Good news: it seems that the Plaza hasn't been cancelled after all, only scaled down to what it should have been at first, and made free! In a message received this morning, George Sadowski who is chair of ICANN's Nomcom, indicated that he and a colleague had assumed responsibility for the event.

He writes:

My sense is that the Plaza will consist of a number of tables, each with several chairs, that can be used by people wishing to display projects, ideas, themes or organizations as long as the purpose is directly connected with Internet governance. ... At this moment, we believe that there will be no cost to the participants using the tables, and that the host committee will pay whatever costs are associated with the Plaza.

I'd better get to work on my display.