Building on starlady's point about institutional support:
Some of the reasons people go to conferences cry out for money from one's employers. If you're a newer company — whether software, hardware, textbook publisher, lab machinery designers — then showing up at the relevant conference is the most effective marketing and advertising you can do. Based on the conferences I attended as a software publisher, as well as SDS and SF cons, it does seem that entry fees are highest for commercial enterprises (publishers, dealers). The rule-of-thumb is 10% of gross sales annually, on the off chance you wanted to know that.
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Some of the reasons people go to conferences cry out for money from one's employers. If you're a newer company — whether software, hardware, textbook publisher, lab machinery designers — then showing up at the relevant conference is the most effective marketing and advertising you can do. Based on the conferences I attended as a software publisher, as well as SDS and SF cons, it does seem that entry fees are highest for commercial enterprises (publishers, dealers). The rule-of-thumb is 10% of gross sales annually, on the off chance you wanted to know that.