Re: More thoughts about conference's fees

​Hi​,

On Fri, Feb 7, 2014 at 2:31 AM, Giovanni Bajo <[email protected]> wrote:

>
> Il giorno 07/feb/2014, alle ore 02:47, Samet Atdağ <[email protected]> ha
> scritto:
>
> So there were two major costs (except my holidays) : (plane tickets +
> hotel) and registration fee. I used to live in a fairly close country to
> Italy, (Turkey) so plane tickets were around 200-300€. If we ignore daily
> expenses (like food, beers etc.) half of all costs would be the
> registration fee (which was around 300€).
>
>
> Just to set the record straight, the early bird, personal, full ticket
> (inc. training) was €240 in 2012/2013. It didn’t include access to the
> conference dinner, which was €40 (the conference dinner is included in
> EP2014). The lite ticket (without training) was €190.
>
> I talked to a lot of people in EP2012 and there were only a few people
> paying the costs. Others were supported by their companies.
>
>
> Again, just to put hard numbers out, the split between company, personal
> and student tickets in 2013 was 45%, 45%, 10% respectively (I don’t have
> the records here, so I’m quoting off the top of my mind, but it should be
> correct). I wouldn’t represent EuroPython as a conference where most people
> are being paid by their employer.
>

​Thanks for numbers. People buy personal tickets and companies pay cash to
them. This happens. So I guess number of employee-supported people might be
higher than 45%.​ I agree on that EP is not that type of conference, but if
this increasing trend in fees continues, than less and less individuals
will have opportunity of attendance.


>
> Then PSF kindly paid my costs in 2013 for PyCon. This year PyCon will be
> in Montreal, I can't attend because of dates. And I can't attend Europython
> because I'm not supported  by any company, I missed early bird tickets and
> 400€ is not cheap.
>
>
> Please notice that there is a financial aid program for EuroPython as well:
> https://ep2014.europython.eu/en/registration/financial-assistance/
>
> and you’re welcome to apply.
>

Having this opportunity always make me feel that I'm in a great community.
It would be great to be able to afford the registration fee as a full-time
employee.​



>
> I want to attend Python conferences. But if registration fees are
> expensive, it'll be like a private party, less number of people will show
> up and probably individuals not supported by any company will miss the fun.
> I'll miss the fun.
>
>
> I understand your frustration. The main issue with the price is always
> venue costs, and venues tend to get proportionally more expensive as the
> conference grows. We could probably get a very cheap venue holding max 200
> people, and sell tickets for €100 each. Would that make the conference less
> or more inclusive? Obviously, there would be wider range of people that are
> able to afford the conference, but at the same time there would be less
> tickets available, it would get sold out in less than a day, and the sale
> would sound like a gamble.
>

​I see and understand the point​. Sorry for my ignorance, do we know how
PyCon handles bigger crowds? (If I remember right, PyCon registration was
300$ last year.)


> Nonetheless, we understand that there is a strong feeling that the current
> prices are "beyond the threshold" for some people. Thanks for your honest
> feedback, it is valuable.
>

​Thanks for understanding complaining people. By the way, Giovanni, EP2012
was awesome. ​


>  --
> Giovanni Bajo
> Python Italia APS
>
> EuroPython 2014
> https://ep2014.europython.eu
>
>
​Samet Atdag​

_______________________________________________
EuroPython 2014 – Berlin, 21th–27th July
EuroPython mailing list
[email protected]
https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/europython