Here is what I am proposing for ticket prices:
Conference
Early Bird (before 1st Oct 2015) £130 Full £180 Student £35
Tutorials
Early Bird (before 1st Oct 2015) £60 Full £80 Student £15
Extras
Extra place at conference dinner £30
These are broadly similar to the 2013 prices (depending on what date you use for the Euro-Pound conversion).
The student rate includes refreshments during the day but not the conference dinner.
The extra-dinner rate is actually below the marginal cost (£45-ish) but we are probably talking very small numbers here.
If we can achieve similar numbers and sponsorship to the 2013 figures and assuming we provide similar financial support for some of the speakers this should result in about £600 profit. (I am assuming about 16 paying for tutorials here, as well as about 40 paying for conference tickets)
Once we publish the prices we will have limited flexibility to affect the financial outcome. Things we can control:
a) How much support we offer to speakers b) How much we spend on food and drink for the dinner c) Whether or not we provide conference giveaways (none currently in the budget)
Things we can influence by persuasion:
d) Sponsorship
That leads to the big question: who carries the risk, and what happens to the profit if we make one?
Thoughts on that and on the proposed ticket prices please!
Andrew