COLM 2026 registration sold out as an author [D]

Never attended a conference before, so apologies if these are dumb questions.

I’m an author of an accepted paper at COLM 2026. One of my coauthors registered during the author-only registration period, so I joined the waitlist on August 10.

I later received an email saying:

“Your access to reserve tickets remains active until Aug 24 7:06 p.m. EDT.”

I thought I had until August 24 to register, so I didn’t register immediately. When I checked again today (8/23), registration was sold out. I also can’t seem to rejoin the waitlist.

Unfortunately, I also missed the financial assistance deadline because at the time I wasn’t even sure whether I would be able to attend.

I really really want to attend the conference. Does anyone know what I can do at this point? Is there a chance that more registration spots will be released later? And is there any possibility of getting financial assistance after the deadline?

Thanks a lot for any advice.