Last of the big conventions? (page 3)

steve2

Do they till request a donation (that is, payment-per-seat) when the convention is held in a JW assembly hall versus a worldly venue?

keinlezard

Hello,

I'm from France to ... but in Paris ... the Assembly take place at "Villepinte" and it 's not an Assembly Hall

My understanding is that sometimes the Branch will sign a 5 year agreement for a stadium rental so maybe they are tied into some of these longer term agreements in some countries & locations. The trend certainly is to make the conventions smaller and housed in purpose built indoor arenas - I guess it makes sense as much of the program is on video now. Many I have spoken to do miss the atmosphere of the "olden days" of tens of thousands in an outdoor stadium - tent cities , convention "families" to set everything up.

konceptual99

Do they till request a donation (that is, payment-per-seat) when the convention is held in a JW assembly hall versus a worldly venue?

Hell yeah. They run through the convention accounts just to guilt trip people into giving.

It's how halls like the Surrey Assembly Hall at Haysbridge in the UK can afford to
donate almost half a million pounds to the WTS and still have almost £5m in the bank.

See the accounts online here.

http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends09/0001090209_AC_20150831_E_C.PDF

I've tracked this for a while and the income has regularly been approx double the expenditure. They could ask the congregations for half the amount they do but this is a neat way of generating income for the main org.

Now add another 10 or 12 events in a year if they moved RCs there, into a building that is paid for, a building they own, a building they don't have to put the outlay into that they do for a stadium.

I bet half the bean counters actually want a reduction in numbers (aka "love of the greater number cooling off") since it will be the hard core left and therefore easier to fill WTS venues with a higher ratio of fee paying punters.

NikL

Just found out that they are going to show the videos of convention locally at our hall for those that can't attend.

That's a first!

How about this for a possibility? They still have a handful of large conventions but they will be more invite only types like the international ones.

Those of us unworthy get to watch it on video at our hall or whatever.

EyesOpenHeartBroken

Nik, it is actually the reverse of what you said. Congregation members are expected to go to assigned regional convention. Only those properly assessed by the BOE as infirm are invited to watch the vids at the KH instead of attending the larger venue. Of course, BOEs vary in their application of the WT rule, so some congregations may do an open invitation, but this is not in accord with corporate policy.

Doubting Bro

Keep in mind that in some cities (at least in the US), city departments of tourism will subsidize a huge portion of the rental cost as an incentive to attract profitable convention business. The impact on some cities from hosting RCs can easily offset the cost of the rental. This is a tactic used by the WT (and anyone else bringing a convention to a small-mid-sized city). The tourism dollars from hotel stays/restaurants, etc can add up. Someone has posted here before examples of cities doing that. That's likely why you see many RCs being held in smaller markets. For example, in the NYC metro, they get so much tourist business, they aren't going to offer any incentives. But, Albany in the summer likely gets few visitors and is more inclined to go along.

Last of the big conventions?