just some points
There are several offshoots of eventlist (all paid ones) such as RedEvent (which again I did not like as much as the original).
You're not totally right there as RedEvent is also free. But you're right the paid versions do get more attention. One thing that surely helps is the listing on JED so they are attracting more people.
One annoying thing about RE is the fact that you need to fill in all kind of personal data before you can even download. another thing is that it integrates with versions you do have to pay for.
However leaving an upgrade to next year is BIG mistake
Ah, it seems we have to adjust things earlier

. But you're right it should be done earlier. Also as the support for J2.5 will end this year.
But at the moment we're concentrating to make version 2.0 and release that one.
I waited for over a year for a 2.5 version and in the end, got it upgraded myself
ah, can give you a hand there

. Aldo i my case i got help. At the moment i'm developing/adjusting JEM together with others, but actually started as a "normal" user asking for help almost a year ago. (and yep can't call myself not a developer anymore)
oh something to mention, the original EL developers are M.I.A. as you'll probably know. So it's a miracle that JEM is here
support
You're also right there. as we're volunteers, a small team and doing it mostly in free time it's true that support is not that fast. Hopefully things will chnge when we get the darn thing listed. But the thing is that we're creating a fork and can't use the original "eventlist" name. If we could things would have happened a lot faster and things would be a lot easier.
Joomla 3
You know, basic-adapting it for J3 is actually not that hard. It only takes "time", probably few weeks. But be aware that the new Joomla-ACL (1.7+)+internal categories are still not being used.
Things that have to happen:
- change divs in the backend-views
- change internal code (J3+ is very strict with that)
- add bootstrap tabs in the backend-views
- the attachment-script has to be adapted
as the mootools version within J3 is outdated.
- the frontend won't need much adjustement
- importing stuff ain't that hard
After you've done that it will run but ofcourse there will be more things to change. Don't know it exactly but there are probably things to change. The front seems to be working alright.
And about payment. You know perhaps you will find someone for it but actually you can try the basic stuff too and it will save you some. (i'm not available for money). I'm even willing to make a basic adaption of a view (not all) so you can see how things can be looking in the back.
But the question is:
- When do you need it?
- what functions does it need?
is it enough to have the same as EL?