Re: [guadec-list] Terms and conditions for registration

[Philip Van Hoof <pvanhoof gnome org>]

On Sat, 2010-04-10 at 10:03 +0200, Pascal Terjan wrote:
> On Sat, Apr 10, 2010 at 09:41, Dave Neary <dneary gnome org> wrote:
> > Anyway - in the past, GUADEC has had a registration fee - it's been €30,
> > £30, and €50. Last year, there wasn't one, but there were no free
> > conference Tees either. So if you're saying that GUADEC should work the
> > way it has in the past, I answer "Yes, absolutely, with a registration fee".
> 
> Yes a registration fee is fine, 30€ or 50€ would be fine (especially
> with 50% discount for fondation members like in the past, which is a
> nice way to thank for their contributions), 100 is too much for many
> people and I don't plan to pay this.

I share that sentiment with you, Pascal.

€30 goes unnoticed for most people. That's about the amount you pay in a
big city for a 3D movie at a cinema. That's fine. €50 is about the price
for a one-band rock concert. €100 and €200 go in the direction of what
you pay for a larger rock festival with three podiums plus camping and
parking ticket. €200 is almost the price for a hotel for a week. So it
is a lot indeed.

I wouldn't say that the GUADEC conference offers as much services as
such a big rock festival does. Far from it.

And I don't think anybody is asking for GUADEC to become a conference
which is so professionally organized that it would be worth a €200 fee.

That would destroy the spirit of it and would turn it into a LinuxTag or
indeed, a OSCON, I think. GUADEC is much more like a FOSDEM, in my
opinion: it's a developer's meeting. That customers and potential
employers happen to be there, is because those two groups are attracted
by the presence of good developers. Not by a potential sale or a
business deal. There are other conferences for business deals and sales.

> If I attend I'll probably go for the 0 and make a donation of 30 or
> 40€ and from what I heard I'm not the only one thinking this.
> 
> Being employed does not mean that you have 100 euros left at the end
> of the month and attending GUADEC is already a big expense without
> registration fee.

Being self employed or being one of those small companies that employs a
(few) handful(s) of guys also doesn't mean that you can throw the €100s
around as if it's worth nothing.

When I look around in GNOME's community are a lot of the 20+yr old GNOME
developers either employed, employer or freelance at these small and
middle sized companies.

Most are doing fine financially. That doesn't mean they are careless
about money.

> In my opinion the issue is not to have a registration fee but the amount.

Indeed, a registration fee itself isn't the big problem. But the concept
that some sort of high elite price (because that is what €100 and €200
still is; the European currency hasn't inflated that much yet) must be
paid "just because <insert a bunch of false-reasons>", is wrong.

> If I remember correctly in Istanbul it was 15€ for students, 45€ for
> normal and 200 for professional with 50% for members.

Something like that, yes. And this was fine. I didn't care about those
prices entrance fees. Especially because I wanted "to help the students
with their travel expenses".

I think it was commonly understood by all attendees that this money was
used solely for the purpose of inviting students who otherwise can't
afford to come to GUADEC.

Not to pay for the conference itself. Sponsorship is supposed to do
that.

> I think this was a nice scheme and would still be a small increase,
> but jumping from 22.5 to 100 is a huge difference which will make many
> people select the 0 I'm afraid.

Indeed. Even if they get a t-shirt or whatever, people wont pay that
amount (and they shouldn't have to, it's too much).

> If the 50% discount for foundation members was back, the amount would
> be more reasonable (50€ is something which many people would accept to
> pay) but I did not see it mentioned anywhere in this discussion while
> it was in my opinion the usual way to "thank for the code".


Cheers,


Philip

-- 


Philip Van Hoof
freelance software developer
Codeminded BVBA - http://codeminded.be