I received an amazing email recently. An Oregon guild contacted me about sponsoring a coffee or snack break during the 2025 conference. They told me that they needed accurate numbers in order to put the expense into the guild’s yearly budget which they were planning now. I was overwhelmed with gratitude for their thoughtful generosity. So much so, that I shared the email with members of our team.
Most ANWG members don’t realize that each conference committee starts with a financial deposit from ANWG. At first glance, that deposit might seem quite large. But in truth, as soon as a committee pays the deposit for a conference location, a big chunk of it is gone. The rest must be spent on registration technology, name tags, advertising, printing and the various deposits required to solidify the conference itself. We refer to that deposit as our seed money, as it’s all we have until the registration fees begin to come in.
Yes. The finances are complicated. All in all, hosting a conference requires more business acumen than I claim to possess. (This is an easy declaration; I have none!)
For these reasons, we rely heavily on donations and sponsorships provided by fiber companies and guilds in the ANWG region. I’m in the midst of making formal requests for those right now. The costs involved in a conference can be mind boggling. Here are the numbers I supplied to the Oregon guild:
Coffee for 500: At one cup per person, total cost of 30 gallons of coffee: 1,200 dollars.
Cookies for 500: At 2 per person comes to $ 2833.00
Total= $4,033
That’s for one snack, out of six conference days. Most of us would like coffee mid-morning and mid-afternoon—especially while trying to understand amalgamation weaves! I assured the writer of my email that her guild didn’t have to cover the entire cost; even a percentage would be a huge help.
Looking at these numbers, you can see why this guild’s generosity is so meaningful to us, your conference committee. We know not everyone has the resources to be this generous. We understand. Some guilds struggle to pay their ANWG dues. But if your guild wants to designate such a gift, your conference committee would be wild with appreciation. And that’s no exaggeration; I promise.
Bette Nordberg
ANWG 2025 Conference Co-Chair