Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!lavaca.uh.edu!davison
From: davison@menudo.uh.edu (Dan Davison)
Newsgroups: comp.org.sug
Subject: Re: Sun User Group Exhibit Only Fee
Message-ID: <1990Oct20.045519.24747@lavaca.uh.edu>
Date: 20 Oct 90 04:55:19 GMT
References: <1990Oct19.152134.22517@world.std.com>
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Organization: University of Houston
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In-Reply-To: peter@world.std.com's message of 19 Oct 90 15:21:34 GMT

In article <1990Oct19.152134.22517@world.std.com> peter@world.std.com
(Peter Salus) writes:


   Dan Davidson asked several quite disjunct queries in
   his posting.  Not wanting to get into an argument
   of any sort, let me try to answer them factually.

"Davison", and on the argument, agreed.

   (1) The exhibits-only admission in San Jose will
           be $15.  It wasn't in the brochure because
           it's an on-site, not pre-registration
           fee.

It would have been very useful to have this information before now,
and I would suggest that this information be part of next year's SUG
meeeting announcements.

   (2) SUG isn't "Sun's User Group,"  it is the Sun User
           Group,Inc.

A *careful* reading of page 10 (of the unpaginated full annoucement --
counting the cover as page 1) *strongly* suggests otherwise.  

           If it were a "captive" group --
           like DECUS, for example -- it could have free
           (subsidized) memberships.

The presence or absence of "subsidized" memberships was not what I had
in mind.


   (3) Dan may feel the fees are extravagant, but the
           tutorials are the same as those at Sun Expo
           and less than those at USENIX or UNIX Expo.
           [...]. In 1989, 40% of SUG's income and
           about 12% of its operating revenue came from
           the Anaheim meeting.

We don't really disagree here.  The SUG meeting is the primary source o
income for the SUG and as such *steps should be taken to maximize that
income*.

We have just had a posting in this newsgroup about the expenses the
SUG has taken on, limiting (for now) the ability of the SUG to support
other things, such as the Sun-Spots Digest.

However, to state my postion again, and hopefully more clearly, if the
cost of registration were in the $200-$250 range, more people would be
able to attend. This means more dollars for the SUG.

This is especially relevant for independent consultants and those
working for small companies who cannot afford a kilobuck or two per
employee for the current SUG meeting.  The fees cited by Peter are
clearly aimed a companies with deep pockets.  Deep pockets may have
been the rule in the past, but I'll bet registrations would greatly
increase with more reasonable fees.  Even the government is cutting
back on travel expenses!

More registrations mean more money for the SUG.

Lastly, I did not mean to suggest that the tutorial fees were out of
line; I thought, and I only meant to refer to the registration fee.
The tutorial fees seem to me, at least, to be reasonable very
reasonable. 

dan davison
davison@uh.edu
--
dr. dan davison/dept. of biochemical and biophysical sciences/univ. of
Houston/4800 Calhoun/Houston,TX 77054-5500/davison@uh.edu/DAVISON@UHOU

"Comparing bad weather to rape: 'if it's inevitable, just relax and
enjoy it'"  Clayton Williams, next Governor of Texas...and THIS is the
kind of person and attitute most Texans find acceptable...in
1990...very sad. 

Disclaimer: As always, I speak only for myself, and, usually, only to
myself.