Comments on: Adam Curry to Keynote Gnomedex

By: Chris Pirillo

Chris Pirillo — Tue, 29 Mar 2005 00:17:29 +0000

Power strips, seating, breakfast, lunch, snacks…? Trust me, it’s not as easy or cheap as it sounds.

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 28 Mar 2005 18:02:28 +0000

The thing is, every review I’ve ever read of Gnomedex (or any other such conference) says that the biggest value of the conference happens in the hallways and lounges - networking in the people sense of the word. That can be done just as well at a cheap venue; consider Northern Voice. $20 CDN for one day. Great venue, great speakers. Granted, it was only one day, but when a conference is being put on without an eye towards profit or brand building / brand recongnition, it appears obvious that it can be done at a much more reasonable rate than the “industry standard”. If these kind of prices are “industry standard”, then there’s no doubt why the bubble burst, or that it will again.

By: Allan

Allan — Mon, 28 Mar 2005 16:21:10 +0000

Unfortunately Chris is right. For some perspective, consider Microsoft’s MEDC 2005 (Mobile and Embedded DevCon, in Las Vegas this coming May) - According to this post on the Windows Mobile Team Blog, the “super early bird price” was $795.

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 20:10:23 +0000

Well, that’s what I get for posting at 2am. But seriously, it doesn’t look like the registration fee includes a hotel room… add that on and it gets ridiculously expensive. Maybe I’m missing that though?

By: Chris Pirillo

Chris Pirillo — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 19:59:35 +0000

First, that’d be $349, as I’ve offered a discount to Northern Voice attendees. Second, if you can find another way to provide what we’re providing for everybody for a lower cost, I’d welcome it.