I’m not sure that is necessarily so [TASO loses money every year…on the state meeting]. Hopefully not. The grumbling you may have heard has always been associated with the state meeting and always will be.
But to be fair, the economic squeeze is on all sides.. TASO football division, hosting chapters, and individual members... all making value choices versus costs.
TASO must cover considerable costs associated with the venue (auditorium, meeting rooms, side rooms for auctions, and any numerous additional equipment and venue charges for AV, lunch for participants, etc ), as well as website registration, transportation for guest speakers, and administrative costs for district and chapter officers, among other expenses. Also, TASO presently is not Texas sales tax exempt---not sure why.
The host chapter retains any profit or incurs any losses from all side events related to the meeting (e.g., golf, run, social events, silent auction, 50/50, etc.). Organizing early and moving early to secure outside sponsors is key. Most chapters, if not all, are Texas sales tax exempt and can avoid tax costs when running these events. Also, by TASO policy, if a chapter hosts it may not offer a rules clinic which may hurt some chapters that use the clinic as a revenue stream to offset other chapter operating costs. Hosting the state meeting then means work to cover the offset.
The state meeting is never going to satisfy everyone, and neither are the annual fees. Since we have “paid for it” through our dues, the decision to attend often comes down to two competing ideas: the “value of access”—the chance to hear quality teaching, network with others, and get perspective; and (2) the “opportunity cost”—what that time and money could be used for instead. When people are honest about what matters most to them and what they personally expect to gain, the different levels of enthusiasm make more sense. The state meeting means more to some people than others, but I think it comes down to being honest about what’s truly valuable. I think TASO is trying to balance that.
For some members, the state meeting is valuable because it offers access to expertise, connections, and a structured chance to learn or confirm best practices. Even if the information isn’t entirely “new,” the credibility of hearing it from a respected source and the opportunity to reframe what you already know can still be worth the time and cost. For those who have been involved for a long time, the content may be less likely to introduce completely unfamiliar concepts, but it may still provide value through reinforcement, refinement, and motivation—especially if it helps them apply what they already know more effectively in their own setting.
At the same time, not everyone weighs that type of value the same way. Some members measure value more directly in practical economic terms: the cost of time away from work or family, the expense of participation (location, distance, hotel, food, time), and whether the return justifies those costs. For those people, the chance of hearing something genuinely new may be the key factor that makes the meeting “worth it.” If that chance feels low—because they’ve been through many trainings already—then the meeting can feel like a poor tradeoff compared to other opportunities such as local chapter events or independent learning. That can be also be some source of the grumbling.
I think getting involved is the key. District Directors should seek and hear feedback on what the state meeting should be and be open to changing the agenda every year to create a new value question… and the membership should be providing that feedback to them. Certainly, the state agenda has changed the past couple years away from numerous targeted topical and positional breakouts as it was for years to much more TASO business and awards, motivational speakers, and coaches’ roundtable discussion. That definitely can affect the value equation for people to gauge regarding the education fee.
I don’t know the economics behind the online rules clinic, but web development and hosting costs are not cheap. And I think there is an implied encouragement fee included to induce attendance at TASO instructor led education and interaction with others because after all, we are in the people engagement business in officiating.
