As we look forward to the celebratory events of ALA Annual, the topic on many people’s minds will soon be trip planning. And for many of you, this also means planning outfits and considering tickets and tables for the Newbery-Caldecott-Legacy Awards Banquet. We all love celebrating the authors, illustrators, and publishing folks who were awarded so many shiny medals at the Youth Media Awards. I know I do!
We know the Newbery-Caldecott-Legacy Awards Banquet is an integral part of ALSC’s organizational identity, and it is an event that many members look forward to each year. But what you may not know is some of the behind-the-scenes details of what goes into planning a large event such as this, and how ALSC has been impacted by fiscal changes and increasing expenses.
Each year our incredibly hard-working staff work tirelessly to negotiate with venues, plan layouts and seating capacity with ALA conference services and publishers, and work with the chosen venue to design the menu. There are a lot of moving parts that have to come together to ensure that all of the attendees have a delightful and memorable evening!
The Newbery-Caldecott-Legacy Awards Banquet has never been revenue-generating and has been planned as a break-even event. Several years ago, a tiered table pricing structure was implemented to keep costs of individual ticket sales stable. Table pricing was increased slightly in 2019 and again in 2022 and 2023 to help offset rising expenses. However, for 2024 and the upcoming banquet in 2025, ALSC is facing a net expense for the event, which means that we need to look at recovering some of the costs in a new and equitable way.
If we look at the last three years, assuming an average of 850 attendees, the cost to produce the banquet is about $130/attendee—this includes the venue, food, and A/V production costs. Even with the discounted prices that our staff negotiate, getting our expenses below $100 per person is not possible, and thus we need to make an adjustment to our ticket prices. This will help the association to offset the costs, though we still anticipate a net expense at this point in time.
As Budget Committee members, we are very aware of current financial strain on individuals as well as our division. We know that current ticket prices are high, and we understand how important the Banquet is to ALSC members as well as those being honored for their achievements. We continue to strive to find ways to make the event that you know and love both accessible and fiscally sustainable in the immediate future and in the long term. One way that ALSC facilitates this is through “speech only” seating for those who prefer to skip the dinner part of the celebration and just come for the speeches.
ALSC runs a tight but balanced budget overall, and the Newbery-Caldecott-Legacy Awards Banquet is one piece of that larger picture. But we wanted to share some information and context on the financial aspects of this event so there are no surprises when Annual Conference registration (and banquet ticket sales) opens in February. ALSC staff continue to negotiate to provide the lowest cost to the association and the best value to our members—and the most celebratory and memorable banquet possible—as we look forward to ALA Annual in Philadelphia in 2025.
Co-written by Rob Bittner, ALSC President and Stephanie Prato, ALSC Budget Co-Chair. Specific numbers and context were provided by ALSC Staff.
The post Budgeting for the Banquet appeared first on ALSC Blog.
As we look forward to the celebratory events of ALA Annual, the topic on many people’s minds will soon be trip planning. And for many of you, this also means planning outfits and considering tickets and tables for the Newbery-Caldecott-Legacy Awards Banquet. We all love celebrating the authors, illustrators, and publishing folks who were awarded so many shiny medals at the Youth Media Awards. I know I do! We know the Newbery-Caldecott-Legacy Awards Banquet is an integral part of ALSC’s organizational identity, and it is an event that many members look forward to each year. But what you may not know is some of the behind-the-scenes details of what goes into planning a large event such as this, and how ALSC has been impacted by fiscal changes and increasing expenses. Each year our incredibly hard-working staff work tirelessly to negotiate with venues, plan layouts and seating capacity with ALA conference services…
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