I think many of us are planning to organise hybrid meetings next year, for a number of reasons including Covid, Carbon footprint, and accessibility. For a large meeting the remote access could add quite a bit to the cost, similar to the cost of a large fully remote conference (not cheap). This creates a headache – what should we charge remote attendees for registration?
A very low cost for remote attendees seems attractive because it a) increases accessibility b) participants don’t expect to pay much for a remote experience. On the other hand, remote access does incur considerable costs (at least for larger meetings) and it doesn’t seem fair for in-person attendees to subsidise remote-attendees. This all assumes a reasonably good experience for remote attendees- ie. being involved in social events, not just watching talks on screens. I’d be keen to gather opinions on this. Should remote costs be:
a) Free
b) <10% of the cost of an in person meeting (e.g. perhaps £25 for a largeish meeting)
c) 10-30% of the cost of the in-person meeting (e.g. perhaps £125 for a largeish meeting)
d) more
.
