How is money spent at GA?
I've kept the following question in mind when I charge expenses to the Planning Committee accounts: How many registrations does it take to pay for this?
Well, I went one step further. The linked PDF is my contribution to openness. It shows, using the numbers available on the UUA site, what % of the total GA expenses each line item is, as well as how much (in dollars and cents) is used from a Full Time registration to pay for that line item.
I now have a profound respect for bean counters, because that was a chore I never want to have to go through again...
I read this with interest.
I am curious why A/V rental was so expensive, particularly compared to other expenses.
CC
It's interesting that GA Programming itself is not where all the money goes. I wouldn't have thought that A/V rentals would have cost so much - what a business that is! But travel was a big chunk; that didn't surprise me.
The A/V Rental is actually the total amount of the AV company contract, which includes equipment, shipping of said equipment, travel and expenses for the entire technical crew, for all the sound lighting, cameras, etc for the Plenary hall.
Also note that the Programs section has specific programs listed. Many of the costs associated with the Opening and CLosing (for example) would be covered by the afrementioned A/V contract, and thus it's just $X in other costs for that event. The GAPC does have $20000 set aside as "Programs" which includes the Featured and Sponsored Programs (see http://www.uua.org/ga/ ), etc. Most workshops at GA are not paid for by the GA budget, but instead by the group presenting it.
And no, there is not a breakdown by how much a room costs. That's part of the Space Rental. We rent the Total Space, not an a la carte room by room function.