Hello. First of all, I apologize if this isn't supposed to be posted on codeforces, but this is the only CP community I know. So, my team qualified to the ACM ACPC regional (Arab CPC) for the second year in a raw.And we're supposed to pay the $1500 registration fees (which is honestly A LOT for us) and I really want to know where is all this money going? also why is it mandatory to stay in a 5* hotel? why can't we just pay the judges, the organizers and the t-shirst? (maybe around $300/team) ? I tried to contact the organizers about this but no one replied to my emails. ACM say they're a non-profit organization. but with $1500 x 100 teams = $150.000 in total , I think the ACPC committe just want to make a HUGE rpofit out of students. They quality of the contest isn't even that good. they had wrong test data for a problem during most of the contests last year which affected some teams and they didn't even apologize later.Some computers where so laggy.
I don't believe this is fair and I think the ACM committee should look into the this because it's affecting MANY teams who qualify each year and can't afford to go further than national contest :'(
It's a good question, but asking or answering it won't solve any problems. We can conclude that it makes no sense that you have to pay a $1500 registration fee, but it still means that you can't compete without paying. So it's more productive to look for a way to get the required funds.
My advice is to try to raise the money in your country. Contact the government, some newspapers, post about it online, set up a donation page, have your friends and family share it! Be proactive! Every dollar counts.
I've experienced similar situations regarding the ACSL contest, and by sharing the issue with the public, we were able to get some money from both the people and the mayor, who was impressed by the school's previous great results.
In Fact,It's not about "how to collect the 1500$ but why', The same problem occurs for several teams which qualified for acpc, this year,last year,it is mainly a commom problem, but as it is said above, you never get an answer from them. Acm to Acpc organisers means (Arabic Cash Machine)
Even though I agree with the advices to raise money (it may be the only way for them to compete) I think they should indeed try to raise awareness to this problem.
It should be a student competition, not some excuse to gather money. It does not need and shouldn't be expensive. Here in Brazil the universities are responsible for paying a registration fee of something around $50. Everything but transportation is included.
Other than that is valid to ask where this money is going. The organizers should be able justify the expenses, so since they did not answer his email, asking these questions publicly is a reasonable way to go.