So Susan Morris, the Conference Manager for A Voice for Men’s allegedly upcoming “Men’s Issues” conference this year. has posted a rather puzzling statement attempting to answer questions she’s been getting from AVFM readers “concerning there being fewer speakers on the programme this year and the ticket price being higher.”
Morris — described on the site as “a British woman, an experienced general and event manager in public service” — assures potential conference goers that, “contrary to the headline which I saw somewhere, the ticket price has not been set at $649!”
And that’s true. If you go to the conference’s website, you can see that, in fact, full price tickets to the event are only $645.
That is FOUR WHOLE DOLLARS LESS than the amount reported by the scurrilous press. And … by Morris herself, later in her post.
But hey, she suggests, only suckers will be paying the full $649.
The Early Bird Discount ensures that if you purchase your ticket by the 30th of April, you will only pay $399. Buy it between 1 May and 30 June and you’ll still get it at a good discount, at the price of $449. The price will increase in $50 steps until it gets to the buy-at-the-door price of $649 and we expect very few, if any, to do so. In fact, that price has been set to deter people from doing so, so that they don’t hold up those people who have been entered into the pre-registration system and only need to book in.
Morris also insists that
Contrary to the efforts made by our detractors to blacken our name, the ticket price is not aimed at making a profit but breaking even would be nice.
Yeah, it’s not like AVFM founder and chief donation-receiver Paul Elam ever said that he hoped to make some actual profit from the conference. You know, except for that time he said he “hope[d] to make some actual profit” from the conference.
So what’s to blame for the higher price? Apparently, it’s largely due to, er, time-traveling protesters from Detroit?
Last year, you may recall, a group of Detroit-area activists held a protest several weeks before AFVM’s conference was scheduled to happen in that city. There were no protesters at the event itself.
This year, the conference is being held in Elam’s hometown of Houston. But evidently — at least in the fevered imaginations of AVFM’s brain trust — that won’t stop last year’s protesters from driving 1300 miles from Detroit to Houston to protest this year’s event. At least that’s what Morris seems to be suggesting:
The protesters from last year have already vowed to shut us down this year and though we know they will not achieve their aim, they will still be protesting (as is their right, of course). Security and safety of our attendees, speakers and volunteer staff will always be of prime importance and so, to avoid a repeat of last year’s emergency appeal for funding, we have built into the costs additional but reasonable security cover.
Aside from “security cover” from time-travelling protesters, what will attendees get for their $649 — sorry, $645 — that no one is really expected to pay?
Fewer speakers!
“Last year,” Morris writes
in our naivety and enthusiasm, we overbooked the number of speakers for the two day event. During the conference it became clear that the programme was too full and did not allow sufficient time for decent length talks followed by full question and answer sessions. This year we have arranged ten speakers.
Greater punctuality!
And this year we will ensure that we start each session on time.
Longer lunch breaks! And afternoon breaks!
We have extended the afternoon break and the lunch time and we will be opening the doors each day at 8am. So, provided you arrive early, you will have over eight hours across the two days to mingle with other attendees and to network. And that’s not including the time spent at the evening events, socialising and networking with other like-minded people over dinner or pizza.
Dinner is an additional $20; Pizza is $15. But the time you spend eating is ABSOLUTELY FREE.
A larger number of unpaid staffers than you would think would be even remotely necessary for an event of its size!
Another factor which people tend to forget is the cost of flying in the speakers and volunteer staff and accommodating them all. Between speakers, panel discussion members and staff, we’ll have some forty five people there.
Free taxi service!
We’re arranging an optional taxi service to collect you from your hotel and take you to the venue and then to return you afterwards.
Wait, scratch that, the Taxi service will cost you an additional $15!
But talking to the cabbie is INCLUDED IN YOUR TICKET PRICE.
And finally, FREE ACCESS to an actual BRITISH WOMAN — namely conference manager Susan Morris herself.
I shall be flying in to Houston from the UK. It will be my first flight, a long one around ten hours and I can’t say I’m looking forward to it. But the end result will be worth it. I am looking forward to meeting as many of you as I can.
Because why not fly your conference manager all the way from the UK at the conference-goers’ expense? Sure, makes perfect sense!
I wonder if a single person has bought a ticket for the conference yet.
The Peach Huff. One shot Midori, one shot peach schnapps, 2 shots lemonade. Tastes like fruit juice but has a helluva kick.
We had a bottle of Midori and this was the only way we could drink it.
@Paradoxical Intention
That sandwich reminds me of the Fool’s Gold sandwich, but considerably less decadent.
(I learned about it from a movie, and it is indeed a real sandwich: take a loaf of french bread, warm it up, slice horizontally and hollow it out; on one half, spread a jar of creamy peanut butter; on the other half, spread a jar of jelly; and before putting them together, add a pound of freshly-cooked bacon.)
My favorite sandwich is cheese, either extra sharp cheddar or pepper jack melted on bread in the microwave rather than grilled. This is gross to everyone else but I love it.
It’s baffled me for a long time how Honeybadgers think they’re ‘proving feminism wrong’ by being ambitious and not conforming to gender stereotypes. To me it just seems like they take advantage of the victories of feminism while attempting to shut the door on all other women. Good thing they don’t have any actual power outside this little bubble.
I think the MRA view of women is similar to the GOP view of black people. They don’t like them, but the ones on their side are the good kind.
Urgh. I was hungry until I read this thread.
@wwth
Lol. I know my wife would be drooling at that sandwich recipe. Just like I would have potato chips for every meal if I could, she would probably have melted cheese for every meal if possible. We’re going to stay with her family for a few weeks this summer, and it always immediately devolves into putting cheese on things and popping it in the microwave for a minute.
I dunno. The price is currently $399 on “sale”. This is not out of line with commercially organised conferences I’ve spoken at before the public sector conference market in the UK completely disappeared. I’ve certainly seen two-day conferences with £700-900 prices. Although these do purport to teach you some actual skills and get you networking with some useful people (dubious claims even then). Of course, you do get some meals with that and maybe even a glass of conference plonk. When producing a conference that’s trying to cover costs with a small potential for a little profit, I would now charge £99 per day. This isn’t so far away from $399. And I don’t have to have additional security because I’m not producing a hate conference.
I say the price is probably worth it to their target audience. When else will they be in a room with people who can [barely] tolerate them for a whole weekend?
But the justifications of conference hall set-up are ridiculous. The hotel does that. There’s a bit of folder packing, maybe and setting these on tables or seats. There is a quite a bit of work for a couple of people a day or two in advance, printing badges, etc, but that doesn’t have to be done on site.
Auntie Alias hits it on the head that this is an opportunity for a set of in-crowd to meet up for free with a bit of adulation from the paying punters.
@gilshalos – I don’t think there’s anything that could get me drinking Midori.
I’m taking advantage of the deluxe “ultra-extended lunchbreak” package. I stay home and have a multi-day lunchbreak while not having to mix with a group of people who are basically what would happen if chlamydia could talk and put on shoes. Total cost: zero dollars.
@ianrennie
You’re kidding yourself if you think they’ll be wearing shoes.
@rugbyyogi – The peach schnapps is very strongly flavoured 🙂
Banana Jackie Cake:
My feminist friend Katie tells me that AVFM is actually an elaborate false flag operation by the Feminist High Council, to make the MRM look bad. I fear they’re making it a little too obvious.
@ Tanya
European countries aren’t half as large as the U.S. I met a German couple who thought they could cross the entire continental U.S. By car before it got dark.
That whole “The protesters from last year have VOWED to try and shut us down!!” reads like the emails you get from politicians trying to raise money.
“If we don’t hit back with huge donations tonight the Republicans will be able to do such and such!!!”
I genuinely hope the men who attend find value in it. I don’t get the impression that most of those men have money to waste.
Somehow, I suspect they’ll be “breaking even” after paying Elam a hefty speaking fee.
Also, why is there a door price if the venue isn’t publicly disclosed?
Well, they’re all voluntarily poverty-stricken after taking the red pill and plain chicken breasts don’t come cheap these days.
David K:
That’d what I was thinking. If the MGTOWs especially are supposed to have dropped out of society and given up on having real jobs (just like dear old Paulie) how the duck are they supposed to afford $399, excluding travel and hotel costs?
I know that MRAs are horrendously bad at logic, or lateral thinking, but come on now.
@sunnysombrero
I think it would be less dropping out of the job market willingly and more getting fired for HR issues for making racist and/or sexist remarks, responding poorly to a woman manager, or harassment of co-workers. Then they get online and find it wasn’t their poor social skills but really feminism oppressing them which took their job away. Though honestly, a lot of them probably work in IT. The perfect place for self-important people to lord it over more competent folk who lack some specialized networking knowledge. I say this as someone who worked in IT jobs for years until I got my degree in IT. Glutton for punishment I guess.
@opium
Ah. So the MGTOWs have jobs, largely, but refuse to abide by social standards that they see as oppression but everyone else sees as “How To Not Be A Raging Asshole”.
@dhaga85
That sounds like every female critic of feminism that I ever heard of.
@josh
Today the Appalachians!
Tomorrow the Pacific Ocean!
@sunnysombrero They probably live rather mundane lives like most of us do. I imagine most of their rage is online and in the interpretation of any negative consequences or events they encounter.
Married, with kids. The wife rolling her eyes when the husband companies about the women in HR. Him being selfish and her eventually leaving him “suddenly and without warning”. Finally he lets out that bitterness at other people.
Just to qualify, that is my thoughts on the matter. I am willing to be shown to be full of shit on this.
I write with far more assumed authority than I speak. I was taught to remove the usual qualifies when writing. Sorry about speaking pompously.
@opium
Doesn’t seem that pompous to me. You are right that many of their grievances stem from the way they’ve interpreted situations, usually in a manner that absolves them of all guilt and places it on someone else. Hence the bitterness.
My husband is one of these people who reads these MRA discussions. He thinks that’s he’s above the most insane ravings of these people, but will agree with them ‘when they have a point’. Having tried to sort things out and discuss things the normal way – including engaging in proactive and cooperative discussions about divorce, I’ve since retreated into stealth mode. I will one day leave him ‘without warning’. Soon, I hope. My life is a misery.