On 3/22/2014 4:21 PM, Samuel Klein wrote:
Proposed prices for Wikimania tickets continue to seem artificially
low. I'm not sure what the benefit to this is. Could people who have
run events in other contexts comment on how you set ticket prices?
In my experience, tickets are set at roughly what it costs for each
person to attend. Then there may be different sorts of tickets: for
local supporters & volunteers, for school groups, for students &
community members, presenters, VIPs & sponsors. Sponsorship helps
ensure how many tickets of each type there are. Last-minute tickets
are more expensive.
This could be a reasonable approach, but it would need significant
effort to ensure awareness of the different options, particularly
low-cost tickets for attendees with limited resources. I know part of
the reason for keeping them low in the past is that we have wanted to
avoid Wikimania becoming the kind of high-priced conference attended
exclusively by people with institutional support (corporate or academic
types), so that it's still feasible for individuals wanting to attend at
their own expense.
For people who are price-sensitive, either because the money is coming
out of their own pocket or because they simply don't have the resources,
listing higher ticket prices is a major deterrent to attending. They may
not even get as far as investigating options to reduce the cost, such as
scholarships, because the initial amount seems out of reach. This is
particularly true if they are looking at significant travel expenses
beyond just the cost of entry to the conference.
--Michael Snow
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