Comments on: blogINDIANA 2008: A Big Success (Well, Except For That Wireless Access Problem)

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:15:07 +0000

I think most of your advice is sound (and congratulations on the well-attended sessions) but I have to whole-heartedly disagree with the point on pricing.

It could be argued that 50 bucks is too small but 500 is way too big. Economically-speaking you want to raise the price just high enough that attendance just maxes out. If there are vacancies, the price of the event might be too high. If tickets sell out, you’ve lost opportunity to maximize profit. Prices should not be treated as some arbitrary measure of quality but should be market-responsive.

More than that however, whether “corporate blogging” is in the mix or not-- regular, hobbyist, grassroots blogging is the essence of blogging. Driving out this huge part of the blogging community by pricing them out of the conversation is silly and detrimental to the knowledge sharing potential of attendees. If corporate bloggers want to pay $500 to sit and listen to other corporate bloggers talk about the marketing potential of microblogging then just hold a different conference aimed at that specific audience. If you want to hold a conference by and for Indiana Bloggers, you have to come up with a way to make your money and still include a representative mix of you audience.

As someone who blogs as a hobbyist and for a non-profit, there’s no way I could get my org to foot the bill and no way I could ever afford to do it on my own. I’d rather spend my spare time learning what I can so that my non-profit can put their money toward our mission.

By: Tom Britt

Tom Britt — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:27:11 +0000

Scott, I agree with some of your observations. I think the college connection was actually good, like most of those in attendance, I think the facilities were excellent. Much better and conducive to technology discussions than a Hampton Inn or Hilton. Wireless aside, there were computers in the elevator areas that were ‘hot’. I also thought the weekend was a hurdle, especially a Sunday. I would have done a Friday afternoon and Saturday all day sessions. I’m glad you stepped up to moderate Sunday’s panel, Saturday’s panel was not as engaging merely because no one was in “charge” of the conversation. Someone has to host. Good to meet you and great post by the way.

By: Kyle Lacy

Kyle Lacy — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:35:39 +0000

Sorry I couldn’t make your presentations Scott! I was bummed.

BlogINDIANA was AMAZING. I can’t wait until 2009.

Good review.

By: Shawn Plew

Shawn Plew — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:05:52 +0000

Thanks so much for the feedback and for being part of BlogINDIANA, Scott. We’ve already started the pre-planning stage for BlogINDIANA 2009, and we need all the constructive criticism we can get.

By: Steve Dalton

Steve Dalton — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:46:32 +0000

Thanks for the mention, and for moderating the panel on building community within our blogs.

By: Robby Slaughter

Robby Slaughter — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:32:43 +0000

Great post, Scott! I enjoyed your presentations at the conference and your observations here.

I reacted to one blogINDIANA session as well over on Turning Left Against Traffic.

All of the problems at the University are readily solved with a little political muscle, except for moving the conference to a weekday. Furthermore, though I would have paid much more to attend a big conference, the price was right for the number of attendees and the depth of the programs.

Thanks again and see you around!