Question: DEFCON 32 Cost justification

[Thinkster]

I thought I read something a few years ago that the cost for the attendance was the Defcon number multiplied by $10, So if this is #32, shouldn't cost be $320 rather then $480.
Vegas used to be cheap years ago, but now everything there is outrageous, is that the reason for the expensive entry?

[number6]

I thought I read something a few years ago that the cost for the attendance was the Defcon number multiplied by $10, So if this is #32, shouldn't cost be $320 rather then $480.
Vegas used to be cheap years ago, but now everything there is outrageous, is that the reason for the expensive entry?

Price for DEF CON badge each year is not based on a multiplier of $10 against the number of DEF CON.
It appears to be based on costs to run DEF CON at new venues.
As DEF CON has grown, and inflation happened, the prices have gone up.

When DEF CON was new, there were no workshops, villages, and contests were very few. The number of goons was small. There were basically 2 parts to DEF CON:
* Presentations
* Unofficial after-presentation/between-presentation events run by individuals

We now have so much more:
* More interesting badges: the first badges were just paper badges, sometimes laminated. Now, we sometimes get electronic badges.
* Official Contest
* Official Parties
* Official Events
* Demo Labs
* Villages
* Workshops
* Presentations
* DEF CON Infobooth goons and their services like https://info.defcon.org/
* DC TV (first in hotel rooms at the AP with related content, then some presentations, and then experiments with streaming)
* DEF CON Artwork made by actual human beings
* On-site network and NOC team
* (more)

We don't control venue prices, vendors/service prices, insurance prices, food/hotel prices, and we have grown to be large enough that Las Vegas is one of the few places that can support our convention with hotel, space, service, and night-time activities.

If you have suggestions on how to cut costs without making attendees unhappy, please make suggestions.

I don't make decisions about the things which impact costs, but people that do, still read the forums.

Good luck!

[dmr]

One thing that I was VERY happy about last year at DC31 was the reduced cost of beverages (from DC30) at the cash bars. Cost for domestic bottles was quite reasonable compared to DC30 and prior.

Please, if possible, arrange something like that again! TIA!