SIAM tries to cover at least part of the expenses of invited speakers. This has been a growing component of our conference expenses. Audiovisual equipment has been the fastest growing component of conference costs, primarily because of the increased use of data projectors. This equipment is very expensive to rent, and some hotels charge as much as half the rental price, without giving any support, even if we provide our own equipment. As a result, there is little opportunity for savings until the overall prices decline.
Coffee is another significant component of conference costs.
Here again, we face a difficult choice. Some conferences in the mathematical sciences community do not include coffee at breaks. Another important cost item is advertising and promotion. We have reduced our costs by using the Web, but we still use postcards to announce conferences to relevant individuals, prepare inserts for SIAM News, and mail the inserts to nonmembers. This expense item may not serve all attendees, but it is an expense we must incur if we are going to attract people and inform them of the conference.