Hello,
for quite a while, there has occasionally been a discussion about the costs of the LibreOffice Conference 2024 in Luxembourg. Having finalized the accounts and annual closing ledgers for 2024, I’d like to shed some light on this and for transparency share more details with the community.
For the organization of the conference, including catering, community dinner, production of materials etc,.
- the 2024 Luxembourg conference did cost TDF 26.754,71 € (gross, incl. VAT)
- the 2023 Bucharest conference did cost TDF 15.541,05 € (gross, incl. VAT)
On the income side, consisting of sponsorship and governmental support,
- the 2024 Luxembourg conference brought TDF a total of 28.825,00 € (net, excl. VAT)
- the 2023 Bucharest conference sponsorship was handled directly by the organizers (which is not unusual)
From the numbers you see that from a TDF point of view, the Luxembourg conference organization was essentially self-sustaining.
Comparing travel costs is more complicated, as it depends on the amount of people refunded and invited, and the choice of vehicle, e.g. if a country is easy to reach by train or plane, and how early or late people book their travels. Also last-minute cancellations usually cost money. In terms of travel refunds and hotel booking,
- the 2024 Luxembourg conference did cost TDF 49.662,32 €
- the 2023 Bucharest conference did cost TDF 26.368,36 €
It also depends on the size of the conference. I learned that in 2023, we had 52 speakers and 81 sessions, in 2024 we had 92 speakers and 114 sessions.
In summary, the breakdown on the conference costs over the past two years is as follows:
2024 Luxembourg
TDF income: 28.825,00 €
minus conference costs 26.754,71 €
minus travel and hotel costs 49.662,32 €
total TDF cost: 47.592,03 €
2023 Bucharest
conference costs 15.541,05 €
travel and hotel costs 26.368,36 €
total TDF cost: 41.909,41 €
That makes a total difference between Bucharest and Luxembourg of 5.682,62 €, or 13,56%.
Just for the math, in 2024 and 2022, TDF decided to pay an Adroid conference schedule app worth 1.800 €, in 2023 we didn’t do that. If remove that out of the equation, the cost difference is just 3.882,62 € or 9,26%.
Given the cost of living differs a lot per country, and there’s an annual inflation, seeing all the numbers, I’d conclude that the Luxembourg conference was totally in line, and calling it “much more expensive” is wrong.
Of course, Luxembourg is a country with a higher cost of living, which affects attendees, but it is not the unique one. We saw a similar situation also in Switzerland and Germany.
What I would like to stress much more, however, is the following: The LibreOffice Conference is the major event of the year, where we bring the community together, show what we’ve done the past year and what we plan to do the next 365 days. Having events around the world has its cost, and it’s quite well worth it.
Additionally, organizing a conference brings a significant challenge and burden to everyone, and there is so many little details you need to pay attention to, which remain unnoticed when all goes well, and are criticized when something goes wrong.
I’d therefore like to thank ALL the organizers, past and future, be it Bucharest or Luxembourg or anyone else, for their invaluable service to our community, making it possible for us to have an annual gathering, and discovering a new country and even more important, a new local community, every year!
My personal wish for future conferences is that we avoid discussions as we’ve seen in the past, about the schedule, the cost and the organizers, and be glad and thankful that we have the privilege to have a conference every year - which is not a given for sure.
Florian