How much do you get for conference travel?

[Sun_Worshiper]

My department is quite generous, but money just doesn't go as far as it used to. If I go to a conference in a major city - even for just a couple of days - it'll cost me ~$2000. I can afford it with my travel budget, but two per years is difficult. And it is really tough for the many people whose departments are not so generous.

One solution I'd like to see is for national associations to host their conferences in less expensive cities. San Fran is a cool city, but I've been there a million times, and yet I was back in April for a major conference. I would much rather go to a midsized city like Boise or Indianapolis or Nashville, at a lower cost.

[eigen]

SLAC, up to $1200/year (but has been cut some years). Does not carry over, and is first-come-first served in terms of applications.

[Kron3007]

My department is quite generous, but money just doesn't go as far as it used to. If I go to a conference in a major city - even for just a couple of days - it'll cost me ~$2000. I can afford it with my travel budget, but two per years is difficult. And it is really tough for the many people whose departments are not so generous.

One solution I'd like to see is for national associations to host their conferences in less expensive cities. San Fran is a cool city, but I've been there a million times, and yet I was back in April for a major conference. I would much rather go to a midsized city like Boise or Indianapolis or Nashville, at a lower cost.

Thats a good idea.  My main conference moves around a lot and is often in lower cost areas, but they still select expensive hotels.  At least you can find something reasonable in the area usually.

[lightning]

Most at my university use external grants if they have access to such (like the STEM folks), but those that are not in a field that has that kind of external funding are forced to ask for travel money through a lengthy, demeaning, and labyrinthine application process. Technically, there's no cap on the amounts you can ask for, but the application process is so onerous, no one wants to beg for conference travel money more times than they have to. I heard that one year, one of the performing arts faculty got something around $7,000, directly from the university, for an academic year, for travel funding.

The most that my university every gave to me directly, in one academic year, was $3,000, which I used for one international conference and two domestic conferences. $3,000 didn't cover everything, of course. I had to supplement with outside grant funding.

[AJ_Katz]

R1 STEM, $0.   Faculty can apply for an award for travel, I believe up to $1,500 each year for one trip and preference is given to junior faculty.

[pgher]

R2, STEM. Tenure track faculty and non-tenure track research faculty are on their own. As department chair, I'll give NTT teaching faculty almost anything they ask for, which is usually between $0 and $1k.

[jerseyjay]

One solution I'd like to see is for national associations to host their conferences in less expensive cities. San Fran is a cool city, but I've been there a million times, and yet I was back in April for a major conference. I would much rather go to a midsized city like Boise or Indianapolis or Nashville, at a lower cost.

I like this idea. I specifically did not submit a proposal to my conference when it was San Francisco because it would have been so expensive. Plus, the three cities you list are the type of cities that I'd like to visit but have never found the opportunity. I mean, unless you have relatives there, who is going to plan a vacation to Boise? But sometimes those are the best cities to visit.

That said, even an inexpensive city can make for an expensive conference if you have no funding. I recently did a presentation at a conference in a city a two hours' drive from me, but between hotel, food, conference registration, etc., it still cost at least $500, which might be okay for a romantic weekend vacation, but is sort of insane for a work-related activity that, at least officially, took 15 minutes.

[pgher]

One solution I'd like to see is for national associations to host their conferences in less expensive cities. San Fran is a cool city, but I've been there a million times, and yet I was back in April for a major conference. I would much rather go to a midsized city like Boise or Indianapolis or Nashville, at a lower cost.

I like this idea. I specifically did not submit a proposal to my conference when it was San Francisco because it would have been so expensive. Plus, the three cities you list are the type of cities that I'd like to visit but have never found the opportunity. I mean, unless you have relatives there, who is going to plan a vacation to Boise? But sometimes those are the best cities to visit.

That said, even an inexpensive city can make for an expensive conference if you have no funding. I recently did a presentation at a conference in a city a two hours' drive from me, but between hotel, food, conference registration, etc., it still cost at least $500, which might be okay for a romantic weekend vacation, but is sort of insane for a work-related activity that, at least officially, took 15 minutes.

I'm involved in organizing a conference with a typical attendance around 5000, held in the spring. That really limits our options. Gotta be in the south or nobody will come. Many cities do not have facilities that are sufficiently large, then a few have facilities that are ENORMOUS and won't give us a bid. I personally think major conferences should be held near major airports--ATL, DFW, LAX, etc.--but we can't always manage that.

[bio-nonymous]

One solution I'd like to see is for national associations to host their conferences in less expensive cities. San Fran is a cool city, but I've been there a million times, and yet I was back in April for a major conference. I would much rather go to a midsized city like Boise or Indianapolis or Nashville, at a lower cost.

I like this idea. I specifically did not submit a proposal to my conference when it was San Francisco because it would have been so expensive. Plus, the three cities you list are the type of cities that I'd like to visit but have never found the opportunity. I mean, unless you have relatives there, who is going to plan a vacation to Boise? But sometimes those are the best cities to visit.

That said, even an inexpensive city can make for an expensive conference if you have no funding. I recently did a presentation at a conference in a city a two hours' drive from me, but between hotel, food, conference registration, etc., it still cost at least $500, which might be okay for a romantic weekend vacation, but is sort of insane for a work-related activity that, at least officially, took 15 minutes.

I'm involved in organizing a conference with a typical attendance around 5000, held in the spring. That really limits our options. Gotta be in the south or nobody will come. Many cities do not have facilities that are sufficiently large, then a few have facilities that are ENORMOUS and won't give us a bid. I personally think major conferences should be held near major airports--ATL, DFW, LAX, etc.--but we can't always manage that.

The major airport thing is a big consideration, I agree. It is usually more expensive, and time consuming, to go to the smaller cities. Having to spend an entire day to travel instead of a few hours can force you to have to stay an extra day or arrive early just to get to the venue and back home when the smaller airports are factored in.

[jerseyjay]

I'm involved in organizing a conference with a typical attendance around 5000, held in the spring. That really limits our options. Gotta be in the south or nobody will come. Many cities do not have facilities that are sufficiently large, then a few have facilities that are ENORMOUS and won't give us a bid. I personally think major conferences should be held near major airports--ATL, DFW, LAX, etc.--but we can't always manage that.

The major airport thing is a big consideration, I agree. It is usually more expensive, and time consuming, to go to the smaller cities. Having to spend an entire day to travel instead of a few hours can force you to have to stay an extra day or arrive early just to get to the venue and back home when the smaller airports are factored in.
[/quote]

I am not sure why it has to be in the South. I guess it it were in the winter (although the MLA was in Philly last year, the AHA is in NYC this year, and the AHA next year will be in Chicago--all in early January). My problem with both the AHA and the MLA is not that they are sometimes in the cold, but that they are held in early January, which means a) you cannot go to both if they do not overlap and b) it always messes up my family vacation.

I did go to a conference once at a major university in the middle of nowhere. Most people had to drive ~4-5 hours to get there because there was no airport nearby. At least it was equally difficult for people from all over the East Coast (and the city itself was inexpensive).