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Although conferences are hard work to put on, and I certainly don't want to imply that the organizers don't deserve to be paid well, I've noticed a large rise i

Although conferences are hard work to put on, and I certainly don't want to imply that the organizers don't deserve to be paid well, I've noticed a large rise in other types of (sleazy) money-making conferences as well. I've been cold-called by several conferences before (not totally unusual, I've spoken at a few large ones, and my name's out there) where they ask me to speak, but "don't have the budget" for payment and don't reimburse or offer a stipend for travel costs. Unsurprisingly, they charge hundreds of dollars for admission, have extremely cheap venues, and a somewhat lackluster roster of gullible "expert speakers." Sure, there's a large gray area between "not a very good conference" and "scammy ripoff" but it's another thing to watch out for.

chrisseaton 10y ago
It's worth noting that many prestigious genuine conferences do not reimburse speakers and charge them for a full price ticket as well. For example, all the ACM conferences. I actually like this - everyone contributes to the costs, and speakers are just attendees like everyone else. I've seen people get extremely irate when they see this, saying it's a scam, but at many conferences speakers are just normal attendees like anyone else.
- jazzyk 10y ago
  Can't comment on the ACM conferences. But for most conferences, interesting speakers provide the whole value of the conference - it is what attracts attendees. Therefore, organizers make decent money off of speakers, so no, they are not like regular attendees.
  - chrisseaton 10y ago
    I think the organiser of the conference is providing the value to the speaker, not the other way around. They're providing a platform for the speaker to talk about their project.
  - ThrustVectoring 10y ago
    Really? My mental model is that the value of the conference lies entirely in network effects. That is, it's valuable for people deep in topic X to go to a conference for X because they expect many other people who are also deep in topic X to go to that conference. The speakers are just a means to an end, to get the initial core group interested and start the quadratic snowball going.

chrisseaton 10y ago

It's worth noting that many prestigious genuine conferences do not reimburse speakers and charge them for a full price ticket as well. For example, all the ACM conferences. I actually like this - everyone contributes to the costs, and speakers are just attendees like everyone else. I've seen people get extremely irate when they see this, saying it's a scam, but at many conferences speakers are just normal attendees like anyone else.

jazzyk 10y ago
Can't comment on the ACM conferences. But for most conferences, interesting speakers provide the whole value of the conference - it is what attracts attendees. Therefore, organizers make decent money off of speakers, so no, they are not like regular attendees.
- chrisseaton 10y ago
  I think the organiser of the conference is providing the value to the speaker, not the other way around. They're providing a platform for the speaker to talk about their project.
- ThrustVectoring 10y ago
  Really? My mental model is that the value of the conference lies entirely in network effects. That is, it's valuable for people deep in topic X to go to a conference for X because they expect many other people who are also deep in topic X to go to that conference. The speakers are just a means to an end, to get the initial core group interested and start the quadratic snowball going.