Going Solo

Update: the link “sign up right away” was wrong and gave the impression registration was not open — actually, I messed up and posted the link to the Lausanne ’08 event registration (which is, obviously, closed). It’s corrected now, and you can really sign up right away 🙂

It took some time, but Going Solo Leeds (Sept. 12th) registration is open. Hop along to our partner Expectnation‘s site to sign up right away.

Here’s the deal:

• Early Bird (first 25 tickets — hurry up some have already been sold!): £150
• Normal: £220
• Late Bird (will kick in approx. 10 days before the conference date): £300
• On-site (if you really want to play it ‘last minute’): £350

A comment or two:

• for the Lausanne event, the first 25 tickets were sold in under a week
• there will be advanced seminars (3h workshops) on the Saturday morning — more about them shortly, but know already that if you have already registered for the main conference when they are announced, you will get a special discount on them (they will be open only to conference participants)
• Jet2.com is a low-cost company that flies to Leeds-Bradford International airport
• Leeds is 2.5h from London by train (book early, and you could pay as little as £22.50 return)
• the programme for the main conference is going to be very similar to the Lausanne one (don’t change a winning team) — videos are online for you to have a preview if you wish
• the Going Solo team is pretty excited about all this!

Looking forward to seeing you in Leeds 🙂

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!

We’re lucky to be holding Going Solo at a venue (Hotel Albatros-Navigation) where the staff and owners are not only friendly and helpful, but also flexible enough to allow us to leave registration open this week. Yay!

That’s pretty cool, because we know that in the world of mobile phones and endless choices, many people make last-minute decisions about their plans. And it’s not just whether or not to attend a tech/business conference: I know a couple of people who organize completely different kinds of events, and who tell me that last-minute sign-ups is a general (and recent) trend.

This poses a certain number of problems for event organizers, of course (when the number of attendees doubles in the week precending your event, or when you have 30 people instead of the 600 expected three weeks before) — but that’s another issue. (Hmm… maybe another event idea cooking…)

I’m happy that we’re able to keep this option open for you. Don’t use it as an excuse to put things off until the very last day, though: you won’t get a pretty printed badge if you sign up too late, and there is an extra fee if you pay cash at the door.

So, now’s the time. Tell your friends too.

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.

I’ve been drowning in conference-land (BlogTalk, SXSW) for the last 10 days or so — before I have more interesting things to say, though (like a more precise outline of the programme, and announcing some sponsors), let me remind you that the deadline for early bird registration (register here) ends in a few days: March 16th.

If you haven’t yet blogged about Going Solo, told all your friends about it, added a badge to your site, now would be a good time to do it!

I’m quite a fan of Seesmic, though I use it irregularly. Yesterday, I gave a little news about Going Solo in video format, so I thought I’d share it with you here too.

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.480716&w=450&h=380&]

Many of you have taken advantage of the special Earlier Bird price of 300 CHF (a quarter of the available tickets sold in under a week!) — but if you missed it, don’t fear. You still have approximately 3 weeks to take advantage of the Early Bird price of 400 CHF (instead of 600).

You’ve understood: this is a devious ploy to entice you to register before the “last minute”. It’s important for the organisation of the conference to have as many people register as soon as possible, because it means we know how much revenue to expect from the ticket sales (it also allows to sort out things like catering comfortably in advance, too).

So, don’t wait (because once it’s gone, it’s gone): register before March 16th to get 200CHF off your regular 600CHF price!

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.

This is a pretty exciting (and scary) moment for me: registration is now officially open! You can head directly over to the registration page proper over at our partner Expectnation‘s.

I’d like to give a particular shout-out to Edd Dumbill, one of the pairs of hands behind Expectnation, for his very responsive and patient help while I wrapped my brain around registration processes and setting up the system. Thanks, Edd!

Once you’ve registered, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and put a badge or logo on your site. And talk your friends into coming too!

Welcome to my major pre-LIFT headache: setting the final price for Going Solo.

Let me start by saying this: whatever price you choose for an event (or a product, or a service), it will always seem way too expensive to some, just right to others, and too cheap to a lucky bunch. So, there is no way to please everybody.

As I mentioned in my last post, Peter Hogenkamp was of great help here, by pointing out that there are different types of events. Different events also cater to different audiences, and that’s also to be taken into account.

• Free or almost free: this is why we like BarCamp and other unconferences. There is little or no barrier to entry (if there is a fee, it’s there to cover small costs such as lunch, etc.), no commercial interest, and lots of interesting people. Price tag is 0 to a few tens of €.
• Affordable: these events can be commercial or not, but what they have in common is that they aim to be “affordable”. Think LIFT or reboot. Not necessarily cheap, and in some cases, expensive — but “affordable”. As in “I can afford to go”. Now of course, not everybody will be able to afford such events. Price tag is in the few hundreds of €.
• Expensive: these events are commercial, and usually target a more corporate audience. In many cases, one expects that employers are going to be paying for these, rather than individuals. Price tags are around 1000€ or more (TED is $5000 6000, I’m told).

So, Going Solo does not aim to be cheap. However, it would like to be affordable. People might go “ew, that’s expensive!” — but then look at the programme, think a bit, and decide that it’s worth the investment.

And trust me, if you’re a freelancer, it’ll be worth it. The stuff you’re going to hear about at Going Solo is going to help you run your business better, and be more successful doing the work you love. More cash or more free time, it’s your choice — how much is that worth for you?

I know there are varieties of “training” offered to professionals — learn how to network, learn how to pitch, learn how to sell yourself: how much would those be worth to you?

I’m aware freelancers are not usually rolling in money (being one), and that many of you will have to add to the price of the conference the flight or train ride to Geneva/Lausanne, and maybe a hotel. That unfortunately didn’t help my headache go away.

The way I set the price for Going Solo is by looking at my budget (yes! I actually have one!): if I count conference expenses, not including salaries for those working on the event, an attendee costs a little less than 300 CHF. Even those, like staff members, speakers, or partners, who will not be paying anything. They still cost that much.

Salaries? As I mentioned when I announced I was getting into the event business, the whole idea is that organising events like Going Solo will be worth my time, financially. I’m putting four months (and that’s rather short notice compared to other events) of hard work into this, and so are other people. So, salaries. “Profitable” comes after that — when the expenses and salaries are paid, is there anything left to reinvest into the next event?

So, enough talking, let’s get to the meat. Here’s the pricing (currency converter if you need it):

• Regular ticket: 600 CHF (approx. 375€, £275, US$545)
• Early bird: 400 CHF (approx. 250€, £190, US$365) — until Mar. 16th
• Earlier bird: 300 CHF (approx. 190€, £140, US$270) — until Feb. 17th

A few comments:

• Find the regular ticket a tad expensive for your budget? Be sure to not miss the Earlier and Early Bird prices. (You only have this first week after registration opens for the Earlier Bird price.)
• Register this week and you actually get your ticket half-price!
• We’re charging in CHF, as most of the spendings for the event will be in CHF. It also saves me sleepless nights worrying about market fluctuations.
• I initially wanted to give a discount to members of the LIFT community during the first week, but decided not to discriminate like that and to give it to everybody. Hence the “Earlier Bird” pricing of 300 CHF for everybody this week.
• Organising an event like Going Solo requires cash. That cash comes (initially) mainly from registrations. This is why you get a very interesting discount if you sign up early — the pricing is designed to encourage early registrations. So… in case this wasn’t clear: register early!
• PayPal takes a significant cut of the registration fee, so if you choose to pay by credit card through PayPal an “online surcharge” of 20CHF will be added. You can pay by banking transfer for no extra fee, but that will depend on how much your bank charges you for these transactions (mine doesn’t charge me anything). I’m not very happy to do things like this, but it’s preferable to raising the price of all the tickets to cover the handling costs.

So, here we go. Next step is opening registration (in a few hours!)