[OSList] $ and unconferences

[Graydancer]

My first reaction is to burst out in hysterical laughter...

My unconferences are priced according to a formula: (cost of venue + lunch
(for expected attendance or venue capacity) + facilitator travel expense)
divided by number of expected/desired attendees. We then add on 15% per
ticket as a "cushion", and open ticket sales, usually between $30-$75 each.
Since the demographic I serve are used to paying several hundred dollars
for weekend conferences, the pricetag is only a barrier in the "*If it's
that cheap, it must not be worth it"* sense.

This has worked fairly well, with some exceptions that have been good
learning experiences. However, keeping the margins this close can tend to
be a bit nervewracking for the "boots-on-the-ground" organizers (usually
individual community leaders, not corporations or social groups) because
people don't always buy tickets until the last minute. For example, I'm
typing this from the Denver Airport on the way to facilitate my 53rd
Unconference this weekend, and we're still not in the black in terms of
ticket sales. However, I expect a surge over the next two days (and we may
even sell some tickets at the door).

Out of the 53, only 4 have operated at a loss, and in every one of those it
was because the organizers chose to do things their own way (and spend
extra money) rather than simply trust the event to provide enough
satisfaction for the participants.

Currently, though, I've noticed that there is one major cost that could be
eliminated from these "GRUEs" as they're known. That's *me.* Because this
is a relatively new niche for OS (alternative sexuality & sex education)
there's a lot of people who will contact me and ask me to come and
facilitate and help them run it - with the result that I'm traveling way
too much. I've started successfully answering people with the "teach them
to fish" analogy - pointing out to them how much cheaper and easier it
would be to run an event that didn't need to pay for a flight, or work
around my schedule.

Yes, I'm negotiating myself out of a job, but it's not that lucrative a job
anyway - and I find that it's just as rewarding to see and hear about
people in my community creating their own OS's as it is actually running
one.

Gray
----
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On Wed, Oct 30, 2013 at 9:42 AM, Steven Clift <clift at e-democracy.org> wrote:

> We are experimenting with a $10 charge option to reduce no show
> registrations (so we order the right amount of food).
>
> We have a free lottery option which only kicks in if we go over capacity.
> We also have scholarship and volunteer options to guarantee a ticket now.
>
> See: http://citycampmn.org
>
> Steven Clift - http://stevenclift.com
>   Executive Director - http://E-Democracy.org
>   Twitter: http://twitter.com/democracy
>   Tel/Text: +1.612.234.7072
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 30, 2013 at 9:34 AM, Daniel Mezick <dan at newtechusa.net> wrote:
>
>>  I'm sure this is very true. In theory, speakers are not compensated for
>> travel, lodging and so on. In theory this reduces costs.
>>
>> I have had some people discuss with me this exact dynamic.
>>
>>
>> On 10/29/13 9:44 PM, Jean Richardson wrote:
>>
>>  Someone asked me a very interesting question tonight about
>> unconferences, and I thought I’d best bring it to this forum.  The question
>> was are the staging of unconferences ever motivated by the desire to make
>> money.  I’m not sure I’ve ever attended one that was—at least not a lot of
>> money as in a profit-making model.  ****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> What is the general experience of folks on this list?****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> --- Jean****
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> *[image: gate.site.jpg]*
>>
>>
>> ****
>>
>> *Jean Richardson*****
>>
>> Azure Gate Consulting****
>>
>> *~ **Repatterning the Human Experience of Work*****
>>
>> * *
>>
>> *AzureGate.net***
>>
>> (503) 788-8998****
>>
>> Jean at AzureGate.net<http://../../../../../../Documents%20and%20Settings/lisa/My%20Documents/CLIENT%20FILES/Jean%20Richardson/Jean@AzureGate.net>
>> ****
>>
>> * *
>>
>> ** **
>>
>> ** **
>>
>>
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>>
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