On the surface, this is actually a reasonable-looking proposal. Unfortunately, I don't think it would work for a traveling convention like Worldcon. If we held the Worldcon in the same place every year, it would work, because you could use the huge surplus that Year N would generate to fund N+1. However, Worldcons are all one-shots. Ideally, you'd have every one of your memberships in hand no less than 90 days pre-con so you could make decisions.
The pricing you propose would exacerbate the growing trend toward people not making their purchasing decision until just before the convention. Since the convention has to commit to most of those expenses you see in the graph weeks and months before the con, they will be left holding the bag if people don't turn up on the door.
Most recent Worldcons have had to budget to be break-even or nearly so around the time they open the door. The at-the-door memberships are the convention's operational contingency reserve. (That's different from the strategic reserve, remember, which is what you set aside against catastrophic failures.)
I'd be happy to push more people into buying in advance, though. We've been escalating prices in small steps hoping to get people to buy early, but sometimes this backfires. I remember at the Westercon before ConJose trying to get someone to buy a ConJose membership (then $175), and he said, "Oh, I'll probably come, but the $200 at the door is not that much more, so I can afford to wait until the day of the convention before deciding." This sort of uncertainty drives Worldcon managers mad.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2006-07-22 10:18 pm (UTC)The pricing you propose would exacerbate the growing trend toward people not making their purchasing decision until just before the convention. Since the convention has to commit to most of those expenses you see in the graph weeks and months before the con, they will be left holding the bag if people don't turn up on the door.
Most recent Worldcons have had to budget to be break-even or nearly so around the time they open the door. The at-the-door memberships are the convention's operational contingency reserve. (That's different from the strategic reserve, remember, which is what you set aside against catastrophic failures.)
I'd be happy to push more people into buying in advance, though. We've been escalating prices in small steps hoping to get people to buy early, but sometimes this backfires. I remember at the Westercon before ConJose trying to get someone to buy a ConJose membership (then $175), and he said, "Oh, I'll probably come, but the $200 at the door is not that much more, so I can afford to wait until the day of the convention before deciding." This sort of uncertainty drives Worldcon managers mad.