How to prepare an IACR conference proposal

How to write a proposal for Eurocrypt 200x?

Bart Preneel, bart.preneel@esat.kuleuven.ac.be
14 April 2002

Consult the guidelines for general chairs (available from
Bart Preneel).

Talk to IACR Board members and officers you know, and particularly
to past Eurocrypt general chairs.

Try to write a short document (2-3 pages) that answers the questions
below.

Venue:
   It is advisable (but not essential) that 2 venues are proposed
   (for example, try to offer the choice between a larger city and
   a smaller or more remote venue).

Transportation:
   airports, rail,...
   (connections, time to travel from airport,...).

Hotel accomodation:
   capacity and price range
   distance from conference venue
   will there be a conference hotel?
   student accomodation?
   possibility for block bookings?
   how will hotels be booked (travel agency, by participants)

Lecture hall:
   capacity (at least 500..550)
   audio-visuals
   description
   other accomodation: speaker room, exhibit of books,...
   location of coffee breaks, lunches, banquet

Tentative dates:
   indicate flexibility, local holidays

Social events:
   tour on free afternoon?

Organizing committee
   General chair: Short cv, including past conferences organized.
   Other members of the organizing team.
   Which work will be subcontracted? to whom?
   Who will handle the money of the conference?
   If a professional organization is hired, add a short description of
   them (size, experience, history, ...) and try to understand what their
   business model and fee structure are (fixed prize, fee per attendee,
   surcharge on hotel rooms,...).

How expensive?
   Some advise: try to provide good quality, but do not try to
   make the conference too fancy; the goal of IACR is to promote
   research. Leave some room to sponsor a 10-20 students, for whom
   even the reduced rate may be too expensive.

Tentative budget
   Note that this is just an example based on Eurocrypt 2000
   numbers, but this give you at least a basis for comparison.
   Some cities may be more expensive (food, lecture hall,...),
   and for this conference, extensive use has been made of
   free efforts by graduate students.


FIXED INCOME                      13,500$

   Sponsoring                      8,000$
   Late registration fees          4,000$ (50 persons)
   Proceedings (50 free copies)    1,500$

FIXED COSTS                       37,500$

   IACR Secretariat               10,000$ (handling of registration)
   Program committee               8,000$ (includes meeting & mailing)
   Lecture hall                    8,000$
   Personnel (local assistance)    4,000$
   Student grants                  5,000$
   Invited speakers                1,500$
   Publicity (web site, folders)   4,000$

NET FIXED COSTS 40,500-13,500 = 27,000$

VARIABLE COSTS                       400$ per person (360$ for students)

   Meals
   (7 coffee breaks, 4 lunches)      140$
   Social events                     116$
   (reception, rump session, banquet)
   IACR membership                    80$ (40$ for students)
   Proceedings                        30$
   Printing and mailing               14$
   Financial costs                    14$
   Gift                                6$

Take into account that student registration is half of regular
registration (and that students pay half of the IACR fees).

Try to break even at 350 participants, 50 of which are students.
 x * 300 + (x/2) * 50 = 27.000 + 400*300 + 360*50

This gives the following registration fees:
   510$  for regular attendees
   255$  for full-time students
    80$  late registration fee

It is probably safe to add in a margin of 10-20$.

You can now make a spread sheet with profit/loss in function
of the number of attendees.

Comparison: Euro'99: 550$   45$ late fee
            Euro'00: 530$   75$ late fee
            Euro'01: 580$   80$ late fee
            Euro'02: 560$   80$ late fee

Note that most of your costs are variable costs.
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