Jun
28
(2006)
Expensive Open Source Conference
Filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: opensource, oscon2006, wwdc.
I had been making a case to attend OSCON2006 this year, the logic being that it's a better fit for what I'm doing now than WWDC is. OSCON is a gathering of open source projects and programmers/developers, with tracks on various cool open source technologies, methodologies, etc… WWDC is a corporate developers conference, aimed specificially at core Apple technologies (with some obvious trickle-over into open source as well).
The sub-thought was that I could save some coin in our budget by going to an open source conference, rather than a high-end corporate one.
Then, I checked out just how much O'Reilly charges for people to attend OSCON. Holy crap. For what you get (number of days, tutorials, etc…) WWDC turns out to be cheaper!
| # of days | 3 (+ 2 days of extra tutorials) | 5 |
| Workshops/tutorials |
extra fee $395 per tutorial, with discounts for multiples |
free |
| # of sessions | 210 (15-45 minutes each) | 175+ (1 hour each) |
| Keynote | Tim O'Reilly | Steve Jobs |
| Location | Portland | San Francisco |
| Cost |
$1,245US + Tutorials + Executive Briefing (25% academic discount) |
$1,595US all events included |
I know O'Reilly needs to pay their bills, but it just strikes me as odd that a conference aimed at the Open Source Community would cost so much. They could have followed the model of NorthernVoice et. al., by having partners contribute space/resources, and charge a nominal fee to make sure everyone can attend. Have the event hosted at a university campus, and I'm sure it would cost less to put on - and might offer facilities as good or better than a conference hotel.
There are certainly more expensive conferences (JavaOne2006 would have cost over 2 grand US for the full meal deal, and Microsoft's PDC is around 2 grand as well - TED is over $4KUS). I suppose that once you add on the cost of travel, accomadations, and any non-provided food, the conference really isn't that expensive in comparison, but something just seems wrong about charging over a grand (US) to listen to 45-minute sessions by open source luminaries.
I've been to a fair number of different conferences (but never to OSCON), and WWDC has always been consistently in a league all its own. Other conferences wish they could be run as smoothly, deliver the same tasteful showmanship, be planned as completely, and generate the excitement and buzz in the presenters and attendees. I'm not sure how much of that is a result of the bells and whistles they're able to throw in by charging $1,600 per head, and how much is a direct result of the energy in the community.
As it turns out, I don't think I'll be travelling this summer anyway (don't want to be away from home too much) so the point is basically moot for me, but I'd bet there are a lot of folks that would like to go to OSCON who simply can't afford the entrance fee.
Comments
7 Responses to “Expensive Open Source Conference”
The main difference being that O'Reilly MUST make the conference pay for itself (and really, it's got to make them some money, the way that they've een doing after the tech bust), where Apple sees WWDC as a marketing expense, and can absorb loss. Also, the number of attendees at WWDC is MUCH HIGHER than it is at OSCON, so the economies of scale kick in.
Yeah - but there's profit and then there's charging 2 grand to talk about free software…
I'm sure I couldn't do a better job myself, but still…
Aren't WWDC sessions 90 minutes long (75 minutes + 15 minutes buffer)? Plus, if you're a student, you can apply for a free conference pass (Apple gave out 400 per year when I was a student). I found the one week a year that I spent there during my student years to be just as valuable as the rest of the year spent in classes. Part of reason could be that a lot of the sessions are designed so that you can attend a series of them to learn progressively more about a topic. Later sessions draw on material covered in earlier sessions. And, if you switch tracks mid-way, you can always catch up on with the DVDs or online streams.
Josh - O'Reilly totally uses the OSCON for marketing purposes as well - the next year's worth of book topics are pulled from the conference, and they get a pretty good idea of which books are going to sell. An argument could be made that they should be subsidizing any excess cost because of that…
King - I was foggy on the duration of sessions at WWDC - I think you're right about the 75 minute length. The thing that really surprised me about the OSCON schedule was just how hectic it feels. 45 minutes per session, for most of them. With several simultaneous tracks covering topics that would be interesting to many people. Not only would it be difficult to get anything meaningful from such a short session, it would be distracting having so many different tracks vying for attention…
OSCON is a quite unnessarily expensive! I don't find tons of value in attending these things other than making contacts. In terms of information, most can be found online, etc. Keith Farrazi in his book, Never Eat Alone, claims the exact same thing in that conferences are good for meeting people and making contacts, education is done in your own time. If you need more contacts in the industry then it's cool. The whole point is to socialize and you can socialize at either event. So if you think you'll find people that you want to meet at OSCMS, then go there, otherwise go to WWDC. Even badly planned conferences are cool if the right type of people are there.. my few cents.
This to me illustrates what has become increasingly obvious the past few years — open source is not the domain of geeks, open info fanatics and publicly-funded developers (I recognise there is some overlap there). It's become a big business in its own right — with players like IBM, Sun, et al making open source a cornerstone of their operations. Once you can stock a conference with people putting everything on their expense accounts, you get revenue models like this one.
A pro-level conference in a big mainstream venue is unbelievably expensive to put on… the costs mount like crazy. We can only keep NV as cheap as we do by getting a good deal (internal UBC rate) on facillities, paying nobody's expenses (including the keynotes), and scrimping on extras like meals. Last year we explored holding NV in a bigger venue like a conference centre or major hotel, and doing so would have required we jack up rates nearly tenfold in itself (once setting up a robust wireless network was factored in).
That said, from what I hear, once you get past a certain threshold for attendees (say, a thousand), I hear some of these mega-conferences can turn out to be surprisingly lucrative.
Bar napkin math for OSCON: 2000 attendees, roughly $1K per head. $2 million US. For a 3 day event. Tutorials are extra.
I agree with you Brian - if it's a Large Company Expense Account event, then it becomes a financial engine rather than a pure open source event.
I still think that there would be venues that are large enough to hold a large-scale open source conference on a campus. I'm pretty sure the U of C could handle it. I'm sure UBC could. If they have to be in Portland, they may have difficulty finding a campus large enough. But a larger centre would have resources available.
Also, there's nothing saying it has to be a HUGE event. Limit the number of in-person attendees, but open it up to online participation. Keep the costs to attend low enough that people can do it, and perhaps have it as a travelling show?
I think you guys (the NorthernVoice committee) have hit much closer to the mark, especially with the conjoined DrupalCon that was run alongside NV'06. That's the must-attend event for me in '07 - and if I can help with planning (albeit remotely from YYC) please let me know.