Comped scribblers the bane of conferences

[dmolnar]

On Sat, 25 Aug 2001, Tim May wrote:

> First, $1500 per conference sounds way too high, even by today's
> inflated standards.

Just off the top of my head:

O'Reilly P2P Conference, Standard Conference Fee: $1595
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/p2pweb2001/pub/w/16/register.html

RSA 2002 Conference:  $995 to $1795, depending on when you register
		    (Special $595 for "Academics", scholarships for
		    students)

Overheard at a conference business meeting:

"What about special rates for attendees who are neither business nor
academia?"
"ARE there any such people?"
<silence>

Hey, at least DEF CON is still $50 ! although Black Hat is $1195 + $700
per training course.


> some of the Big Luminaries: Esther Dyson, John Perry Barlow, Mitch
> Kapor, etc. They upgraded the venue, raised the rates, and sought
> corporate sponsorship. So the rates rose. (And the Luminaries are, to my

By the way, in case anyone knows Neal Stephenson, I know a science fiction
conference which would love to invite him.  (Yes, I've read his web page,
yes, it's a lost cause, but writing of luminaries...)

> CFP could have been a conference where tech types mingled with policy
> types. Alas, very few of the Cypherpunks meeting folks ever go to the
> CFPs, even when they're held locally to the Bay Area.
> Mostly lawyers and spooks.

There was that workshop on "Privacy by Design" at the 99 or 00 CFP, wasn't
there? The one report I had from that was not favorable, but it's not a
*bad* idea.

This year, there's a workshop on Privacy Enhancing Technologies being held
immediately prior to CFP in the same building. Maybe this will lead to
more interaction.

http://www.pet2002.org/

(Disclaimer: one of the co-chairs is a co-author of mine. So yeah, this is
thinly disguised plugging for the workshop. No, I don't know how much
it will cost.)

> I'll probably attend the next CFP the way I attended the very first
> one...by sitting in the comfortable chairs in the lobby area.

Well, come a few days earlier and sit in comfy chairs for PET, while
you're at it...

-David