Going Solo

Well, there we are. Tomorrow is the big day. Tomorrow! I can hardly believe it 🙂

This has one consequence for those of you who may still be thinking of making a last-minute registration decision: we’re closing online registration tonight around 8pm. We’re really happy we managed to keep it open until now, but at some point we need to lock the numbers and print the badges.

So hurry up and get it done today. If you miss tonight’s deadline, you may still show up at the venue, but

• the walk-in price is 700 CHF
• we will ask you to pay in cash (there is a cash machine next to the hotel)
• you will have to write your name on your badge by hand
• if you are in possession of a discount code, it will not work
• of course, you’ll get all the other benefits (including goodies) like any other attendees, no fear 🙂

This is where you can register online. See you tomorrow!

If you’ve got your calendars straight, you know that Going Solo is in less than two weeks. More like 10 days!

Though we’ll like to keep registration open as long as possible:

• by tomorrow evening, it will not be possible to pay by bank transfer anymore (you’ll have to use PayPal)
• we’re planning on closing registration a little less than a week before the event, at the end of this week-end.

Register now, don’t put it off!

If you check out the Programme page, you’ll see that the agenda has been published. We may still be seeing a few minor changes (session length or place in the day), but that’s what you’ll get on the 16th! Speaker bios and session descriptions are currently being beautified.

When I came up with the pricing scheme for Going Solo, my expectation was that most people coming to the conference would take advantage of the Earlier or Early Bird prices.

My initial estimation was that 1 month of Early Bird price was more than enough to get the word out — only I left out of my calculations that I would spend three of those four weeks travelling and conferencing. As a result, I’ve hardly done any Going Solo promotion during that time, and as promotion rests largely on my shoulders, well, Going Solo hasn’t been promoted much.

So, good news for everybody: I’m extending the Early Bird deadline until the end of the month of March, which means that I get relieved of trying to cram a month’s worth of promoting the conference in the space of two days, and more people will have a chance to hear about it and register for the cheaper fee. Yay!

Opening registration is a moment of truth for an event. And Going Solo has passed the test. I’ve had mainly positive reactions on the pricing (even students telling me that with the Earlier Bird discount, it was student-affordable), and more importantly, people have actually been registering. Well, yes. That’s the whole point, isn’t it?

If you’re thinking about registering, or might know people who are, I’d like to draw your attention to the fact the 300CHF Earlier Bird discount closes at the end of this week-end. It’s still “just” 400CHF after that instead of 600CHF, but it would be a pity to miss the deadline, wouldn’t it? So, now would be a good time to blog about Going Solo and tell all your friends about it.

To be perfectly honest, the pricing structure has one main aim: encourage people to register early so that there is money available for the inevitable event expenses — and so that I know where I stand regarding the general budget. Don’t wait until the last minute! I also like the idea that I can, during a short time, offer a price which is on-a-budget-compatible (if even students are telling me it’s affordable…)

Talking of blogging, I’d like to extend many thanks to all of you who blogged about Going Solo. There are some great posts in there — and if you do blog about the conference, let me know so I can add you to this growing collection of links. You’ll be in very good company! So far, we’ve had coverage in English, French, Dutch and German — which, as you can imagine, makes me doubly happy.