Comments on: Exploding the conference business

By: Sleazy Conference Sponsorships

Sleazy Conference Sponsorships — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 10:37:28 +0000

[...] But there’s a flip side: I also receive at least five disruptive phone calls a day from conference organizers trying to sell me sponsorships – usually in the form of booth space, or the opportunity to display my company’s signage at the venue. I’m open to hearing pitches and I often cross the line into sales duty myself, so I appreciate the hard work and rejection that goes along with the role. The problem is that these sponsorships – especially in the overly cluttered conference world we live in – are usually horrible investments. The bottom line is we don’t want to throw away our valuable budget to ancillary add-ons of questionable value. I concur with Jeff Jarvis’ similar rant, Exploding the conference business. [...]

By: Conferences…issues – Identity Woman

Conferences…issues – Identity Woman — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 02:44:55 +0000

[...] Scoble just did this long… post on conferences and the issues around creating them. Adding to Jeff Jarvis' post here. [...]

By: Gordon Rae

Gordon Rae — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 19:27:29 +0000

This is an important contribution to the discussion. I recently attended two conferences by LikeMinds that were very well organised (and got big Whuffie and retweets from the speakers on the podium for that fact) but had exactly these issues for the paying customers in the arena. Given that social media people spend such a lot time talking about how good social media are at improving the coomunication flow between all of us, it’s important that we should talk honestly and openly about what works, and what doesn’t, and what we can do to improve it. Thank you.

By: Todd Beardsley

Todd Beardsley — Thu, 14 May 2009 19:06:23 +0000

I have seen both extremes when it comes to conferences. I’ve been to great ones that were trying to promote their message to the audience, and I’ve seen ones that were just an excuse to charge people big money for a seat. The fact that you were charged while you were a speaker is pretty outrageous!

By: J Julian

J Julian — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 09:17:02 +0000

Of course the organiser who wants to make a profit will promote the event as much as possible. This means the speakers will be promoted. That means you! So you are getting promotion.
Also most organisers do NOT pay for content but they do not charge for attending as a speaker and usually pay expenses. I think your gripe is with the SIIA.

By: austin texas personal injury lawyer

austin texas personal injury lawyer — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 20:20:56 +0000

actually i beg to differ. i love conferences. free food. extra sleep. who says you have to be sober the entire time?

By: Anne

Anne — Tue, 09 May 2006 06:50:03 +0000

This is nice post,i m agree with you. Most conference are too expensive,hey are filled with boring panels. this is the right thing.

thanks

By: The Overlap Blog » Blog Archive » Readings

The Overlap Blog » Blog Archive » Readings — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 21:08:29 +0000

[...] Definitions Unconference Exploding the Conference Business Innovation vs. Design Design Thinking and Business [...]

By: Parking Lot » Unconferencing

Parking Lot » Unconferencing — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 21:03:53 +0000

[...] Okay folks…having read Jeff Jarvis today (thanks for the pointer Johnnie) and noting the unconferencing angst going on out there, and noting also that people seems to be feeling around in the dark for some way forward, I’m here to offer what I can. [...]

By: Francisco Garau

Francisco Garau — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 12:47:02 +0000

The Smalltalkers in Europe are very lucky. We have an annual conference which is cheap and sponsors either students or poor panelists who cannot afford the trip.

The social atmosphere is quite unique and for myself is almost a “religious” experience.

http://www.esug.org/conferences/

Highly recommended

-Francisco

By: Christina

Christina — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 18:08:17 +0000

I agree with your assessment on some conferences and want to offer up one that does do the right thing! The American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) limits the commercialism and gives speakers free admission to the conference, as well as, an $800 honorarium. See my post on my upcoming presentation on establishing a RHIO at: http://thielst.typepad.com/my_weblog/2005/11/the_online_broc.html#trackback.

Also, I find that more local conferences are really productive and the cost is significantly less. The focus is usually on the learning and networking, and not making money to run the organization. It seems organizations like ACHE, with more balanced revenue streams can afford to do the right thing!

By: BuzzMachine » Blog Archive » Broken conferences

BuzzMachine » Blog Archive » Broken conferences — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 13:49:25 +0000

[...] Dave Winer now has a series of posts exposing how much companies pay to deliver keynotes at conferences. Gee, I thought it should be the other way around” speakers worthy anything get paid to speak. If the companies are going to pay to speak, maybe we should be paid to listen. Timeshares do it, why shouldn’t conferences? [...]

By: Jeremy.Hitchcock.Name

Jeremy.Hitchcock.Name — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 05:57:08 +0000

[...] Conferences are such interesting events. With the goals of networking and knowledge transfer, they frequently fail to do both well. It’s been some time since I have attended anything after being unfulfilled the past few times. Based on the suggestion of an employee (plus their interest in going), I’m thinking of going to An Event Apart. This (like events put together by Seth Godin) seems like a new breed in events. It’s not meant for beginners, it’s more interactive, and more informal. Chance to meet a lot of smart people and worth the try. If this format doesn’t work, there’s always the HyperCamp idea. [...]

By: Peggy

Peggy — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 18:19:45 +0000

I’m glad I stumbled upon this blog! I am in the midst of putting together an online convention for commercial real estate – focusing on the folks in small markets, small local firms that don’t get to the big conferences or have access to the networking and education opportunities. We just wanted to test the waters and see if we can get some educational content and blogging going for knowledge sharing.

As for the large traditional conferences – it seems during any given year, the same industry experts are giving the same less than substantive presentations, content is either too general or just plain tired.

I agree with other posters – create models that will cause like minded knowledge seekers to gather – provide someone to share and draw wisdom from the room- virtual or other wise. There’s nothing like a great facilitator or speaker with a focused energetic message that really sparks the attendees

By: Kid Croesus

Kid Croesus — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 17:50:13 +0000

You know, the high price tags of conference act as a reasonable barrier to entry to people who may not be serious contributors — the price does seem high, but if people are willing to pay, then there is probably significant value attained. I find the price is generally correlated with the level of the attendees.

As for the panels, I agree they are mostly boring — I think you might get far better learning using a Business School case method.

By: Ben Davidson

Ben Davidson — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 17:04:45 +0000

I think you are stupid to do it after you found out they are charging you to speak. What are you, a rube? I guess so, especially sinsce you don’t want to hurt the poor babies feelings after you found that they are cheating you. Here, let me sell your contact info to a shifty marketing firm’s ’suckers’ list. Be expecting some calls for roofing repairs and term life insurance.

By: Association Inc. » Blog Archive » Complaining About Conferences

Association Inc. » Blog Archive » Complaining About Conferences — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 04:26:40 +0000

[...] People should really stop inviting Jeff Jarvis to speak at their conferences … No Tags [...]

By: Dave Chapman

Dave Chapman — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 19:26:47 +0000

Good Idea. You could call the conference service “Face Time”,
and organize the meetings using standard blog tools. . .

By: Bob Balfe

Bob Balfe — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 15:13:41 +0000

I would like to see if anyone on this site has been to a Lotusphere from IBM? I have been to 9 and have spoken 4 times. I personally loved the conference as a customer and I still feel it is worth the hefty $1800 per person. This year the conference hosted over 6,000 people.

By: Damien Mulley’s Blog » Blog Archive » Conferences - Any Irish people care to impart advice?

Thu, 02 Feb 2006 15:12:42 +0000

[...] Jeff Jarvis recently taked about creating a new model for conferences to which Robert Scoble shared his experiences. Jeff as usual has given some great advice and Robert added to that and clarified some of the matters. Previously I mentioned the idea of having unconferences in Ireland and now I’m asking the bloggers out there to share some of their advice from organising conferences in Ireland. Anything that Jeff and Robert have not covered? Fergal and Tom, you both have experience with events like these, got any advice? Technorati Tags: blogs conference ireland irishblogs organising unconference [...]

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 12:29:27 +0000

The panels aren’t the point of a conference. The panels are what you use to justify the conference to your employer (if you’re lucky enough to still have one that pays for conference attendance) or the IRS (if you’re not…or if you _are_ your employer). The point of the conference is the conversations in the hallways and in hotel rooms after the main event is over.

One _could_ try to run a conference built just around the stuff that really matters, but without employer reimbursement or even tax deductability. it’d be a lot harder to find people willing to pony up the cost of burning vacation days, flying themselves in, and staying in a hotel in order to have those conversations. Eventually I suspect you’d slam into a kind of inverse network effect.

By: Under the Radar » Blog Archive » Any Suggestions? Under the Radar Companies…

Thu, 02 Feb 2006 03:43:22 +0000

[...] In the spirit of Jeff Jarvis over at Buzz Machine I’m posting the list of confirmed companies for our Under the Radar: Web 2.0 event. And thanks Irina for all your work on this. Ok, Suggestions Please! [...]

By: krusty

krusty — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 18:57:28 +0000

I agree with most of jeff’s analysis but I would caution against generalizing from an experience with SIIA and Ken Wasch,president of the association .They have very few profitable franchises,so when they build one they work it for every cent it’s worth.

By: Rage on Omnipotent » Blog Archive » Conference costs

Rage on Omnipotent » Blog Archive » Conference costs — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 22:12:11 +0000

[...] Man, Scoble worries me about our 1,000 person conference we’re running in April. Then again, we’ll need about Â£1,000 to make it zing – a cool Â£1m to you and me. Then again, we’re not being creamed on refreshments in the same way, and we have a great load of sponsors to take the weight off. And I do hope we avoid doing any of this. [...]

By: Face2Face Meetingsnet » Blog Archive » Advice for the risk-adverse

Face2Face Meetingsnet » Blog Archive » Advice for the risk-adverse — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 16:34:33 +0000

[...] Is your organization stuck in a rut, holding the same conference year after year, on the same topics, delivered via talking heads and PowerPoint, in a location chosen because your leaders like to golf there? As Jeff Jarvis says, it’s time to shake up the conference model. But how do you get past the “We always do it this way?” barrier? [...]