Challenges and opportunities of
technology in society
Next event: LIFT Asia, 4-5 September 2008
pricing, students, etc etc
a couple of friendly questions from me:
- I was a bit surprised when I saw the conference price in comparison to the price last year... what happened ?
- What happened to the student discount ? I mean do you plan on only having 20 students at the conference - who has to write motivational essays to go ? - there's isn't enough students there allready I would say.
I am afraid the Lift is gonna be yet "another european creative tech conference" for companies and not as much for entrepreneurs and students. In my opinion they are the ones that you learn from in the network - not the participants from the larger companies. They are often also the must enthusiastic and creative.
all in all, to me it looks like you're professionalising the conference... which is good.. but please - do keep some chaos...
guys - you know I love Lift dearly =) - but where did this come from ?
Henriette Weber Andersen
- Henriette Weber Andersen's blog
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Just 20 out of 700? I am
Just 20 out of 700?
I am with Henriette on this one, what about discounted rates for a few more students, entrepreneurs or artists?
We do want dedicated attendees and a quality event, why not open the door a little to let in a few more of the young, the creative and the trouble makers of the future?
Hi guys, so let's take
Hi guys,
so let's take questions one after the other:
> I was a bit surprised when I saw the conference price in comparison to the price last year...
> what happened ?
So the raise is 150CHF or 90 euros.
Different reasons:
- LIFT takes around 6 months of my life every year, something like 1400 hours of work per conference. Now there is a team of 25 people helping me, with at least 4 of them dedicating more than 40% of their time to the event. For two years we have done this without salary and this is simply not possible anymore. So WE ARE GETTING PAID FOR OUR WORK, probably at the lowest rate we'll all been working for ever, but hey, at least enough to keep a roof above our heads.
This does not mean the event isn't non profit anymore, but we can't have an event like LIFT happening without salaries anymore.
- The event gets better every year, and this year we will have much bigger (=expensive) social events, and the ticket includes the fondue.
- We have a five year deal with our conference center where the discount they give us gets smaller and smaller every year. They do this to help new conferences. Year three into the deal, we pay 15% more than the previous year.
- I decided to put much more budget in the artistic activities around the conference.
- The price of LIFT was backfiring on us. In the survey one third of people said "LIFT is worth more than what I paid for". I have had numerous feedback of people who told me "LIFT is so cheap we expect it to be badly organized".
> What happened to the student discount ? I mean do you plan on only having 20 students at the conference -
> who has to write motivational essays to go ? - there's isn't enough students there allready I would say.
Again different reasons:
- Last year the price was 400CHF which is ALREADY too expensive for students. 550 or 400 is the same for them. Too much. So we decided to go the way many other conferences go: you charge more to those who can pay and try to setup free tickets for students. So we have these 20 tickets thanks to the GRS, and are discussing with the universities around here to have more. Bottom line we should have around 50 free tickets for students. Now it's up to schools to get their students in, like the University of Lausanne, the IVREA or the UMEA design institute did the previous years.
- For the first two years, student price = abuse! We had at least 50% of people asking for the price and NOT deserving it. I swear that when you are working hard to close a budget, taking huge financial risks on your personal money to make a non-profit event happen this is very hard to swallow, and I don't have time to be a cop.
Overall and before making all these decisions, I made the count and last year we had 50 people from the academic world:
- 25 students
- 15 postgrade (who can pay the ticket)
- 5 professors ("")
This year we should have a similar situation, with these people paying even LESS money than ever. So don't worry! And really, chaos has nothing to do with money, it's a state of mind, and I'm here to make sure it stays.
Hi Laurent,
Hi Laurent,
I'm taking my hat off to you for what you are putting into the conference. Working half a year, year after year, without salary for something you believe in is awesome.
For this reason I understand that the prices have to be raised (especially with the kind of feedback you were getting after the conferences!) for everyone.
What might be an idea to consider additionally to the 20 free tickets, when you are still in need for helping hands: why not invite another 10-20 students (who can help you on one or two days) and join the conference on the remaining.
At a conference on management in Madrid earlier this year, this worked quite well: students helped as assistants to the speakers (I had the luck to get assigned to C.K. Prahalad :-) ), and at the entrance and info desk as well...
Regards,
Ben
Well, I was a 2007 student
Well, I was a 2007 student delegate... I just checked and I paid 225 CHF, not 400.
Quite a difference there.
I also agree with the statement about it being more than we paid for it,
but I then again I wouldn't have come if it had been priced as for 2008.
Personally I would say a percentage discount for all students is better
value all round for the conference than a scheme to get 20, 50 whatever
in totally free, especially if they all end up coming from local universities and
maybe have less costs for accommodation and travel to begin with.
As for "deserving it" (whatever this means?)... it's not so hard to deal with
this, surely. You provide student ID, on registration or when you turn up.
Most conferences have some kind of scheme to handle student discounts,
so it can't be that hard.
Like Henrietta I was shocked when I saw the increase, but if this was only
because it was crazy cheap last year due to nobody was being paid then
we can't argue with that. For such a young conference it was superbly
organised.
I wish you all the best for next year. You have quite a reputation to live
up to! :)
What's very puzzling to me
What's very puzzling to me is that we're having this discussion at a moment where coming to LIFT has never been that cheap for students: ZERO instead of whatever you paid last year. And all we got is 4 pass requests so far. Is the price really the issue here?
There are many different ways to handle student pass and I wanted to test this one because the previous years' system was also far from perfect. The feeling I have is that very few students come to LIFT for one main reason: EXAMS that are happening right during the conference. Academics are showing up, but mostly professors and PHDs. As I wrote earlier 20 is a number that came up after I counted the students who came, and thought "let's try to match that with free passes".
One way to make the conference more accessible for students would be to change the date, and push it towards end of February or March. And we're working with some professors to get them to integrate the conference in their course, like Yves Pigneur of the University of Lausanne did last year. That's imho the best way to have students participating. I'm meeting with the EPFL next week, and am waiting for answer from the UNIL and UNIGE. We're also trying to do that with foreign universities but that's of course harder for us ;)
Hi, I just want to add my
Hi,
I just want to add my opinion about the new student price scheme. I agree with Chris about the fixed rebate instead of giving away free passes. This 'lottery' feels kind of weird and doesn't work at all for groups. It's much easier to deal with a (lower) fixed student price, than hoping for the best (free pass) or paying full price.
I was part of the Umeå group (9 students) last year and it's very awkward to plan a visit to LIFT again this year with this new student offering. It wouldn't be fair to the organizer (LIFT) to ask everyone in our class to apply for free passes. Also, the application date is too early also in my opinion. What about students who missed the deadline? No rebate => Full 650/850 CHF !!! Like Chris mentioned, I also wouldn't have attended LIFT 07 if it had been priced as for 2008. The beauty of low student registration fees is that many students that I met last year came not part of a class but from their own interest and personal motives. The diversity of background, interest and ideas was fabulous. I guess the student audience will be different this year. I don't know many students who can afford this kind of registration fee on top of travel and lodging expenses.
Anyways, I do hope that the free student passes end up in the proper hands somehow. I applaud the initiative even though I would personally have preferred a low fixed price point for all students and the ones with limited financial resources.
All the best for LIFT08 and hopefully I'll be able to attend a future edition of this great gathering.
/Camille
We just worked out a deal
We just worked out a deal with the EPFL where the school will pay 50% of the price and students the rest. That's the kind of system that should be put in place for nine students, and I think we should contact your administration to inquire about a possible deal. Do you have a contact you could email me? We are talking about 2000CHF for 9 students, the price of ONE ticket for Leweb3 or Web 2 expo. This is the system we had in mind for groups, and it worked with three schools so far.
And about diversity, as the new system is less favorable for groups but more for individuals, we actually have much more, with passes requests coming from countries like Mexico, Belgium, Netherlands, UK or Germany (among others).
To close this post, I want to tell you all that I heard your comments and thank you for your honest feedback. All this shows how hard it is to design a perfect system that would fit all the constraints of the diverse audience we welcome at LIFT. At the end of the day we will have more students than ever at LIFT (projection is 65 to this point) for an average price of 200CHF. Not bad for the quality and richness of an event like LIFT.
Update: request from India as I write :)
I think Laurent Haug makes a
I think Laurent Haug makes a really good point here. I couldn't come last time because of schedule clash (I had other professional engagements on the same days and almost next doors), but I really would like to attend it in 2008. The problem is that I left my job a few months ago to dedicate my time to my Ph.D. research and when February comes, I'll have run out of my financial reserves, so I guess, I'll try to get into the contest for the student free-pass. And actually, I wouldn't mind covering a couple of workshops or lectures for the blog! They really look interesting and I would definitely want to share with others the many thoughts they are bound to inspire me. Well, I'll see what happens, but I'm definitely wishing the whole organizing team good luck and a lot of success with this event!
Ariane Beldi
Ph.D Candiate
Doctoral School in Media & Communication Studies
University of Geneva
________________________________________
Beldi9@etu.unige.ch
http://eternalstudent101.wordpress.com
Thanks for your responses
Thanks for your responses Laurent. I do agree that LIFT is a very good value. And we do want many more great lifts to come.