Question 1:
When I pay my money, where does it go? Is it safe?
Answer: into the Midwest Region’s bank account with YDA. Your money is safe & secure.
Question 2:
What happens if I back out of the trip after already paying my $50 deposit?
Answer: you have 2 options. You can choose to forfeit the $50, and just consider it a donation to the Midwest Region OR you can find a replacement to take your seat on the bus. If you choose to find a replacement (which we would much prefer) then the Midwest Region Officers will be glad to help you find a replacement. We have lists with literally thousands of names who you can call and ask to take your place, and we’re more than happy to help you call them.
(there’s also a secret 3rd option – if you help fundraise for the bus trip by making donor-calls, and raise $100 or more, then your $50 will be refunded- see question #5)
Question 3:
What if I have already registered for the Conference via the YDA website, and have already paid my $60 registration fee? Also, isn’t the price of registering going up to $80 sometime soon? What should I do?
If you have already paid your $60 registration fee, but would still like to ride the bus & stay in MW*YDA hotel bloc, please contact MW*YDA Director John Owens-Ream immediately so he can help you plan ahead.
The process for registering for the bus-trip is essentially the same, and you still must pay a $50 deposit by July 1st to reserve your spot on the bus. However, when the time comes to pay off the rest of your balance, he will send you a special link to pay only $190 instead of $250.
As for your worry that convention costs are going to go up… don’t worry. We have secured a block of registrations for the our region which will remain at $60 until July 11th. As long as you pay the full balance of your ticket on time, your total ticket cost will remain only $300.
Question 4:
What if no one besides me and a few other people decide to ride the bus… will the cost of our tickets go up?
No, the cost of your ticket will not go up. We promise that whether 4 people or 40 people register for the bus trip, the cost per person will not rise above $300 per person.
It’s true that if the bus is less than 2/3rds full, the midwest region will take a slight loss on the whole trip. If that occurs, rather than raise the price of each ticket, we are committed to fundraising the difference in costs.
Question 5:
I am economically disadvantaged & cannot afford to attend… but I really want to. Is there a way I can still attend?!?
Answer: Please immediately contact MW*YDA Director John Owens-Ream and he will help you figure out a way to make this work. There are scholarships available for several demographic groups including women, minorities, and members of the LGBT caucus- there are also many donors who we can get you in contact with that might be willing to provide for a portion of your conference costs
Furthermore, we are happy to let you work off the cost of the conference. If you are available & willing to help the Midwest Region raise some money (in order to lower the cost of attending this conference for everyone), 50 cents from every dollar you raise will directly offset your Conference Costs. (so if you help us raise $100, then the cost for you to attend the conference/bus-trip/hotel would be $250. If you help us raise $600 then the bus-trip, hotel room, & conference costs would be FREE for you.)
Question 6:
Shouldn’t an event this monumentous warrant special event T-Shirts!?
Answer: Why yes, and we’re glad you asked! IF we sell out the bus, there will be some money left over. If that happens, I’m sorry to say we’re not going to give it back to you. What we are going to do with it, is buy t-shirts for the whole bus. So convince your friends to get on the bus… there will be more drinks in our reception room, more free pizza at our rest stop, and t-shirts for everybody if we sell out!