If you are a member of ARRA, you should check your email. There is a suggestion that ARRC 2013 could be held in Perth in conjunction with the RWA conference. It would obviously be cheaper for ARRA in terms of productions cost, but I suspect they will lose attendees if they do go ahead with it. ARRA has sent around a survey to gauge interest in this idea in an email this morning.
I personally wouldn’t attend ARRC 2013 if it was in Perth – unless I won the lottery, met a sugar daddy or got a substantial raise. None of these things are likely to happen in the next year and a half, so I can say with very little doubt I would not attend a Perth conference. The reasons for this are numerous, but the main one is if I had the money to go to Western Australia, I would spend it in a 4WD playing tourist, not paying for a conference and accommodation to spend the weekend in a luxury hotel. This, for me is about priorities. If I had the money to fly to Perth (approx $800 return), pay a couple of hundred in accommodation, another $200 or so for the conference, and then another $200 or so for clothes and accessories (there is a awards dinner and ladies need a chance to frock up!) I would need well over a thousand dollars! O.O I just don’t have that sort of money.
I have talked it over with my paranormal romance book club and we had tentatively decided to attend the next one and make group bookings for everything. You need ten people for that, but once you have that number, things get cheaper. One of our members is a travel agent and she knows these things. I very much doubt these ladies would go to their first ARRA conference if they needed to spend more than $1000 to spend a weekend in a hotel.
For the average member, I assume they would need to get some big names in the genre to attend for people to find it worth attending. By average member I mean someone without a lot of disposable cash. Yes, we have two years to think about saving, but that is A LOT of money for a two day event! O.O
If someone is going to spend that sort of money, they do so to see the sights and experience new environs. This is not me complaining that I never want to go to Perth. This is me saying when I go to Western Australia, I want to do a bloody good job of it. I would rather ARRC 2013 be somewhere accessible for most of the members, somewhere I could afford to go, and somewhere I could convince my friends to go. Let’s face it. ARRC 2011 was at Bondi Beach. How many attendees actually made it down to Bondi Beach? Maria and I went down for ten minutes or so while we were waiting for our bus home on the last day. No one would have made it to Bronte – and it is, by far, the better beach of the two! I am sorry ARRA, but if it is held in Perth, there is no way I will be able to attend, or would choose to attend. Which is sad, because I really enjoyed ARRC 2011!
5 comments:
I have said that I would likely go if it was in Perth, but then again that is because all of my rellies live in WA so I would likely stay longer to see all of them, and it would be good to have the conference somewhere other than the East Coast. It would however be more expensive, so I understand your concerns.
I would _love_ to go to Western Australia for a holiday and plan to do so in the next 10 years, but when I do so, I want to take my time. I wouldn't fly, but drive, and I would be doing it dirt cheap and not staying in Perth for very long. In the unlikely chance I had the money to do so around the same time as ARRC, I would go, but I just don't have the sort of funds to blow more than $1000 on a weekend. I just don't earn enough. I have so many parts of Australia I want to see, and if I had that sort of money laying around I would take a holiday. The thing is, I just can't justify it. If I had even half that, I could visit my parents, who I never get to see. I know it can be seen as unfair that conferences have an east coast bias (I really wanted to go to SwanCon too LOL) but I just can't afford to cross the country for a conference. Even if I save a lot of money. Because if I did go, I couldn't justify staying for just the conference, I would need to rob a second bank (the first one to cover the costs of ARRC) to fund a trip to Broome, Margaret River, and up into the Katherine LOL
If I had people to stay with, and I could car pool or something, I could maybe afford ARRC. However I don't have any close friends or family over there. Even backpackers hostels are expensive *sigh*
I know what you mean, if it's tied to a holiday then I have no problem doing the trip but that would be the only way otherwise it's a waste.
As for the travel. Never fear there are ways around that cost. If many of us go, we can get group fares. Otherwise I just checked and return fares are around $320 total including taxes on Virgin (I refuse to fly jetstar) also for accommodation if there is a group we share accom (get an apartment)for cheap. Rooms starting from A$30 each per night in decent budget accommodation.
I can understand giving the west coast a go, even though it rules me out.
I'd be very interested to see the numbers they get, but then Sydneys # wasn't that high either.
Though I must admit running it alongside RWA would also be something off-putting for me, as a non-writer.
Thanks for doing this post, I'm a Perth girl so am quietly very excited about this possibility :-)
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