Christopher S. Penn's Awaken Your Superhero - Latest Comments in Laura Fitton is right. PodCamp was never free.

Re: Laura Fitton is right. PodCamp was never free.

~bc — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:20:10 -0000

I'm going, and I'm going to pay, but $50 feels high. I'm betting this will turn away a number of people who feel it's too high, but are too proud to apply for a scholarship.

I'll be happy if the fee means the T-Shirt isn't an enormous billboard for some random sponsor. I never wear my PC2 shirt for this very reason. Not good promotion of PodCamp.

Re: Laura Fitton is right. PodCamp was never free.

Rick Wolff — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:04:43 -0000

As a planned attendee to PodCamp NYC (at which I hope to meet you), I am going to look up who in that operation will take a little contribution to defray costs (probably Whitney Hoffman). I can't picture going to Boston, so I'll pass on them. I'm a big believer in "s|he who benefits pays."

Re: Laura Fitton is right. PodCamp was never free.

Christopher S. Penn — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:22:05 -0000

And in fact, that's what we're doing with Boston, per PodCamp rules. I just finished updating the ledger a few minutes ago.

http://www.PodCampBoston.org/ledger/

Re: Laura Fitton is right. PodCamp was never free.

ajturner — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:19:56 -0000

ArbCamp (Ann Arbor BarCamp) faced exactly this challenge. It originally caused an uproar because it required a high fee to pay for flying in a speaker and buying two of his books.

In the end, they required a nominal $15 fee for covering costs to ArbCamp and the whole event went great.

However, $50 sounds high - I would think one way to potentially justify this would be to be very open about the entire accounting of the event. Costs for venue, food, swag, etc. so that potential attendees can be aware of what they are being asked to pay for.

Re: Laura Fitton is right. PodCamp was never free.

studionashvegas — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 09:57:47 -0000

Amazing post... the guys in Nashville did such an amazing job putting it on, getting donations, food, etc. And they put on such a great event.

I do believe that time is easier to give than cash (you can't pay bills with time, unfortunately!), and that's why people volunteer more than just giving out of their pockets.

Just my thoughts.

Re: Laura Fitton is right. PodCamp was never free.

Christopher S. Penn — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 09:45:33 -0000

We actually announced a scholarship program. Get people to sponsor YOU!

http://www.podcampboston.org/2008/04/16/podcamp...

Re: Laura Fitton is right. PodCamp was never free.

Laura "Pistachio" Fitton — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 09:39:32 -0000

Thanks Chris. I saw firsthand the kind of time volunteers were pouring into the event, and it really bothered me, because that was very real lost-wage time for some of them.

So, volunteers were spending their "time-money," many attendees were spending hundreds on hotel, food, travel, etc., and yet, somehow, it was all supposed to be free.

That said, I do agree that $50 is probably more than any of us expected.

So that brings up another point. "Free" events have lots of sponsors. Why make the volunteers do all the work to bring in sponsors? If you and your friends really can't afford the $50, can you rally a sponsorship that would enable organizers to include a number of reduced-rate attendees?

Be creative, and throw the passion and energy you might think to devote to debating the point into making things happen! PodCamp costs the organizers $50 a person (more if you include volunteer time). If having it "free-er" is a priority for you, why not pony up your connections and sweat equity to crowdsource the sponsorships too?

Re: Laura Fitton is right. PodCamp was never free.

Norman Huelsman — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 22:56:30 -0000

Great point. After doing three events in Pittsburgh and working on our fourth I know what it is like to put in those hours. I honestly think that everyone organizing PodCamp Boston is doing everything in their power to make the event as successful as possible.

$50 is a big step up from free, but if it means less stress on you guys. Then that only means a better event. My guess is that you'll be sold out way in advance.