🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Aug17.185327.534@decuac.dec.com>, avolio@dco.DEC.COM (Frederick M. Avolio) writes:
=
=As for $550.00.... I don't know... There's an awful lot of information
=packed in there.  I like DECUS.  I'm not sure $550 -- which includes
=continental breakfast and a full dinner-size, pig-out lunch -- is such
=a bad deal.

Well...

I won't debate that DECUS is a good thing to be at (it is), however
it has gotten expensive to go to a DECUS Symposium.  A fair number of
people are "shielded" from that expense because they are spending
their employer's money, and not their own.

IMHO, more and more people are trying to go to DECUS on their own
nickel.  Corporate travel budgets are shrinking, more people are
self-employed, and more people are unemployed.  As a result, I have
been meeting more than a few people who are paying part (or all) of
their DECUS symposium bills.  I expect the trend to continue as prices
rise and the economy continues to slump.  

DECUS is not cheap!  In addition to the cost of the Symposium,
you have to pay "downtown" hotel prices ($60-$120 a night) and
cover travel to the Symposium.  A estimate of $1500 to $2000 is
what I usually use.  That's a tough nut to swallow if it's coming
out of your own pocket.

I stated at an open Board meeting about a year ago that I felt
that DECUS was making a mistake in raising prices.  I felt the
economy didn't support a price increase, and that "simple supply
and demand" would cause attendance to fall.

I also pointed out that the DECUS cities (Atlanta, New Orleans,
Anaheim, Las Vegas, San Francisco) traditionally were expensive,
and suggested that cheaper alternatives be sought.  

I realize it's a complex process putting a DECUS symposium on,
one can hope that the appropriate folks are seeking ways to
make the Symposium more easily available to DECUS members.

--
John 'Fast-Eddie' McMahon    ()
TGV, Incorporated            () "Any networking problem can be solved by
603 Mission Street           ()  the application of 33 miles of Unshielded 
Santa Cruz, California 95060 ()  Twisted Pair (UTP)"   
408-427-4366 or 800-TGV-3440 ()                      [InterOp Spring 1992]
E-Mail: MCMAHON@TGV.COM      ()