Meeting Sponsorship Prices Up to 50% — ICANN Slashes

Non-profit reverses course and lowers price to sponsor meetings.

Currying favor with the ICANN crowd just got a lot cheaper.

Well, at least compared to the prior week.

In advance of its meeting in San Francisco next month, ICANN doubled the cost of many of its sponsorship packages. It also added a fresh level at $500,000.

But now it’s pulling a Wal-Mart and rolling back prices.

The non-profit disclosed tonight that it is reducing the costs on lower level packages and offering a 33% discount for non-profits.

It appears that it’s not just the entry level packages that took a haircut. The Diamond level, which cost VeriSign $500,000 for next month’s meeting, is now $250,000. The Platinum Elite package (which I think includes some frequent flyer miles or something) was reduced from $250,000 to $150,000.

The entry level Bronze package is now $7,500 instead of $10,000. But I believe that’s still more than it cost last year.

It’s not clear if these lower rates apply to the March meeting in San Francisco. If so, ICANN is giving some hefty refunds.