Web Hosting Talk : Other Forums : HostingCon : Early Registration $135 to $395 | What do you think?

[LP-Trel]

So HostingCon 2005 is over and those of us that registered early got the whole conference for $135. Not a bad deal really.

I just looked on the HostinCon website for the '06 con pricing and boy was I floored. $395 for full conference with early registration.

I'm thinking about getting an Exhibit Hall Only ticket for $25 and calling it good.

What are your thoughts? Is the price increase justified by the change of venue or is Interjuncture just cashing in on the success of the last HostingCon?

[Jamie Harrop]

I couldn't find this information on the Website, Zach, could you point me to it?

As per your post, to be honest, at the moment I'm not really sure, as I'm not all too sure what the price of $395 includes. Hopefully once I find the information I'll have a few more thoughts.

[the_pm]

Exactly. It depends on what's included in the price, what types of breakout sessions are being offered, how long the conference will last, what's being given away, etc.

Generally speaking, $395 for a large, organized conference regarding most professions is peanuts!

[LP-Trel]

Originally posted by Equentity - Jamie
I couldn't find this information on the Website, Zach, could you point me to it?

As per your post, to be honest, at the moment I'm not really sure, as I'm not all too sure what the price of $395 includes. Hopefully once I find the information I'll have a few more thoughts.

http://www.hostingcon.com/2006/attend/register/

Originally posted by the_pm
Exactly. It depends on what's included in the price, what types of breakout sessions are being offered, how long the conference will last, what's being given away, etc.

Generally speaking, $395 for a large, organized conference regarding most professions is peanuts!

Hrm.. for now I suppose we'll have to assume it'll be exactly the same just in Las Vegas instead of Chicago.

[sirtwist]

Please keep in mind that HostingCon 2005 was a two day conference, where HostingCon 2006 will be held over 3 days. Full Conference registrations will get breakfast and lunch all three days vs. only two days in 2005.

And honestly, we kept the prices for HostingCon 2005 just above our cost to take price out of the equation when people were deciding whether to attend a first year conference from a relatively unknown company. However, we are a for-profit company and do need to make some money too.

[sirtwist]

Originally posted by LP-Trel
Hrm.. for now I suppose we'll have to assume it'll be exactly the same just in Las Vegas instead of Chicago.

No, it will not be the same. What use would it be us putting on the exact same program as we did last year?

Our goal is to have our conference program reflect the current state of the hosting industry as well as the future direction of the industry. That necessitates us changing the program each year, unless the industry stagnates and there's nothing new to talk about. But I venture to say there'd be no need to have a conference then.

[sirtwist]

Oh, and please keep in mind that the price for HostingCon 2005 was not $135, it was $200.

Some people were given a discounted price of $135 as a thank you for pre-registering and giving us an idea of the interest level. Various people also obtained discount codes which got them a registration price of $150. But the actual registration price was $200.

There's no reason to suspect that there won't be some discount codes available again this year.

[LP-Trel]

Originally posted by sirtwist
Please keep in mind that HostingCon 2005 was a two day conference, where HostingCon 2006 will be held over 3 days. Full Conference registrations will get breakfast and lunch all three days vs. only two days in 2005.

And honestly, we kept the prices for HostingCon 2005 just above our cost to take price out of the equation when people were deciding whether to attend a first year conference from a relatively unknown company. However, we are a for-profit company and do need to make some money too.

Where to start.. where to start..

A 2 day conference with sessions and everything for $135 vs a 3 day conference for $395. (I'll get to why I use these numbers later on.)

Now as for lunch.. I went go get lunch each day due to the low quality offerings on the menu. On the upside the conference did have good coffee downstairs which was very much appreciated.

This is a direct quote from sirtwist's post about lunch at the HostingCon 2005:

June 6:

Breakfast -

Dry Cereal Bar with Strawberries, Whole Bananas, 2% and Skim Milk

Fruit Breads and Muffins With Preserves and Butter

Freshly Brewed Regular and Decaffeinated Starbucks Coffee and Selection of Teas

Chilled Orange Juice

Lunch -

Turkey Croissant

Fruit Salad

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie

June 7:

Breakfast -

Cinnamon-Raisin, Sesame, Plain and Whole Wheat Bagels
Regular and Light Cream Cheese

Fruit Breads and Muffins With Preserves and Butter

Freshly Brewed Regular and Decaffeinated Starbucks Coffee and Selection of Teas

Chilled Orange Juice

Lunch -

Meat Lasagna

Vegetable Medley

Assorted Rolls and Butter

Cream filled Cannoli

As for being a for profit company most are but, as I see it Interjuncture now has a moral responsibility to the Webhosting industry to produce a high quality conference that meets the needs of the entire spectrum of suppliers and customers from small starting resellers to tier 1 ISPs.

At the $395 conference rate many smaller resellers may have to opt for the the Exhibit Hall Only tickets because the conference (not including dinner, travel, or anything else of the sort) is nearly their entire operating budget for the year.

Surely you must agree it would be better to pass the bulk of the expenses to the exhibitors who have more money to spend and have more to gain (they are selling their products or services at their booths).

--------------------------

Originally posted by sirtwist
No, it will not be the same. What use would it be us putting on the exact same program as we did last year?

Our goal is to have our conference program reflect the current state of the hosting industry as well as the future direction of the industry. That necessitates us changing the program each year, unless the industry stagnates and there's nothing new to talk about. But I venture to say there'd be no need to have a conference then.

The idea is that the format will be the same with the exhibit hall, conference lectures, vendor sessions, and keynote speeches. So far we havn't seen much in the way of new events to justify the increase in price.

--------------------------------

Originally posted by sirtwist
Oh, and please keep in mind that the price for HostingCon 2005 was not $135, it was $200.

Some people were given a discounted price of $135 as a thank you for pre-registering and giving us an idea of the interest level. Various people also obtained discount codes which got them a registration price of $150. But the actual registration price was $200.

There's no reason to suspect that there won't be some discount codes available again this year.

The price charged to my Mastercard was $135 so that is what the price was for me and many others. That price was for full conference registration. (Just in case anyone reading didn't attend last year.)

At this point there is no reason to suspect there will be some discount codes available again this year either so I have used the $395 pricing until we see offered discount codes.

[sirtwist]

Originally posted by LP-Trel
Where to start.. where to start..

A 2 day conference with sessions and everything for $135 vs a 3 day conference for $395. (I'll get to why I use these numbers later on.)

Now as for lunch.. I went go get lunch each day due to the low quality offerings on the menu. On the upside the conference did have good coffee downstairs which was very much appreciated.

I ate lunch both days and would not have labelled the food "low quality" ... was it what we would have liked? Not exactly. Unfortunately, I don't think most people appreciate what it costs to have food served at events like this. What we would have liked to do was not possible with the budget we had available. While we have not finished the plans for the lunch and breakfast menus, I believe we're planning buffet-style instead of sit down for this year.

As for being a for profit company most are but, as I see it Interjuncture now has a moral responsibility to the Webhosting industry to produce a high quality conference that meets the needs of the entire spectrum of suppliers and customers from small starting resellers to tier 1 ISPs.

At the $395 conference rate many smaller resellers may have to opt for the the Exhibit Hall Only tickets because the conference (not including dinner, travel, or anything else of the sort) is nearly their entire operating budget for the year.

I'll be honest with you, then. If $395 is a hosts entire operating budget for the year, then they don't have the money to be spending on going to conferences. In order to produce a professional trade show and conference, it costs quite a bit of money. That means that we need to charge attendees an appropriate amount of money to cover our expenses plus provide some level of profit to our company.

Surely you must agree it would be better to pass the bulk of the expenses to the exhibitors who have more money to spend and have more to gain (they are selling their products or services at their booths).

Our sponsors and exhibitors already foot the bill for the majority of the costs associated with the conference. The amount of total revenue generated from Conference registrations is fairly small when compaired to the revenue generated from exhibit booths and sponsorships. We think we have a pretty good balance of where we spread the costs.

The idea is that the format will be the same with the exhibit hall, conference lectures, vendor sessions, and keynote speeches. So far we havn't seen much in the way of new events to justify the increase in price.

I'm not quite sure why you feel that there needs to be "new events" to justify an increase in price. As I said, the major reason for the increase in price is because this is where the price should have been in the first place. As someone else said in the thread, $395 is extremely inexpensive for a full conference program. Most other conferences are $700-$2000, depending on the length of the program.

The price charged to my Mastercard was $135 so that is what the price was for me and many others. That price was for full conference registration. (Just in case anyone reading didn't attend last year.)

77% of our attendees last year paid the full conference registration price of $200 and 2% paid $295 on site. That leaves only 21% using any type of discount code or discount because of pre-registration.

At this point there is no reason to suspect there will be some discount codes available again this year either so I have used the $395 pricing until we see offered discount codes.

I can guarantee there will be some discount codes offered. We're still finalizing the details of that, but I know we'll have some available.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that yes, for a small portion of last year's attendees, the price jump will be a bit steep ($135 -> $395). But the majority of people that attended last year paid $200 or more, so the price jump is not really as steep. And when you compare the price of $395 against other conferences in the IT industry, it's still downright inexpensive.

[LP-Trel]

I ate lunch both days and would not have labelled the food "low quality" ... was it what we would have liked? Not exactly. Unfortunately, I don't think most people appreciate what it costs to have food served at events like this. What we would have liked to do was not possible with the budget we had available. While we have not finished the plans for the lunch and breakfast menus, I believe we're planning buffet-style instead of sit down for this year.

I didn't mean for that to sound as if the food itself was bad. Just the menu choices left much to be desired. Charging more for better menu choices isn't a bad idea and could definitely justify a small price increase.

I'll be honest with you, then. If $395 is a hosts entire operating budget for the year, then they don't have the money to be spending on going to conferences. In order to produce a professional trade show and conference, it costs quite a bit of money. That means that we need to charge attendees an appropriate amount of money to cover our expenses plus provide some level of profit to our company.

Many of the lectures seemed to be leaning towards education for startups or growing providers. Has that theme changed?

Also I must add that we all start somewhere.

I'm not quite sure why you feel that there needs to be "new events" to justify an increase in price. As I said, the major reason for the increase in price is because this is where the price should have been in the first place. As someone else said in the thread, $395 is extremely inexpensive for a full conference program. Most other conferences are $700-$2000, depending on the length of the program.

Many of us have no desire to attend conferences that cost $700 - $2000. They don't target our business specifically and aren't well suited to gaining customers.

I feel the price increase must be justified because, I am trying to justify the ticket just as much as everyone else will be when it comes time to purchase them. I've talked to a few company owners that weren't very happy about the increases but, have elected not to chime in until they see the discounts and events to get a more complete idea of the conference.

By your numbers what does someone get this year that they didn't last year for a $195 increase? (Using the $200 and $395 figures.)

I can guarantee there will be some discount codes offered. We're still finalizing the details of that, but I know we'll have some available.

With your word on it we can use some discount rates in calculations vs the $135 but, it remains to be seen what the discount rates might be.

Assuming $95 off the price of the ticket this year what does someone get for a $165 dollar price increase?

[the_pm]

Beyond all of this, it's a matter of simple economics. Will a $395 investment (plus travel and misc. expenses) return a profit to you in a reasonable amount of time as a result of the educational opportunities and networking with other professionals that takes place? I know it's difficult to quantify the value of education and networking, but there's an instinctive element to this equation that has to lead me to believe the investment being asked here is very reasonable given the opportunities that are being presented. It's still the responsibility of the attendees to take advantage of those opportunities, but personally, from my standpoint, this is a very easy investment to justify. I fully intend to be there, and I'd probably consider going even if it was twice the cost, not because I can afford a lot of expense right now, but because given the nature of the conference, I can't afford to pass up on all the opportunities that are being laid out for me and my colleagues.

So, for me, its not a matter of what do you get for your extra $200. It's a matter of what do you lose if you skip out just because it's $200 more than last time.

[sirtwist]

Originally posted by LP-Trel
I didn't mean for that to sound as if the food itself was bad. Just the menu choices left much to be desired. Charging more for better menu choices isn't a bad idea and could definitely justify a small price increase.

The combination of a bit better food choices and food for 3 days vs. 2 days is part of the price increase.

Many of the lectures seemed to be leaning towards education for startups or growing providers. Has that theme changed?

Also I must add that we all start somewhere.

We're just getting started defining our conference program, but my goal is to encompass a broader definition of "hosting", including email hosting and application hosting. Our thinking is that a lot of small businesses have taken the leap to "get on the internet" and are now wondering what they can do there.

Many of us have no desire to attend conferences that cost $700 - $2000. They don't target our business specifically and aren't well suited to gaining customers.

I understand that. But I was trying to illustrate that most other conferences, specifically ones that are very targetted, are usually very expensive, because they CAN be. If you want to attend a conference about a specific topic, you're usually limited in your choices to one or two events. We have that same advantage, but we recognize that our attendees do not want to pay that much. So we've kept the price as low as we can that still allows us to provide the environment we're looking for as well as to allow us to take some kind of profit from the event.

Here's my analogy: It's like the discussions about hosting providers keeping their prices too low and not being able to provide level of service that's expected. They also have a hard time making a profit that makes it worthwhile for the priciples to continue on with the business. Many customers will say that they won't go with a "value" host because they want to make sure their host is still in business in two years and has the finances to grow with their needs.

I feel the price increase must be justified because, I am trying to justify the ticket just as much as everyone else will be when it comes time to purchase them. I've talked to a few company owners that weren't very happy about the increases but, have elected not to chime in until they see the discounts and events to get a more complete idea of the conference.

Let's put it this way ... if we provided the same type of food as we did last year but for three days this year due to the extended program, and we offered $135 full conference registrations again, we would lose money on every single attendee just from the food cost alone. That doesn't take into account the close to $40,000 in A/V costs for the keynotes and sessions or any of the various other costs that are spread across both the conference registration fees and the exhibitor and sponsorship fees.

By your numbers what does someone get this year that they didn't last year for a $195 increase? (Using the $200 and $395 figures.)

Again, meals for 3 days instead of 2. Additional content as we have 3 days of conference sessions instead of 2. A conference program that doesn't force them to run to the exhibit hall for 15 minutes and then scramble to get to the next conference (Most of the conference program and exhibit hall hours don't overlap).

I can't give you specifics on the differences in the programs themselves, as we're just getting started working on the program.

With your word on it we can use some discount rates in calculations vs the $135 but, it remains to be seen what the discount rates might be.

Assuming $95 off the price of the ticket this year what does someone get for a $165 dollar price increase?

While you personally could use the $135 price figure in comparisons, that price really does not apply to the majority of our attendees. Most of them paid $200, not $135.

Even so, again, see my comments above about the fact that the program will be longer so we'll have more sessions in which to explore various aspects of the hosting industry. We're going to be working with an excellent Advisory Board which will help shape the program from a number of different perspectives.

Part of the price increase is because of additional costs due to the longer program. Part of it is because the price for last year was intentionally extremely low and we need to adjust the price to be more realistic.

[Eleven2 Hosting]

This price is quite steep.

[sirtwist]

Originally posted by Rodney-E2
This price is quite steep.

As compared to what? It's actually quite inexpensive compared to most conferences.

As everyone who attended knows, we sent out surveys following HostingCon 2005 to see what our attendees thought. And while we received a lot of really good and useful feedback about the conference itself (which we will of course be taking to heart in this year's planning!), we also received a lot of feedback about the location and facilities.

Most people seemed to agree that they were not satisfied with the hotel or the location. Since we are committed to putting on the best possible conference for our attendees, we took those comments to heart. We set out to provide facilities and a location that people would be happy with and would enjoy.

The downside to doing so is that it costs more to put on a conference at facilities that are top notch. The addition of a third day to the program (due to the feedback I mentioned above about the scheduling being too tight and not enough time to go to the exhibit hall without missing conference sessions) also added costs, as we have to rent the facilities and equipment, pay for staff, and provide meals for the conference attendees for an additional day.

We also offer an Exhibits Only pass, which gets you access to the exhibit hall, every keynote address, and all the vendor sponsored educational sessions for only $25. You don't get access to the conference sessions or the breakfasts and lunches, but you do get to come out to the conference, meet with vendors, network, attend the parties, etc. This is another option for those that cannot afford or do not want to attend the full conference program.

A new option this year will be a Single Day Conference pass, which gives you everything in the Exhbits Only pass plus gives you access to all the conference sessions and the breakfast and lunch on a single day of the conference. This is a less expensive option, and while not giving you access to every conference session, will give you access to a full day's worth.

We've tried to give enough options that people on varying types of budget will be able to attend. As I said above there will also be discount codes available to bring the price down somewhat for those registering early, too.

[Jay Suds]

A few comments:

* I don't think $395 is overpriced by any means. I didn't go to hostingcon 05, but let's be real ... $135 or $200 even is dirt cheap for a conference. After the cost of travel, lodging, and outings the $195 difference really isn't much.

* Will the conference feature any sort of "official" social event, with food, open bar, etc?

* I hope the morning sessions won't start too early. This is my biggest complaint about most conferences ... they just start too darn early in the morning, particularly considering that the most of the business benefits come from the social networking that occurs at the end of the day.

* When will exhibitor pricing be available?