Gary,

Thank you for pointing that out! Even at the recent Dublin conference they were still offering complimentary registration to presenters, so this is a stark change. I suspect it will dampen the enthusiasm of potential speakers somewhat. Does anyone know the backstory on this?

Scott Burgess

> On May 15, 2019, at 7:47 AM, Gary A. Galo <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Hi Everyone,
>
> When I got back from the Portland conference, I got an email from a friend who has given numerous presentations at the Audio Engineering Society conventions, going back to the 1980s. He is now a Life Member of the AES. He was thinking of submitting a paper proposal to the AES for the fall convention in New York City. But, he looked at the Call for Contributions page and found some rather surprising news:
>
> http://www.aes.org/events/147/authors/cfc/
>
> He even wondered if he had read it wrong. He hadn't.
>
> In the past, the AES gave presenters a one-day, all-access free pass to the convention, as a courtesy. This year, they are charging a "Presenting Author Fee" of $470.00 - essentially making presenters register for the full convention.
>
> It's still AES policy that Life Members and Fellows get a free, all-access pass to the convention. But, even Life Members and Fellows must now pay $470 in order to present.
>
> I know that some ARSC members will point out that we require presenters to register for the conference if they are presenting, but I don't think it's directly comparable. First, our registration fee is a little over a third of what AES charges. Second, the AES has 120 sustaining member organizations that pump big money into the organization to help sustain them. We have nothing comparable, and our membership is a fraction of that of the AES. Besides, I believe ARSC presenters only need to register for the day they are presenting, which is only $85, and not the entire conference (correct me if I'm wrong on this).
>
> I know there are ARSC members on this list who have presented at AES in the past, so I just thought I would share this news with you, since some of you may be impacted by this change in policy.
>
> Best,
> Gary
>
> ____________________________
>
> Gary Galo
> Audio Engineer Emeritus
> The Crane School of Music
> SUNY at Potsdam, NY 13676
>
> "Great art presupposes the alert mind of the educated listener."
> Arnold Schoenberg
>
> "A true artist doesn't want to be admired, he wants to be believed."
> Igor Markevitch
>
> "If you design an audio system based on the premise that nothing is audible,
> on that system nothing will be audible."
> G. Galo