Why should the CIPD (well other CIPD members) subsidise those in some sectors over others? If you are subsidising one set of members you are actually charging even more to other members directly or indirectly? Its not an approach I agree with but know views vary

Personally £500 a day for a quality conference with real added value seems not overly expensive to me . What do you think would be an acceptable rate that wouldn't put people off?

In reply to Keith:

Hi Keith,
I appreciate your concerns about one section of the membership cross-subsidising another. Possibly this is more acceptable to offer student members?

My main 'gripe' is the high cost of conferences such as this, given the CIPD is our professional body and such events should form a key element of HR practitioner’s CPD. In comparison, CILIP - the professional body for librarians, is charging £280+VAT for two days; similarly, the recent BPS Occupational Psychology conference was £254 for three days.

Other professional bodies, such as the above, approach their conferences as an opportunity to engage with their membership and support their development. They are typically run at cost or a small profit. I think the CIPD’s approach to conferences is different and potentially excludes many in the profession from benefiting from attendance.

Do others think that the cost of CIPD conferences is a barrier to taking part? Does it matter whether members can afford to attend?

In reply to Marc:

Marc
One factor to have in mind for conferences whose content is often driven by legislative changes is the cost of monitoring, evaluating, and adjusting content in order to ensure that it not only reflects rapidly changing new legislation, but also provides an insight into how companies can ensure that they comply and apply this new legislation. This inviariably requires input from high level external lawyers and not simply an HR 'technical' view - this does not come cheap - neither do the keynote speakers, I suspect.
Personally I can't remember having attended a cutting edge conference in recent years for less than £500-750 a day - unless they are organised by suppliers principally as a marketing exercise.
If the cost in perceived as high, then for struggling independent consultants it is nonetheless a legitimate business cost that gives rise to a deduction to taxable earnings - similarly, it is an excellent opportunity to undertake client marketing and networking exercises and not just a "cost".
I suspect that in order to reduce the fee levels to £280 for two days, annual subscriptions would probably need to face very significant hikes to be ble to finance the reduction....... and a lot of people consider the membership costs to be high already. Marc, what level of increase to subscription would you be prepared to pay in order to subsidise the cost of those attending the conference?

In reply to Ray:

Just a wee contribution from a recent newbie to the CIPD community, personally I'd love to attend the CIPD conferences but unfortunately funds are tight and I just can't afford to attend.

What might be an option for those in lower salary bands might be the opportunity to spread the cost perhaps? I know it's easy enough to advise people to save up, but life happens sometimes and it's just not possible, whereas providing an opportunity to pay over a few months perhaps might make things a bit easier. However do appreciate that this might be difficult, would it be considered to be offering "financial services" for example.
Just a thought :)
Thanks
Jacquie

We've passed your comment through to our conference team Marc so they are aware of your feedback. The exhibition (as opposed to the conference) is free for the Festival of Work and there are a lot of free learning sessions there over the two days, worth coming along to Olympia to check out what's new - the exhibitors will be going all out to create a buzzing learning environment. http://bit.ly/2EemSpA

In reply to Jacquie:

we can certainly pass this idea through to our conference team Jacquie.

My MD's position on such events:

"I'm not paying for you to take a CV-padding networking jolly with no measurable benefit for the company."

In reply to Ray:

Hi Ray,
Thanks for this. I guess before I can answer this question it would be helpful to know why the CIPD's conferences are so much more expensive than those offered by many other professional bodies. You mention the cost of external lawyers - it might interest you to learn that this year's Law Society Conference for in-house lawyers is £354 (inc VAT) early bird or £174 for those in the not for profit sector. If the Law Society can offer conferences at these sorts of rates, and discount them for those working in not for profit organisations, surely the CIPD can do the same? I would also argue that, as a professional body, the CIPD has a responsibility to make its events affordable for its wider membership, not just consultants and chartered members in more senior roles.

In reply to Marc:

To clarify - the Law Society Conference cost is the day rate for practising certificate holders. The conference lasts two days.