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Mine, too. On 31 January 2012 22:19, Kam Woods <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > "Sharpies at the front door" pretty much answered my comment. > > On Jan 31, 2012, at 4:18 PM, Kyle Banerjee <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >>> +1. If there is such a policy, it doesn't really seem in the spirit of >>> a smaller, more intimate conference. >>> >> >> Just to give a little background on what's happening, it's not that we >> don't think it would be desirable to be able to accommodate all these >> requests. It's that you reach a point where it becomes impractical. >> >> Providing administrative, financial, and logistical support for c4l is time >> consuming. Current estimate is a total of 29 full person days between our >> admin assistant and business manager. That figure is derived from actual >> tracking and while imperfect, it should be pretty close to the real thing. >> It's a big deal if you're a small organization like ours with only 7 full >> time employees that are already fully utilized. >> >> So where does that time go? This list will miss all kinds of things since >> I'm just spitting it out, but it should give you the general idea: >> >> - Evaluating options and negotiating contracts >> - Payment processing, following up on payments >> - Registration. Time intensive because presentations were chosen after >> registration was opened so presenters may or may not be part of the open >> registration process. This also led to a more confusing waitlist process. >> - Responding to e-mails, late requests, etc >> - Managing budgets >> - Communicating with hotel (way more time intensive than it sounds) >> - Communicating with ??? committees (for an anarchic organization, there >> are quite a few) >> - Answering questions, dealing with late requests, etc >> - T-shirts >> - Refunds >> - Scholarship administration >> - Contacting late registrants >> - Sponsorship processing. Not nearly as straightforward as it sounds. >> - Catering (many details) >> - Creating and formatting agendas, registration packets, name tags, etc >> - Signs -- sure, they're just a few sheets of paper, but they need to be >> labeled properly for the rooms you already have with appropriate >> directional arrows >> - Filling vacated spots from the waitlist >> - Working with A/V company >> >> This year, we have only one hosting proposal (as we did last year). Given >> the high level of interest in c4l, I think it's fair to suggest that the >> relatively low level of interest in hosting is a function of what it really >> entails. By hosting c4l, your institution commits itself to a lot of work >> and is legally on the hook for a lot of dough. >> >> We host quite a few conferences, and c4l national is significantly more >> labor intensive than other events (even ones that are considerably larger). >> I don't say this to be negative on the community -- community building is >> incredibly important, but it's important to be aware of what tradeoffs >> we're making. Doing this successfully over the long term requires a minimal >> level of administrative efficiency. >> >> In a long rambly way, I guess what I'm trying to say is that no one likes >> to say no, and there might even be some things that seem unfair. But we >> probably give this stuff more thought than may appear on the surface. >> >> kyle >> -- >> ---------------------------------------------------------- >> Kyle Banerjee >> Digital Services Program Manager >> Orbis Cascade Alliance >> [log in to unmask] / 503.999.9787 >