January '98 Reader Survey Results

ast year's Warpstock was so successful that the organization committee and many other OS/2ers decided -- almost immediately after it finished -- to make the event a recurring one. Like any good organization though, the Warpstock Steering Committee is eager to improve on the inaugural convention. This year they've thrown the hosting of the event open to all interested groups. In fact, they're accepting bids to host Warpstock '98 right now (late February 1998).

Before the various groups bidding to host the event battle it out though, we decided to find out what OS/2 users wanted out of this year's convention. So last month we asked what you thought of "Warpstock '98".

Answers to our survey were accepted from January 16th until February 13th. We had a total of 1,003 replies to our questionnaire with 69 "spoiled" entries (replies were considered "spoiled" if they did not contain an e-mail address, if all questions were not answered or if they were duplicates). This left 934 valid replies. The results were as follows:

Where should the next Warpstock be held?

First up we asked the most important question of our survey. Last year it was impossible for many interested people to attend Warpstock because of its west-coast location. Naturally, as with any worldwide community, this will be the case no matter what city hosts Warpstock, but the choice of location is still an important one. Happily the Warpstock Committee realizes this and is apparently willing to making Warpstock a roaming event from year to year.

The votes for location were quite widely spread, with most areas listed receiving no more than a handful. However, there were two notable standouts. Probably because we didn't separate Europe into individual countries, it was the most popular answer (15.7%) to our question. However, the real winner in our survey was definitely New York state. In fact, NY alone garnered almost as much support (14.9%) as all of Europe!

Other than those two standouts, some other notable favourites were Ontario and California with 4.8% each, Illinois with 5.8%, and Texas with 8.5%.

What would you pay to get to Warpstock and back?

In addition to where people would like Warpstock to be, we also wanted to know how much they would be willing to spend to get there -- after all, not all of us live in New York state. We needed some idea of whether people would only attend if Warpstock was in their home state or if there would be "out-of-towners" too.

Not surprisingly, the bulk of our readers voted for lower priced travel budgets. Most of them (59.3%) said they would pay US$200 or less, with the largest group (18.3%) picking US$50.01 - US$100.00 as a fair price.

What was surprising was the group of 16 people (1.7% of our respondents) who said they would pay over US$950.00 to get to Warpstock and back. Apparently there are some big spenders in the OS/2 community.

What would you pay for lodging during Warpstock?

Next in importance to getting there is the cost of accommodations at the big event. Again, our readers were budget conscious, the majority of them (54.5%) saying they would pay between US$10.00 and US$60.00 per night.

What should a one-day Warpstock ticket cost?

When we asked our readers what they thought an event like Warpstock is worth, their answers were again fairly predictable. More than one in four (25.5%) said they would expect to pay between US$5.01 and US$10.00 for a one day Warpstock ticket. Another one in five (20.6%) said they would pay between US$10.01 and US$20.00. Not many (1.2%) felt that anything over US$30.00 was a reasonable price.

What should a three-day Warpstock ticket cost?

Naturally, we thought, a multiple day ticket to the event should come with some sort of discount. And our readers again felt that the price of tickets should be modest. The majority of them (68.7%) voted for three-day tickets that cost somewhere between US$10.00 and US$50.00.

While the eventual hosts of Warpstock '98 may choose to hold an event which runs for 4 days or more or one that is only 2 days long, hopefully they'll take the general idea of this information into consideration when they set their prices.

That's it for this month. Don't forget to fill out this month's questionnaire and check back in March for complete results!

Where should the next Warpstock be held? Category Count Percentage Africa 5 0.5% Asia 10 1.1% Australia or New Zealand 23 2.5% Central America 0 0.0% Europe 147 15.7% Mexico 2 0.2% South America 7 0.7% Canada: Alberta 9 1.0% Canada: British Columbia 22 2.4% Canada: Manitoba 3 0.3% Canada: Newfoundland 0 0.0% Canada: NS, NB, or PEI 3 0.3% Canada: NWT or Yukon 0 0.0% Canada: Ontario 45 4.8% Canada: Quebec 12 1.3% Canada: Saskatchewan 1 0.1% USA: AK 4 0.4% USA: AL 1 0.1% USA: AR 2 0.2% USA: AZ 21 2.3% USA: CA 45 4.8% USA: CO 10 1.1% USA: CT 0 0.0% USA: DE 2 0.2% USA: FL 23 2.5% USA: GA 11 1.2% USA: HI 1 0.1% USA: IA 5 0.5% USA: ID 0 0.0% USA: IL 54 5.8% USA: IN 5 0.5% USA: KS 3 0.3% USA: KY 1 0.1% USA: LA 2 0.2% USA: MA 21 2.2% USA: MD 5 0.5% USA: ME 0 0.0% USA: MI 12 1.3% USA: MN 7 0.7% USA: MO 13 1.4% USA: MS 0 0.0% USA: MT 0 0.0% USA: NC 10 1.1% USA: ND 1 0.1% USA: NE 1 0.1% USA: NH 0 0.0% USA: NJ 8 0.9% USA: NM 1 0.1% USA: NV 4 0.4% USA: NY 139 14.9% USA: OH 11 1.2% USA: OK 1 0.1% USA: OR 1 0.1% USA: PA 23 2.5% USA: RI 0 0.0% USA: SC 0 0.0% USA: SD 0 0.0% USA: TN 4 0.4% USA: TX 79 8.5% USA: UT 3 0.3% USA: VA 7 0.7% USA: VT 2 0.2% USA: WA 15 1.6% USA: Washington DC 17 1.8% USA: WI 4 0.4% USA: WV 0 0.0% USA: WY 0 0.0% Other 1 0.1% I'm undecided 20 2.1% I don't care where it is 45 4.8% TOTAL 934 99.7%

What would you pay to get to Warpstock and back? Category Count Percentage I would not go to Warpstock 22 2.4% I would only go if travel was free 49 5.2% US$0.01 - US$50.00 158 16.9% US$50.01 - US$100.00 171 18.3% US$100.01 - US$150.00 121 13.0% US$150.01 - US$200.00 104 11.1% US$200.01 - US$250.00 72 7.7% US$250.01 - US$300.00 61 6.5% US$300.01 - US$350.00 32 3.4% US$350.01 - US$400.00 15 1.6% US$400.01 - US$450.00 11 1.2% US$450.01 - US$500.00 35 3.7% US$500.01 - US$550.00 17 1.8% US$550.01 - US$600.00 6 0.6% US$600.01 - US$650.00 5 0.5% US$650.01 - US$700.00 2 0.2% US$700.01 - US$750.00 3 0.3% US$750.01 - US$800.00 1 0.1% US$800.01 - US$850.00 0 0.0% US$850.01 - US$900.00 0 0.0% US$900.01 - US$950.00 0 0.0% US$950.01 - US$1,000.00 11 1.2% US$1,000.01 - US$1,500.00 2 0.2% US$1,500.01 - US$2,000.00 1 0.1% More than US$2,000.00 2 0.2% I don't know 33 3.5% TOTAL 934 99.7% What would you pay for lodging during Warpstock? Category Count Percentage I would not go to Warpstock 23 2.5% I would only go if lodging was free 90 9.6% US$0.01 - US$10.00 (per night) 30 3.2% US$10.00 - US$20.00 (per night) 53 5.7% US$20.01 - US$30.00 (per night) 96 10.3% US$30.01 - US$40.00 (per night) 109 11.7% US$40.01 - US$50.00 (per night) 141 15.1% US$50.01 - US$60.00 (per night) 89 9.5% US$60.01 - US$70.00 (per night) 45 4.8% US$70.01 - US$80.00 (per night) 56 6.0% US$80.01 - US$90.00 (per night) 24 2.6% US$90.01 - US$100.00 (per night) 52 5.6% US$100.01 - US$150.00 (per night) 42 4.5% US$150.01 - US$200.00 (per night) 6 0.6% More than US$200.00 (per night) 1 0.1% I'm not sure 77 8.2% TOTAL 934 100.0% What should a one-day Warpstock ticket cost? Category Count Percentage I would not go to Warpstock 14 1.5% I would only go if tickets were free 41 4.4% US$0.01 - US$5.00 91 9.7% US$5.01 - US$10.00 238 25.5% US$10.00 - US$15.00 192 20.6% US$15.01 - US$20.00 161 17.2% US$20.01 - US$25.00 106 11.3% US$25.01 - US$30.00 46 4.9% More than US$30.00 11 1.2% I'm not sure 34 3.6% TOTAL 934 99.9% What should a three-day Warpstock ticket cost? Category Count Percentage I would not go to Warpstock 14 1.5% I would only go if tickets were free 35 3.7% US$0.01 - US$10.00 44 4.7% US$10.00 - US$20.00 182 19.5% US$20.01 - US$30.00 200 21.4% US$30.01 - US$40.00 112 12.0% US$40.01 - US$50.00 148 15.8% US$50.01 - US$60.00 74 7.9% US$60.01 - US$70.00 38 4.1% US$70.01 - US$80.00 18 1.9% US$80.01 - US$90.00 8 0.9% US$90.01 - US$100.00 24 2.6% More than US$100.00 7 0.7% I'm not sure 30 3.2% TOTAL 934 99.9%

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