[TYPES] Why are ACM conference registrations so expensive now?

[Jonathan Aldrich]

It's worth comparing numbers over time, and adjusting for inflation.  I
haven't done this for POPL, but I did do it recently for SPLASH (which is
arguably comparable in size and complexity).  Here are the numbers on a
spreadsheet:

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VF2APYEXb3f_jKhItq9aXq-tQR0OMLKJma-f0pLlQns/edit?usp=sharing__;!!IBzWLUs!RLSUFNj7d12QNEaAsaf7QNHF10wUs_aTeC6_42ukF1EncYFHq7xpu_9PwgU_FMkUrp0xV5yzVkveZpOACi9MAZ26-hdZ_iQWNLr8K1ShFg$ 

Short summary: the average 6-day SPLASH registration price (ACM members,
early) was approximately constant from 2015 to 2019, at about $1410 in 2023
dollars.  2020 was virtual so is not included in the spreadsheet.  2021 was
very low; Hridesh as GC got amazing deals because everyone was coming back
from Covid.  2022 was also low--it illustrates what is possible if you hold
conferences in universities (SPLASH was at the University of Auckland).
But, few universities have enough space to host conferences the size of
SPLASH and POPL, and few are available at the right time (the University of
Auckland worked because it was summer break in the Southern Hemisphere).
SPLASH 2023 was higher than the average, at $1690.

Note that inflation plays a significant role in perceptions of price
increases.  The nominal cost of SPLASH 2015 was $1125.  So if you look at
the unadjusted dollar cost difference between 2015 and 2023, more than half
of it is attributable to inflation.  I don't have any data on whether
inflation has affected conference costs (such as hotels and food) more or
less than other costs, but we should recognize this is a possibility.

For POPL 2024, I calculate a 6-day price of £744+456+228=£1428, or about
$1785 USD.  So it is definitely higher than the SPLASH historical average,
but not enormously higher, and pretty close to the recent SPLASH in Lisbon.

As Philippa says, the community has to decide whether it wants to pay the
cost of attractive locations, etc.; London is undeniably nice (I very much
wish I could come, but it's the first week of our semester and I can't make
it this year).  I would personally like to see costs a bit closer to the
historical average but I agree that making that happen can be quite
challenging, depending on location.  I always do appreciate organizers
working to keep costs as low as possible, as Philppa has!

I hope the context is helpful.

Best,

Jonathan

On Wed, Dec 13, 2023 at 8:59 AM Neel Krishnaswami <nk480 at cl.cam.ac.uk>
wrote:

> [ The Types Forum, http://lists.seas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/types-list
> ]
>
> Hi,
>
> I just registered for POPL, and the total cost was over 2000 USD. This
> seems really high, and it seems something that has gotten a lot worse
> over the last year or two. For example, ICFP a few months ago was 1500
> USD, and POPL last year was 1375 USD.
>
> Does anyone know what factors have been driving up the cost of our
> conferences up so quickly? I'm worried we're making our events
> inaccessible to anyone but the best-funded researchers and institutions.
>
> Best,
> Neel
>
>