Subject:
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Re: BrickWorld 2007 - who's getting paid?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.events.brickworld
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Date:
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Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:18:05 GMT
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In lugnet.events.brickworld, Marc Nelson Jr. wrote:
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Since I just asked this
question about BrickFest PDX 2007...
Can the organizers of BrickWorld 2007 tell us who (if anyone) will be
profiting from this year’s event?
I noticed this statement
from a few months back:
None of the event or theme coordinators are making any money from
BrickWorld. All funds that are collected, both registration fees and public
admission, will go toward making BrickWorld a better event.
Is this statement still operative? If registration fees/public admission
exceed expenses, where will the money go?
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I know I’m a little late to this discussion, but here I am. :)
It’s funny to be reading this discussion this week, as I was just discussing the
same thread about a different subject last week. I’ve been doing quite a bit of
conference speaking lately (especially last week), and the question of how
people are compensated came up a number of times.
As many of you likely know, conferences can range from free
type events to expensive events charging thousands of dollars of entrance fees, run by
professional event management companies. (Ted has a 2008 discounted rate of
$2,000!)
Each event handles the payment of speakers differently. BarCamps are more like a
LEGO Train Club - people getting together as much for the social activity as the
learning activity. When people “speak”, it’s about the goodness of sharing and
payment doesn’t make any sense. There is no profit generated, really, based on
the way the event is structured to be small and low-key and free.
But when you start looking at conferences where the entrance fee might be $1500,
the dynamic changes. Some people volunteer to speak because it helps them build
their own resume, while others have a great resume and simply need to be
compensated for their time. While I used to accept most speaking engagements
because they helped get attention for my new business, for instance, I’m
starting to pull back and ask for compensation for my time. If the event isn’t
willing to at least cover my costs for coming out, then I have to decide whether
it’s interesting enough to pitch in. Sometimes I’m excited about helping the
event grow, sometimes not.
Motivation and larger context of the event plays a HUGE role in the
determination of whether I’m going to volunteer my own funds and time.
Last week I spoke at SXSW - a great event, nobody gets paid (as far as I know),
it’s all volunteer. Registration cost is low, venue costs are high. I like the
vibe of the conference, and I like the direction it’s going. I like sharing a
stage with industry rockstars. They pump any leftover money from one year into
making the next year an even better event. I happily volunteer to speak without
any cost coverage.
Contrast that with the other event I spoke at last week - Community 2.0. This
was an event created by people who clearly loved community and had a desire to
have a great event. At the same time, it was also managed by a professional
event company, brought in sponsors to help offset costs, and charged quite of
bit of money for entrance. There was clearly a profit made, which is fine by me;
I’m all for people getting compensated for their time. But I have no idea what
happens to the leftover money, but I’m pretty sure that it gets distributed to
the event company and then to their own employees.
Since I wanted to help out this first event, and since I’m still building my
resume, so to speak, I didn’t ask for a speaker’s fee. I did, however, receive
compensation for part of my travel. This seemed completely fair, considering
that my speaking (along with a number of other people) is directly tied to why
people showed up at the event in the first place. Without speakers, the event
doesn’t happen. Sharing at least some of the profits with the very people that
make the event possible seems completely reasonable.
(On a related side note, the other issue that comes up with conference speaking
is the differences in payment - some speakers get a decent sized fee, while
others get nothing. Not saying this is bad, necessarily, but without
transparency, it tends to create negativity around the event)
The discussion being had here is an important one. Transparency is a crucial
piece of future success of AFOL-powered events. If an event planner says “It’s
none of your business where our money goes”, then that’s completely within their
rights. They just have to expect that this will turn some people off of spending
their own time, money, vacation/sick days to help out. Many people are willing
to take time off work, for instance, to volunteer at the Red Cross, but I doubt
many would volunteer to bag at Whole Foods.
As a community, we also have to respect each person’s decision to not
participate in events they don’t like, as much as we respect an event
organizer’s desire to share or not share their financials. Each person has to
make a decision about where to best spend their time, and only the individual
knows what’s best on that front.
This discussion is great to be having though. It’s a sign of a growing
community. If you look back 7 or 8 years, we would have laughed at the idea that
you COULD make money off of LEGO events!
/rambling off
Jake
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Jake McKee
Private Citizen
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: BrickWorld 2007 - who's getting paid?
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| (...) To be clear, I was commenting generally on the discussion, not really in reference specifically to any details of this incident. I found the parallels between this current discussion and the other discussions I was having with separate (...) (18 years ago, 21-Mar-07, to lugnet.events.brickworld)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | BrickWorld 2007 - who's getting paid?
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| Since I just (URL) asked this question> about BrickFest PDX 2007... Can the organizers of BrickWorld 2007 tell us who (if anyone) will be profiting from this year’s event? I noticed (URL) this statement> from a few months back: None of the event or (...) (18 years ago, 15-Mar-07, to lugnet.events.brickworld, FTX)
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