Hopefully in the next week or so the full financial info will be released to all members, but in the interim I wanted to share some data points we were provided during the volunteer briefing:
- Cost of a bottle of water: $4.50 (water coolers were $75/day so that's why you saw them and not the bottled water)
- Drink ticket for evening events: $8.50 (this is the cost of the drink, not the ticket!)
- Wireless access for attendees: $40,000
- AV for the event: $90,000 (I believe this includes recording the sessions but not production costs of the DVD's)
- Food and beverage for Heroes event: $140,000
- Cost of renting convention center: $80,000
- Total food and beverage for the event: $650,000
If you've never dealt with a hotel or convention center you may find those numbers staggering. Even here in Altamonte Springs (just outside of Orlando) food at my local Embassy Suites runs about $20/person for lunch, coffee is....$32/gallon! And just like the convention center, they require you to use their services. To some degree you get a reduced rate for the actual rent if you use their food, but it still works out to a lot of money.
One of the bigger complaints I've heard (and voiced) is not enough coffee/drinks available during breaks - here you can see why they'd be tempted to economize on those, though I think it's a mistake to do so (and this year seemed to be about right).
It's easily a million dollar event, probably more. Cost of doing business, though I still wish I could sell bottled water to a few people at $4.50 a bottle (that buys a case at my local Costco).
