I'm baaaacccckkkkk!

["James Purchase" <jpurch@interlog.com>]

Hi Folks,

Finally back in town - and ready to wrap this up. I'd like some feedback
from the group on budget figures - the proposal will need it.

Budget - Expenses

Announcements:
We have to make formal announcement of the event on the web (no cost), in
TAG (no cost), and to the major hobby related magazines (cost of a stamp).
If we send out 10 letters, this would cost:
10 stamps X .50 = $5.00

CD-ROM's for Judges:
Erik has given a figure of $10.00 each as the cost to the contest for the
CD-ROM's. Sending these out to the judges (5) would cost $2.00 each.
5 X $10.00 = $50.00
5 X $ 2.00 = $10.00
Total      = $60.00

CD-ROM's for sale to the Public:
Working with the same formula as above, each CD-ROM would cost the contest
$12.00 and Erik has said that they would be done on an as needed basis to
avoid his being stuck with unsold disks. Karen has said that she would not
welcome the need to write multiple small checks so I leave this to Erik to
figure out how much of a "float" he would require to carry this out.

We also have to decide on a sale price? - I suggested $20.00 but some
thought that this was high - how about $15.00??? ($3.00 profit going to the
AGA).

Prizes & Awards:
We have settled on a maximum of 12 separate categories and also a best of
show winner and a people's choice award. (unless I'm mistaken - if I am,
please correct me). The group seemed to feel that a real prize should go to
each 1st place winner and ribbons should go to all entries which either win,
place or show (i.e. 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each category).

This would entail the following prizes:

12 prizes for first place in each category
 1 prize for Best of Show
13 prizes in total

And the following ribbons:

36 ribbons for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in each category
 1 ribbon for Best of Show
 1 ribbon for People's Choice
38 ribbons in total (maximum)

Prizes are to be solicited from a variety of sources - all aquarium related.
These solitication letters are to be mailed out and the companies are to be
given the choice of which category they might care to sponsor. But I think
we shall have to advice them that we reserve the right to award their prize
in another category if necessary (I don't think this is unreasonable - if
anyone can think of another way of doing this, speak up. We could end up
with 10 offers for one category and none for another). We should request
that companies provide something which is easily shipped (gift certificate
or voucher would be best), but if that is not possible, David Youngker has
volunterred to hold and ship prizes.

I estimate that we should count on having to send out 50 letters - not
everyone we contact is going to be willing to participate. I am going to
concentrate on the major mail order companies (gift certificates), the hobby
mags (gift subscriptions), plant related companies (gift certificates) and
the major manufacturers (probably have to deal with actual prizes from
these) like Eheim, Seachem, Lamotte, Hagen, etc.

Prize Solitication Letters:
50 X .50 mailing cost = $25.00

Mailing costs for Prizes:
In the worst case scenario - where we have to store and ship real prizes,
the postage cost is going to depend on where the winners are from. If we
take as an average the sum of $20.00 per item to safely ship prizes, the
cost of this would be:
13 X $20.00 = $260.00

Of course, if we can get gift certificates and or gift subscriptions this
cost will go down considerably.

Ribbons:
Hodges Badges was one company suggested as a source for Ribbons. I have no
preference, but I am using their cost figures here. They have various price
ranges but the figure of $2.00 per ribbon would ensure that we have nice
ribbons to give out. There is a set-up cost of $10.00 and a Design cost of
$25.00 to have the AGA logo placed in each rossette. The ribbons have to be
shipped in either mailing tubes or some other protective packaging to
prevent damage.
38 Ribbons @ $2.00 = $76.00
Set-up cost        = $10.00
Design cost        = $25.00
Mailing Tubes
38 @ 3.00          = $114.00
Mailing
38 @ 3.00          = $114.00
Total for Ribbons  = $339.00

Expense Summary:

Announcements                $  5.00
CD-ROM's for Judges          $ 60.00
Prize Solitication Letters   $ 25.00
Mailing Costs for Prizes     $260.00
Ribbons                      $339.00

Total                        $664.00

Budget - Income

We have settled on a maximum of 300 entries to be accepted. Should the AGA
be unwilling to shoulder the entire cost of the event and we have to charge
an entry fee, the figure of $5.00 has been suggested as a reasonable one. I
estimate that we might get a 50-50 split between AGA and non-AGA entries. If
AGA entries are accepted at no charge, and we levy a $5.00 per fee for
non-AGA entries we would have Income as follows:

150 X $5.00 = $750.00

If this is realistic, the AGA would realize a potential profit of around
$100.00. So, they either stand to lose $750.00 or make maybe $100.00.
(Assuming that at least a few CD-ROM's get sold).

I'd appreciate it if you could ponder these figures and let me know if I
have thought of everything and if my esimates are realistic or not.

James Purchase
Toronto





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