CT Out and About; feedback on fees

[Jim Akin]

Ed Bartlett has posted about PodCamp on his CT Out and About  channels.

He and I chatted this morning, and he suggested we might generate some draw by spotlighting participants -- not as "featured speakers," since that's not the PodCamp/unconference way -- but to show that the folks there will include some folks with real social media experience/credibility under their belts. I told him that'd be great, and he agreed to be a subject when he gets a breath in his schedule.

He and I brainstormed some other potential subjects, and he mentioned others including Ann Nyberg, Suzi Craig and Mike Lawson.

Coincidentally, right after I got off the phone with Ed, Mike IMed me to complain about the $30 fee. Recall that I pinged Mike last week to get permission to link to his PCCT 2010 blog post. Mike said then that he'd plan to attend. This morning he must've visited the website, and he says he's not interested in coming for $30, especially since so few people have signed up and it's "only" at The Grove (as opposed to 2010's more costly venue). He also implied that he thinks we'd have more registrants if the fee weren't so high.

Mike's CT live music blog has a lot of reach, and his endorsement would be good. I don't think he'll go around slamming PodCamp or anything, but if anyone asks if he's going (or why he's not), I've no doubt he'll tell them in plain terms. Mike's a straight shooter, which is great as long as his aim is the same as yours.

Any thoughts on reconsidering the fee? We have few enough registrants that refunds could be handled pretty easily. But if we're going to tweak it, we should do so ASAP, becauses  the word is really starting to spread.

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[Giulia Gouge]

I think just as long as we also include a variety of other folks and we don't see any "celebrity" status or a pissing match.  This is a wide-ranging far-reaching event based on interest and the desire to learn and share.

--
Giulia Gouge

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[Jack Nork]

hmmm those guys had no problem paying $30 to go to Podcamp Western Mass and drive all the way up there too...
We are offering the same thing they are. The fee covers our costs and and Joe and Aldon said, the fee makes people actually show up since they have made an investment.

On Thu, Apr 19, 2012 at 11:36 AM, Jim Akin <jim...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Jim Akin]

OK. I told Mike I'd pass along his feedback, and I did.

[KellyAnn Carpentier]

I agree the that the reach for PodCamp is pretty far (which is a good thing), but I have to admit that the fees are going to be tough for me. My brother absolutely loved his PC experience, was completely bummed we didn't do it last year, and has been talking about it daily since I mentioned the word "PodCamp". He's really stoked to go. I share his enthusiasm. I paid for him to go with me last time, and will be doing the same this time. I have very little extra income beyond the daily business activities. As for The Grove, I love it! The Grove is an amazing place, and wouldn't have won Small Business of the Year if it wasn't (which I think should be part of our pitch). Please don't let Mike's comment about it "only being at The Grove" let us lose our mojo. If things go well, it could be an annual event for both PodCamp and The Grove...just a thought. 

Since Mike made it a point to mention that so few people are going, should we re-consider listing the attendees? That may be hurting us because people who visit the site are thinking the same thing, but won't speak up. 

I like the idea of doing featured guests

For me personally, I have the added stress of I don't know if I will be well enough to go, and will still have to make my decision at the last minute. 

Kelly Ann Carpentier
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[KellyAnn Carpentier]

I agree with this Jack. But as many ppl know, I didn't make it to pcwm...because I couldn't afford it. But if you could afford to travel to another state for the day, then surely this should not be an issue.

[Giulia Gouge]

How about for "Featured Guests" doing something like videos as far as:

1.  What we have to offer?

2.  What we would like to learn or gain?

Staying with that unconference give/take feel...

[KellyAnn Carpentier]

Love that!!

[Jim Akin]

That sounds great, Giulia! Would you be willing to do one to get the ball rolling? :)

[Jim Akin]

Maybe Ian would be up for doing one, too?

[Aldon Hynes]

Personally, I really dislike the idea of 'featured guests'. To go
back to the #1 rule of podcamp

"All attendees must be treated equally. Everyone is a rockstar."

Featured guests appear to go against this core and very basic rule.

Another key aspect of Podcamp is
A PodCamp is a usually free BarCamp-style community UnConference for
new media enthusiasts ....

The 'usually free' doesn't hold as much any more because of issue of
lots of people signing up, and not showing up. This becomes even more
of an issue in a limited space like The Grove.

We are still over three weeks away from Podcamp. A lot of people
don't decide what they are doing that far away. I'm more concerned
about us selling out earlier than we'd like, than us not having enough
people show up. This makes the $30 fee more important, not less
important.

That said, I know what it is like to face tough times, and when $30
can be a deciding factor. Last time, we discussed doing scholarships,
and I think we might have ended up doing a few. We might want to
consider something similar this time. One idea, which may help with
people who are tight on cash, but not horribly tight on cash, is to
offer refunds, or partial refunds to people in difficult financial
situations and the end of Podcamp for those that have stayed the whole
day.

My few thoughts for right now.....

Aldon

On Thu, Apr 19, 2012 at 12:59 PM, KellyAnn Carpentier

[Aldon Hynes]

As an aside, I hope that everyone who is hoping to go to Podcamp that
is already on social media, will actively post about Podcamp in their
favorite venues. (I know I'm lagging in that right now, in part
because of a bunch of other stuff going on.... More later...)

Aldon

[KellyAnn Carpentier]

I see an evolution happening here, which I support. We have to either stay current or be left behind. The objective in putting all this effort in is for PodCamp to be a success. I can assure you other PodCamps around the country have evolved from where they began.

Not everyone is in Social Media, which was representative of attendees to our last PodCamp. I don't ever make that assumption. Many of them used PC as a learning experience, confidence boost, etc. and they only got involved in Social Media AFTER PodCamp. And I suspect the same will be true for this one. It's our time to show our respective expertise, and invite the community in to see us in action. As a positive by-product, it could be big business builders for everyone involved.

Just because you feature someone doesn't mean that everyone else is less of a "rockstar".

[Joe Cascio, Jr.]

I agree with Aldon. We won't need any "featured" anybodys to make this a success. Just keep tweeting and posting to Facebook. The word will spread. 

The biggest mistake that you can make with PodCamp is trying to make it too Hollywood. And in that respect, I'll just say, be careful around Mr. Bartlett. 

Regarding the fee: don't touch it. It's fine. The people will come. I can't imagine what Mike is complaining about. He paid the $25 last year, $5 isn't going to make that big a difference. People spend more that this on lunch every week. 

Stay the course, it'll be fine. I think Morris Partee would agree.

JoeC

[Jim Akin]

Thanks, Joe.

[Morriss Partee]

Yes, I totally concur with Joe that $30 is fine... for many reasons. Many people equate cost with value, and therefore, the more expensive something is, the better it must be. (Obviously, many recognize that that is often not the case). It's very hard for many people to believe that something that is completely free is on par with, or even better than, a workshop or conference costing a hundred bucks or even several thousand bucks. They are constantly thinking "what's the catch?" "that is way too good of a deal to possibly be true" or some such thinking. When you have to pay even a very modest amount, many of those concerns get alleviated. Instead of "this is way too good to possibly be true", many people start thinking "wow, I only paid $30; what a great deal this is; any other event where I learned this much info would cost at least $95 if not $195 or even $495"

And having the amount of money paid is "skin in the game" meaning that when it's free, when it rolls around to PodCamp day, if you did not have to pay any money in advance, you might prefer to sleep in, catch up on mowing the lawn, the kids need x, y and then z comes up, all making PodCamp seem the least important thing to do on the list of priorities. If PodCamp were completely free, you might get 150 people signed up, and then only 70 actually attend. This way, hopefully you get 80 people signed up, of which 70 attend, and then 10 people who didn't sign up ahead of time come and pay at the door. It's far better to get roughly 80 to sign up and almost all of them attend on the day of, then to have 150 sign up of which only half attend. It's such a let-down to all the hard work you organizers are putting into it.

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