on and on for hours
about all the nuances of woodturning with other turners.

Then there is the class... I remember when I made my first planing cut
with a skew after about 10 minutes of discussion and then some
body/hand/placement coaching from the instructor... worth every damn
penny. Two years of frustration gone in minutes.

Robert