While I have had a great response from people showing their interest in attending and speaking, along with two possible keynote speakers from the US raising their hands for the keynote position, and some early interest from local Australian sponsors...it appears that the business community in Australia is not so much behind the idea of blogging as we all like to think.
In the last month and half, out of all the organisations that said they would be interested in sponsoring the event (quite a few), I have had only one of the sponsors actually come through and agree to be involved. I have tried to get companies on board up until last week...but at some point i had to face the inevitable... :(
And a big thankyou goes out to Nick Bolton at streamhouse.tv who is all set to provide live audio and possibly even live video feeds on the day of the event onto the internet.
What happened I hear you ask...did I ask for too much from the sponsors??? I really don't think so...we needed someone to cover the audio/video feed, someone to cover printing of programs and delegate badges, someone to provide WiFi or broadband into the venue (it is a blogging conference after al), someone to cover lunch and refreshments for between 80-120 people and finally someone to pick up the venue hire (which would have included the A/V gear)...we didn't even come out asking for cash…we just wanted the services to be paid for...none of the money was to even cross our hands.
Yes...we were going to charge a $150 entry fee, and that would have gone to cover any other incidental costs not covered by sponsors...and what ever was left was going into the "future conference kitty"...I had this strange thought that people and companies in Australia were ready for some quality tech orientated conferences again after what has been a drought...well...the people are...but the companies appear not to be...I guess they just want the same old crap we have been getting for the last couple of years...
So...will the conference happen??? I really hope so, but I’m just not sure when…hopefully it will be in late March or early April.
I am throwing out an open request to any companies that may want to step up to the plate and show that they believe in not only blogging but also the "community" that has developed around this area over the last 12-24 months in Australia...and I’m talking about a serious business and tech blogging community...not the "diarists" as some call them. Have we lost so much faith in this business that we don't believe in getting together and talking any more unless it costs us over $1000 to get in??? I hope not...for all our sakes...
Wheres the good news??? I'm hoping its coming soon...
Posted by Mick (SplaTT) Stanic at February 8, 2005 1:17 PM
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Mick, every time we ran a conference in my FirmwareDesign days, our customers complained that we were charging too much (average $495), while we consistently lost over $40,000 in putting the conference on. We had something to gain (promote our tools). Which sponsor stands to gain from giving blogging tools away for free?
Unfortunately, you need to charge around $1000 to make a conference happen and come out with a modest profit. That means you'll miss out on the hip bloggers without cash and you'll get a corporate and goverment audience who will be there to listen rather than contribute.
Posted by: Marius Coomans at February 8, 2005 2:51 PM