[LRUG] London Rails Conference: Rails Underground '09

[Mark Coleman]

On 25 Feb 2009, at 16:54, James Adam wrote:

> Hi Mark,
>
> Congrats on your venture. It's hard work, so good luck!
Thank you :)

> While cheaper than some conferences (RailsConf*), that's still a  
> pretty penny. It looks like you're making around 300 tickets  
> available in total, which if you sell out should net you around  
> £60,000. Is that really how much is required to put on a two day  
> technical conference?
>
> I'd also encourage you to drop the tiered ticketing, and set a  
> simple, fair price with a clear breakdown of where the money is  
> going. As a potential conference attendee, I like (or rather, need)  
> to be able to clearly justify the value I'm going to get. We are  
> living in the crunch, after all :)
>
> Anyway... all the best,
>
> James
Thank you for your comments, I do appreciate it. I think I understand  
where you are coming from; I will attempt to explain a bit of my  
reasoning:

You're right, it's cheaper than RailsConf*, reasonably comparable to  
Scotland on Rails, and quite a bit more than Ruby Manor :)
Ruby Manor looked like it was really very good, I'm sure the next one  
will be just as great. I'm hoping this conference will be great too,  
just different and great. As I mentioned a while ago, I think Ruby  
Manor has a particular style that has been very successful. I have  
deliberately gone for something quite different, because I think there  
is room for a different type of event too, and Ruby Manor already does  
its thing a well as anyone could.

I went to Scotland on Rails last year (I'm going again this year, it's  
brilliant!) and was very impressed. I'm aiming for a style of  
conference similar to that: 2 days, 2 rooms: 1 very large, 1 very very  
large, food, a live videoconference, technical equipment...
Already, there are some really fantastic speakers lined up, that can  
also add expenses. And, really, once you have some great international  
names involved, coming from 8-10 time zones away, it makes sense to  
try to fit in as many people as possible. I can't find any large  
venues the will offer space for free, so I've done the best I can, but  
it's a significant expense.

I would say that I'm personally liable for the expenses, and I'm not  
out to make a profit, I just don't want to make a loss :)
I've put a budget together, estimated numbers, and gone from there.  
The 300 seats is the just most the venue can hold, I'm not budgeting  
assuming that I will sell out :)
If I do sell out, you can be assured that I will
a) Be really, very pleasantly surprised
b) Already be working on ways (with all you guys' help, I hope*) to  
add more value, and make the event even better.

I hope the value you will see will not be evident by these expenses,  
though - I hope it will be in the excellent quality of the talks,  
meeting a large number of enthusiasts, and whatever else we can come  
up with together on the forums.

I can't make it tonight, but I am planning to go to the next LRUG  
meeting on the 9th, can I bring the crisps, sandwiches and tizer?  
It'll be fun!

* I'm hoping that you all can help pick the most interesting topics  
for talks, possible things to do in the evening, or for a tutorial  
day, and add your suggestions and ideas... see http://groups.google.com/group/rails-underground

Thanks,
Mark.

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