Pay-as-You-Go DemoCamp?
DemoCamps and BarCamps have become all the rage within North America’s tech scene as a low-cost way for people to get together to learn about new technology and share their experiences. Usuallly, these events are free or only cost a few bucks. That said, it does cost money to put on these events for things such as space, sound equipment and projectors. David Crow is suggesting that DemoCamp Toronto move towards a pay-to-present model. Although he believes costs would be minimal, it’s an idea that does go against the grain of the whole un-conference/collaboration movement. I think David is being pragmatic given DemoCamp in Toronto has become increasingly popular to the point where holding it in an empty corner of a bar doesn’t really work any more. The question is whether charging $100 to $150 to present will everyone away. It will probably kill the university student with a good idea or the struggling entrepreneur who’s got a concept he wants to discuss, but I think there are many companies who would easily cough up $100 to get an audience with the DemoCamp crowd.
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POSTED IN: Events/Conferences
4 opinions for Pay-as-You-Go DemoCamp?
John Kopanas
Mar 7, 2007 at 6:52 pm
Wow… I am big time against this… the best presentations I have seen to date at DemoCamps have all been presented by students. Charging would kill these presentations.
Why not organize these events at schools. I dislike the coldness of conference centers anyways. I personally would love to move DemoCampMontreal to a university setting.
Just as a side note, I am the organizer of DemoCampCUSEC and MC for DemoCampMontreal1.
AhmedF
Mar 7, 2007 at 8:51 pm
So make a student discount.
These things take time and effort. They cost money too. Students $25, everyone else $100 - how hard is that?
David Crow
Mar 8, 2007 at 2:18 am
I’m not suggesting that we move to a pay-to-present model. I am suggesting the we need to rethink the how do you get to present.
If this was a “you buy the drinks and we’ll provide the people” that might be a good example for how to get people to listen to an exclusively corporate pitch. Organizations host open houses, and demonstrations. They pay for food in exchange for our attention. But this excludes individual developers, students, and other community members. Maybe a combination model, where there are sponsored spots, i.e., you can buy a spot to demo.
DemoCamp needs to be more than this. Entertain me. Educate me. Engage me.
Schools as a venue don’t always work. They are great for the someone stands at the front, everyone else listens, but they completely ignore the social component of the events and the community.
Rohan Jayasekera
Mar 8, 2007 at 11:24 am
I don’t think David was serious. As the end of his post makes clear, the kind of event that pay-to-present would result in is not the kind of event he would want to attend. Nor I.
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