Well...
I asked Ray about this problem in Hiroshima, his response was something along the lines of "conference rates are different and more complicated from regular hotel rates". I have to say, I really think the community deserves a detailed response on this topic from the secretariat...
When I was in graduate school studying economics, I had a professor for a public sector economics class who characterize taxation policy as "getting the most feathers off the duck with the fewest squawks". This is pretty much the same thing. The secretariat has to pay for conference rooms some way (which is not true for all Hilton visitors, right?), and they need to do so in a way that causes the least amount of consternation for attendees, and (in many cases) for attendee management food chains as well.
I know there are attendees who are under pressure about registration costs (and we've frozen those for a while now). I know there are attendees who are under pressure about hotel costs (which typically subsidize registration costs, in the US). It's a balancing act. I'm glad I'm not Ray, some days.
John Klensin has spoken elequently about the need to look at total event costs, and the IAD also has to look at the structure of those costs, and try to cause the least amount of "sticker shock" possible on various line items, too. It might be productive for the post-IETF survey to try to get some feedback on the fee structure, and see if there's some re-balancing that would be helpful.
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