Raven said:
I'd also point out, for Caladan and Lacedaemonian especially, that you won't have to have a membership to attend some of the events, especially the parties which take place outside the main venue (sorry Kevin, I know this isn't doing your membership sales any good
).
*Shrug* If someone can't afford the membership, they aren't going to be able to attend anyway, so I try not to get too worked up about off-site events open to non-members.
However, there are less expensive ways to get a membership if you act now. People who bought memberships a couple of years ago when it was relatively inexpensive but are now deciding they can't attend have been putting their memberships up for sale. One of the best places for looking for memberships for sale is the
Interaction LiveJournal, where, for instance, yesterday as I write this, someone put up a membership for sale for only US$100.
Not that the convention doesn't need the money -- putting on a Worldcon is a horribly expensive proposition. The Worldcon I co-chaired in San Jose in 2002 had a gross turnover of just under US$1 million, with the largest percentage of it coming from membership revenue. (Painful details available on the
SFSFC web page if you're curious.) And as I understand it, the
Scottish Exhibition and Convention Centre costs even more to rent than the >US$200,000 we spent to rent the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. OTOH, the SECC is a good facility, and the Clyde Auditorium (Hugo Awards Ceremony, Masquerade, and the Friday Night Play) looks very nice from the audience's point of view.
