It seems this was a conference organized for profit, so the high price tag doesn't seem very surprising. I have been both at for-profit and "grass roots" conferences, and I like the latter much better.

I have also helped organize a conference (German Perl Workshop 2012), here are some key facts: * price: 75€ regular fee, 50€ for speakers, 250€ for people sent by companies (yes, most were there "for fun" on their own expense) * duration: 3 days, 2 tracks * roughly 90 visitors * free catering in the coffee breaks and for lunch * rooms provided by the local university (quite a cost relief) * social event sponsored by a local (but not small) company * a few small sponsors * conference t-shirts and bags for free * in the end, we had a bit of money left over

I guess you can go to quite some length if you have volunteers organizing things.