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I've run a couple of Community security conferences and whilst some of what's said here chimes with my experiences, other bits not so much. On sponsors, I don'

I've run a couple of Community security conferences and whilst some of what's said here chimes with my experiences, other bits not so much. On sponsors, I don't think there's always that much influence from sponsors, typically it's an exchange of money for booth presence, mentions during the conference, and some social media marketing, there was no control over content from them. Costs are very geography specific. For example in the UK it was possible to put on a conference for 100-200 people in a decent venue for ~ £20-25k. This was not for profit obviously, but we kept ticket prices low and relied on sponsorship money to break even. I'd agree that the first year is the hardest, we had to pay deposits out of personal cash while working on sponorships, so that's tricky unless you've got a source of funds. After a while it gets easier with sponsors as you're a known quantity and hopefully you have some cash from previous runs available for next year's deposits. The most expensive items are anything that's per attendee. Even a small expense (like snacks or lunch) gets expensive once you multiply by 200! The speaker contract thing was also odd to me, I've spoken at > 20 conferences and I've never been asked to sign a contract (also never been paid to speak but that's the reality of most tech conferences)

_notreallyme_ 3y ago
From my experience, there are conferences where sponsors have a lot of influence on the content. But these conferences are mostly commercial-oriented: talks presenting products rather than talks about the state of the art in the domain. For the venue, it is possible to get it almost for free. Partnering with a (private) engineering school did work several times for me. It's free advertising for them and they are already equipped for such events. Another way is a partnership with an artist collective, provided that their situation with the municipality is well defined.
michaelt 3y ago
> On sponsors, I don't think there's always that much influence from sponsors, I assume this varies with the topic, and sponsorship level. A sponsor paying £2000 for a booth won't expect much beyond the booth. But if you're running an AWS User Group conference, and Amazon is providing a venue that would otherwise cost a five-figure sum? And given the topic, there probably isn't anyone else likely to sponsor you at that level? You might want to make sure they're happy so they sponsor next year as well.
abnercoimbre 3y ago
Author here. It's a simple agreement that makes the most sense when I pay you. My upcoming conference [0] states that travel is covered and they're paid (imo handsomely) on top. Why shouldn't they sign a contract in this case? If you fail to attend I want my money back! [0] https://handmadecities.com/boston https://handmadecities.com/boston
- ghaff 3y ago
  Sure. If someone's being paid have a simple contract. As the parent said, that's not the norm at tech conferences unless it's an analyst or some name-brand keynoter from outside the industry.
  - abnercoimbre 3y ago
    Yeah that's interesting. I don't have the means to universally pay ALL contributors, or to pay them the same amount, but I make an honest assessment of the kind of contribution and (if it's within budget) compensate accordingly. It's curious that even corporate-backed events are not doing this? It's no wonder people are shocked by my remarks about contracts.
    - ghaff 3y ago
      Corporate events may pay some outside headliner who they think will attract people and maybe they'll cover some travel funding for e.g. some student or community attendees they want to highlight. But, in general, company-run events, foundations like the Linux Foundation, etc. don't pay speakers or cover costs. (A free conference pass for speakers, media, analysts is pretty standard.) Aside from a requested talk at a sales conference once for a client, I've never once been paid for I'm sure well over a hundred conference talks. I have had conferences wanting a CYA signature that says they can use my image/recordings/etc. for marketing purposes and so forth but even that is usually just covered by some conditions you have to agree to when you register.

_notreallyme_ 3y ago

From my experience, there are conferences where sponsors have a lot of influence on the content. But these conferences are mostly commercial-oriented: talks presenting products rather than talks about the state of the art in the domain. For the venue, it is possible to get it almost for free. Partnering with a (private) engineering school did work several times for me. It's free advertising for them and they are already equipped for such events. Another way is a partnership with an artist collective, provided that their situation with the municipality is well defined.

michaelt 3y ago

> On sponsors, I don't think there's always that much influence from sponsors, I assume this varies with the topic, and sponsorship level. A sponsor paying £2000 for a booth won't expect much beyond the booth. But if you're running an AWS User Group conference, and Amazon is providing a venue that would otherwise cost a five-figure sum? And given the topic, there probably isn't anyone else likely to sponsor you at that level? You might want to make sure they're happy so they sponsor next year as well.

abnercoimbre 3y ago

Author here. It's a simple agreement that makes the most sense when I pay you. My upcoming conference [0] states that travel is covered and they're paid (imo handsomely) on top. Why shouldn't they sign a contract in this case? If you fail to attend I want my money back! [0] https://handmadecities.com/boston https://handmadecities.com/boston

ghaff 3y ago
Sure. If someone's being paid have a simple contract. As the parent said, that's not the norm at tech conferences unless it's an analyst or some name-brand keynoter from outside the industry.
- abnercoimbre 3y ago
  Yeah that's interesting. I don't have the means to universally pay ALL contributors, or to pay them the same amount, but I make an honest assessment of the kind of contribution and (if it's within budget) compensate accordingly. It's curious that even corporate-backed events are not doing this? It's no wonder people are shocked by my remarks about contracts.
  - ghaff 3y ago
    Corporate events may pay some outside headliner who they think will attract people and maybe they'll cover some travel funding for e.g. some student or community attendees they want to highlight. But, in general, company-run events, foundations like the Linux Foundation, etc. don't pay speakers or cover costs. (A free conference pass for speakers, media, analysts is pretty standard.) Aside from a requested talk at a sales conference once for a client, I've never once been paid for I'm sure well over a hundred conference talks. I have had conferences wanting a CYA signature that says they can use my image/recordings/etc. for marketing purposes and so forth but even that is usually just covered by some conditions you have to agree to when you register.