My observation is entirely pragmatic, which is that I hope there is some additional information available regarding VAT refunds, or else the cost of registration really does seem to be prohibitive. The instructions on VAT linked from the site indicate that refunds are available to "entrepreneurs" whose business is sited outside the EU zone, and the refund requires a "certificate from a competent authority" showing that the applicant is such an entrepreneur. I frankly have no idea where one would go for such a certificate, and doubt that the majority (if indeed any) of us would qualify for one if we knew where to apply. Perhaps there is something more to the refund process than meets the eye, in which case I hope the organizers will share that with us. Regards, DLB Dan L. Burk Chancellor's Professor of Law University of California, Irvine 4500 Berkeley Place Irvine, CA 92697-8000 Voice: (949) 824-9325 Fax: (949)824-7336 bits: dburk@uci.edu
Steve Jones wrote:
For some reason the url in the email announcement includes the "!" but it should not. The url is http://ir11.aoir.org/registration-3/
The registration fees seem very high for this year's conference. Using current conversion rates to U.S. Dollars, and assuming a full refund of VAT (which may be an incorrect assujption):
Earlybird Rates (through August 31)
$265 Student: 1980 SEK (plus 495 SEK VAT) = 2475 SEK TOTAL $244 Student with 1-Year Membership: 1580 SEK (plus 395 SEK VAT), with student membership (244 SEK) = 2219 SEK TOTAL $434 Professional: 3250 SEK (plus 812.50 SEK VAT) = 4062.50 SEK TOTAL $416 Professional with 1-Year Membership: 2750 SEK (plus 687.50 SEK VAT), with professional membership (365 SEK) = 3802.50 SEK TOTAL
Regular Rates (after August 31)
$321 Student: 2400 SEK (plus 600 SEK VAT) = 3000 SEK TOTAL $300 Student with 1-Year Membership: 2000 SEK (plus 500 SEK VAT), with student membership (244 SEK) = 2744 SEK TOTAL $488 Professional: 3650 SEK (plus 912.50 SEK VAT) = 4562.50 SEK TOTAL $470 Professional with 1-Year Membership: 3150 SEK (plus 787.50 SEK VAT), with professional membership (365 SEK) = 4302.50 SEK TOTAL
The fees do not include the banquet (at about $60 USD) and pre-conference workshops (one of which is free, the others are about $45 USD).
Last year's fees are still online at http://ir10.aoir.org/?page_id=6 and were as follows for the non-earlybird registrants (I don't know what the early registration fees were off the top of my head, and they are not on that page, but I think they were around $30 or so less):
2009-2010 Member, Professional Conference Registration - $ 325.00 2009-2010 Member, Student Conference Registration - $ 190.00 Non-member Professional Conference Registration - $ 370.00 Non-member Student Conference Registration - $ 220.00
This year's fees are significantly increased from the ones last year (and the year before that, as I recall that every effort was made to keep the fees the same), and while I am aware of currency fluctuations and the relative expense of operating a conference in some places compared with others, I am concerned particularly with the cost for students to attend the conference in Gothenburg. Furthermore, it is somewhat ironic to see this sort of increase given the conference theme, as it might cause _less_ participation and be _un_sustainable if AoIR continues to increase conference fees like this. I would also like to suggest to the executive committee that some relative stability in conference fees should be a goal so that people can budget for this conference each year and not be surprised (sometimes pleasantly, perhaps, and sometimes not) when registration fees are announced.
Thanks,
Steve