Posted by greggles on August 16, 2012 at 8:03pm
What strategies are/aren't successful?
Should some speakers get paid but not others?
Should other volunteers get paid?
This is a new home for some of the discussion at http://groups.drupal.org/node/248173#comment-801778
Comments
I am the much criticized speaker of common sense
Greetings Drupal Community,
I am one of the speakers in the thread mentioned above. I believe that speakers should at the very least not have to pay for Conference/Event registration fees if they are presenting. If the camps are able to pay speakers, or give an honorarium, that is going to be better, because its the "right way to do things."
Sometimes, because we sit in front of our computers and spend less and less time socializing with each other, we forget traditional values. One value, for instance, is how when you used to travel from far away, you could stop by a household on your travels and someone would make you dinner, most of the time even with their best food. This is because you have come a long way and your time and presence was considered a gift itself, to be reciprocated with.
In the same way, when a speaker comes to share their valuable insight, the rules of cause and effect demand that we give something back to them. It has been mentioned that event fees are low enough to where anyone can afford to come, and this is not necessary, but I disagree. Especially because the event fee is low, it should be waived. When corporate sponsorship is involved, we would be much better off finding a less magnificent venue and spending the time and effort to value the people sharing their hard earned talents and insights.
Economically speaking, its not that expensive to factor this in to the event creation itself. One sponsor could even support this. Imagine how much developers/speakers would love that sponsor if they were the "Make all presenters come for free" sponsor. Why not? Its just common sense. The problem is, people don't think of things like this, and they get mad when you point it out.
The other big big deal is having transparency on the event website about how the money will be used, and why. In the above thread it was mentioned that the DA oversees finances and there are certain rules, but as someone who did not know that I felt quite confused why events that take corporate sponsorship mentioned nothing about it on their website.
Philosophically, the camps seem to have this "We're all helping each other build this great Drupal community thing, we can all chip in" kind of vibe. However, that's not the only reality. The people putting on the event do profit through the association gained, and they can easily look through all of the submissions and find interesting ideas/business niches and do a lot with it. We do have values and ideals, but if we expect people to believe us, we need to be clear and honest in our communication and actions. If we for instance had a page on the camp site about what the money is used for, and the rules about how no person can get a paycheck, and the left-over money went to the next conference, perhaps people would feel more secure in chipping in? We could even follow it up with a public statement about money raised, and list the amounts from all the sponsors? Any non-profit that relies on the goodwill of the people needs to be open and transparent about finances. It should never become angry and attack people, even when they make "unfounded" accusations, because its not an emotional thing, and can easily be clarified- am I wrong?
So, if someone is going to propose a topic,should they have to pay first, without even knowing if it will be accepted? It was mentioned that refunds are not possible because of Payment processor issues. I understand that, so lets just not charge them in the first place, and put a donation field for presenters. That way, those that want to pay can, because they see no problem, and those who object to having to pay while presenting, don't have to. If those peoples topics aren't accepted, maybe they can be notified and asked if they still want to come/buy a normal ticket? Does this sound fair?
A lot of my experience comes from working with a small not-for-profit called the Red Earth Descendants, an inter-tribal Native American group. We somehow managed to put on four events a year, with free meals, with very little grant support, and with no corporate sponsorship. We gave honorariums to all speakers, and even helped them with travel/lodging. Guess what? They really appreciated that. We fed them and the public as well. We worked with local organizations to find spaces to do our events for free, or little cost. In that culture, its absolutely essential to show care/consideration to those who come from afar. Its thought of first, not last. I think the Drupal community has a lot to learn from this. Its not "entitled" to expect or ask for this, and its very showing if we attack someone who makes the request.
Part of the issues I raised were admittedly more poignant and maybe some even were downright hard to hear, but at least this issue is now elevating in the importance scale. As Drupal becomes a more commercialized entity (EDIT* As Drupal is used by many service providers and corporations - and is being advertised/marketed/promoted and lots of money gained/exchanged), it will become easier and easier to think about money, and harder to think about people. We can't forget the people who made Drupal a reality or underestimate their work. I was threatened to be banned from the whole series of Drupal websites over my comments - is that how we will handle outside viewpoints, banning/exclusion? Somehow, that is petty and not the answer.
On the PNW Drupal Camp site, all they have about speaker compensation is this:
I suggest we take this to a new level. How about something like this; as a draft;?
Thank you for taking the time to listen to my common sense points. Feel free to work with them to find a possible solution. As others have said, I have made my points "abundantly clear." However, to me, the measure of that, is if the Drupal Camps start implementing the advise on some level. After last years remarks - no one made a change or contacted me for extra input, I can tell you that. Perhaps its half my fault, but it seems like its not a priority. Maybe its time for that change to occur?
For what it's worth, you do
For what it's worth, you do bring up a potentially valid point, but the reason that people have not been so amicable to your comments is because of how you approach the issue: by belittling others, downplaying the monumental amount of work that goes into planning these events, and through personal attacks (for instance, implying that the planners are choosing to take profit from the event rather than compensate speakers). It's one of those cases of "It's not what you say, it's how you say it", and implying that long time members of the Drupal community are somehow conspiring against other members of the community is not okay (unless you have proof to back it up).
At the end of the day, this is not a community policy. For instance, DrupalCon does comp tickets for speakers and sprint participants. They do not pay for hotel, food, etc. This is a decision made individually by each event's planning committee. If you want speakers to be comped, my suggestion is to get involved with planning early on in the process and offer to track down additional sponsorship opportunities for the purpose of comping speakers. What you're asking the PNWDS people to do involves a lot of extra work layered on top of an already large amount of work for a relatively small event.
--
Cameron Eagans
http://cweagans.net
Also: I was threatened to be
Also:
I threatened to ban you because you were lodging personal attacks with no basis. If you want to bring up a legitimate issue/thought about Drupal event planning, that's fine. We can all agree on that.
Where it starts to become a problem is when you get hostile. Perhaps you did not intend to be hostile, but it certainly came off that way.
--
Cameron Eagans
http://cweagans.net
I thought it would be
I thought it would be pertinent to speak to this point, because I feel its a misrepresentation of my intentions. I said I wanted to know who was making money, which is not a personal attack, as I did not mention the name of any person. Judging from the event website, I also had no idea, at the time, who was organizing the event (I can't find any names even today?) Also, its not personal, because someone could have and did point out the policy of how no one running the event can personally profit. If that was put on the website clearly, I never would have even insinuated its possibility. If we leave things to unclarity any assumption is possible. In the future, perhaps all events could state clearly on their page what we learned in the last discussion? I propose that as an olive branch and solution to this conundrum. I also mentioned in a private email to one of the events organizers that we do live in the USA - so things like this do happen all the time, where people say something is community and then profit from it. Additionally, there's the belief that one must have evidence first before making an insinuation. I see that point of view, but in my opinion the fact that there is no clear policy on the website is evidence enough that something could be going wrong, considering the corporate sponsorship, and its fair to make a request for transparency/accountability. That never feels good, but a professionally run organization does not get emotional and respond by attacking back, it just clearly states what the truth is, and backs it up. There should be no problem there - again, we can all improve the way we communicate, and I am sure many people have learned a lesson, myself included.
FWIW, I didn't find your
FWIW, I didn't find your comments to be personal attacks and I would have argued for your account to stay active. cweagans has his opinion on the issue, but before blocking someone it has to be taken to the webmasters queue and I doubt your account would have been blocked.
knaddison blog | Morris Animal Foundation
While your intentions may
While your intentions may have been pure, they did not come across that way in this year's thread or last year's thread. Here's one way to look at it: it was made clear multiple times this year and
last that 1) the event was taking no profit and all surplus gets rolled over into the next year's account, 2) nobody is making any money off of the event (all the work is done pro-bono), and 3) everybody had to pay for a ticket in order to keep the event sustainable.
For you to come in this year and again claim otherwise comes off as extremely insulting, and there were a couple of comments where people who had poured a large number of hours and effort into these events were insulted and angry (and I recall a fairly lengthy discussion/vent session on IRC about the same comment thread). You did not have to mention anyone's name: blanket statements against a group of 3-5 people (or more...who knows) can be just as hurtful as a statement against one person. In any case, you were not banned.
WRT camp financials: paying $50 for a ticket to an event like this feels like a steal to me. Look at it this way: you're not paying to present. You're paying to consume the content that others have created (other sessions, BOFs, etc). Other events are hundreds of dollars. This one is $50. It's a tremendous value for a fraction of a cost of other conferences, even when just considering the information you can get out of the event. When you also factor in networking and collaboration on interesting things, this value is compounded.
Also?
Usually, we try to assume the best in people here unless we have a evidence that they're doing something not-so-good (put another way, innocent until proven guilty is a much better tactic than "OMG WTF ARE YOU DOING!? YOU'RE DOING SOMETHING WRONG! OH, YOU'RE NOT!? WELL PROVE ME WRONG THEN!!!!"). I'm not sure what kind of policy you want posted on camp pages, but the laws that govern US nonprofit organizations (26 USC § 501) is probably a good place to start, and those regulations apply to any camp that is operating under the Fiscal Sponsorship program from the DA.
Not all camps operate under this program and are not subject to the same rules. It really comes down to this:
1) A bunch of other people planned the event and set a price for it.
2) You can choose to attend if you think the value received is equal then or greater to the cost (or not)
3) Nobody is obligated to provide details of a camp's financial records, and
4) If the people that planned the event decide that paying speakers is too much of a financial burden, then that's their decision. If you want to change that decision, get involved next year.
As I have said before (along with many other people), if you don't like it, don't attend. Instead, go to a camp that fits your philosophy on camp organization or whatever.
Perhaps you'd be more interested in BADcamp (which is free to everyone -- including presenters. And before you go into the argument of, "Well, they're providing free admission...why can't PNWDS?". The answer is simple: BADcamp is a MUCH bigger event and has the financial flexibility to do so).
Last point: I'm bowing out of this conversation. I have said what I wanted to say, and frankly, your attitude angers me and I don't need any more entropy in my life. If you want something fixed, then fix it by getting involved and doing something about it, not by complaining on the internet.
--
Cameron Eagans
http://cweagans.net
OK Thanks for sharing your
OK Thanks for sharing your points I'm sure this thread will come to some sort of conclusion as people see what's true and what's not true based on the information presented. Ultimately, the camps are free to do what they feel is right. I hope there's no bad feeling between us just because we saw things differently.
I think the problem is that
I think the problem is that there is nobody else who seems to really share your opinion. Or at least not anyone who has posted in favour of your idea on the boards. The time for change is when the people organising are convinced there is a need or benefit in doing so.
I too have created events on a shoestring budget relying on the coming together of people without sponsorship and just based on people's hard work and generosity. I don't feel that by asking for $50 commitment from people attending an event and potentially speaking is any different.
If your talk is not accepted would you not come to the event? Therefore are you not only offering to speak for the type of basic personal gain that organisers as you describe get above? Is the quality of speakers and accessibility of the event really any different with this policy? Nobody does this stuff purely from a love of Drupal, there is always some persona/corporatel benefit (meeting friends, profile, etc.) as there would be for a speaker.
I believe some camps DO waive a speakers costs. This is great - but many don't and this is a decision by organisers. I don't think because you say it should be done differently that it is "time for change to occur".
As for transparency this is a different point. But what you're promoting is an inherent distrust rather than trusting that the people organising events like this are managing their funds appropriately. Of course there is budgets to do what you want. But if I turned around and said that I believe its only fair that all food has to be home cooked and that people could only arrive by push bike I can't expect it to happen despite being a damn good idea.
As regards to being "attacked"... I think you have a way of "I'm right so please change what you do" rather than "have you considered this" approach to your posts which has clearly grinded on people and made them "attack" you - I don't think the idea is really the issue, but the choice of place (on a post that has nothing to do with this) and choice of language.
All in all it will be interesting to see if others share your view as I think your two points are viable options, but I don't think you should tell people how to do what they do and assume to be listened to, just open the debate and hope that you're listened to. If you're not, maybe the reason is simply that majority of people simply don't agree.
Just my thoughts!
Operations Director at Consult and Design International
Co-ordinator of Drupal North East
Global Volunteer Co-ordinator for DrupalCon
I agree with all of your
I agree with all of your points except one:
I do this stuff purely from a love of Drupal. Sure, my day job is doing Drupal development, but even if it wasn't, I'd come to the events, participate in core/contrib development, etc., simply because Drupal is awesome and the community is awesome.
--
Cameron Eagans
http://cweagans.net
Actually me too :) I guess
Actually me too :)
I guess what I mean is that there is added value to all the time that people give to Drupal and its rare that people do things ONLY because the software is great. I think much of that is about people, but also about feeling part of something and being recognised as being part of something good. But I agree, the software and people are awesome and I think the reason why most of us are here!
Operations Director at Consult and Design International
Co-ordinator of Drupal North East
Global Volunteer Co-ordinator for DrupalCon
Change is necessary
We can all move on from the past - perhaps many peoples arguments were not presented in the best of ways. This thread is an attempt at open communication and seeing if there is value in issues raised by both sides. Nothing I have proposed is a binding obligation or required. We can spend time debating what is right or wrong or attacking or defending, but as everyone has seen that goes no where.
What is important to note though, is that everyone does not choose to present their voice publicly, and I am in communication with many people older than me and more experienced than me, which I respect greatly, who share my opinion. I am not so bold and brazen to blindly suggest things without any support.
I think there are two sides to this: those who think I am not respecting the integrity of the people running the event and not giving them enough credit for putting it on, and all the hard work. I want to say right now that I give them that credit and I do respect them for what they have accomplished.
This thread is about improving the process, and putting the "finishing touches" on our community efforts so there is no room for criticism. Through this process the Drupal community will become stronger, and its events bulletproof. The future of Drupal events will be even more successful and positive.
One more edit: regarding the strength of my comments, you have a valid point. I am absolutely unafraid to discuss the issues, whether or not they flatter me or make me less than. We spend so much time behind computers we forget our real voice and we become locked down and have many health issues. My 2011 PNW Camp topic, if anyone cares, was about helping Drupal programmers avoid burnout by practicing a health and wellness practice like Tai Chi or Qigong so they could program more efficiently, for longer times, and ultimately promote Drupal to the highest levels. I did out of concern for my community, because I have many programmer friends who are not well, or have serious diseases later in life. If someone does not know at least one person in this boat, please prove me wrong. I am extremely passionate about bringing health to programmers, as its part in parcel to the overall success of our programming endeavors. Sure, its not directly "about" Drupal, but you would be surprised to learn that the way Drupal was built (Modular, general purpose) its surprisingly similar to Tai Chi and Qigong methods, so it would be a quick learn for someone.
I also want to say
Does no one else in the whole entire Drupal world notice the impact of the increasing commercialization of Drupal and its byproducts? Of course I am aware of its GPL nature, so that's not what I am insinuating. I am saying, that as there's the potential for more money to be made, we somehow forget some important things, possibly??? Is this not the most age old story of life itself? When something reaches its peak (Drupal 7/8?) what will come next? Its decline? The best way to achieve success ongoing once you have peaked is in little, small actions. Tiny little adjustments to language and process - yes, that is what this thread is about. Thank you again for listening.
Each event has its own reasoning
My $0.02: I think it really depends on the event if speakers should get comped or not. Somewhere with a wider audience where you want to ensure certain content may want to think about it, but with a small event like PNWDS there is the potential to comp half the tickets if you factor in things like panels, etc, and it is a significant dent in a small budget. Also, the purchased ticket ensures that those who get one (as they are limited) are truly invested in coming, as the correlation between free tickets and no-shows (aka wasted tickets) is significant. With a smaller ticket price, it's not too huge of a deal but more of a commitment than a free ticket. So: I vote that everyone buys a ticket for PNWDS but other camps may have different reasons to do so or not.
I have attended all three PNWDS events (Seattle 2009, Vancouver 2010, and Portland 2011) and was an organizer for the Portland event.
@slavojzizek. I think you are missing the point entirely. Let's start here:
Yes, our friends in the Seattle DUG realized this in 2009 when they created the PNWDS. The goal was to have a homegrown gathering with a focus towards experienced Drupal users with higher-level content than what was currently available at many camps and even DrupalCon such as 101 talks and presentations on how to set up your first view. Thus, the Summit was born.
My point: this is a specialized conference created by a regional group of people scratching their own itch, so to speak. It, like much that happens in open source, organically organized by a dedicated group of...VOLUNTEERS who cared enough about it to make it happen. While I can't speak for Seattle and Vancouver, I can assure you that I personally spent nine months working for free, as a volunteer organizer, on the 2011 PNWDS, usually at least 20 hours per week but there were a few that were more than 40. I did this while working freelance contract gigs and sometimes barely making ends meet. My own projects, family, life, and friends were put on hold for some time as our team worked to meet deadlines. There were dozens of people and shops who put an enormous amount of VOLUNTEER effort, work, and investment into the event; @sarah_p also spent hundreds and hundreds of hours on the PNWDS while juggling her own business and things like child care (which is definitely not free). I know this is pretty common for organizers of events, but hope this will give you some context on how much work (FREE, VOLUNTEER WORK) that goes into organizing a homegrown event like this.
I am by no means complaining, and I have not heard any of the other organizers or volunteers complain about their investment (monetary, physical, and time) during the three years the PNWDS has existed.
And you know what? Each year I have PURCHASED MY OWN TICKET. Even in Portland 2011 after spending so much time working on it I did not request a comp ticket. I was, and am, happy to pay. And I have been able to scrape together the measly $50 or so bucks every time, despite working part-time at a nonprofit.
So, sir, when you aggressively troll this community of people who are voluntarily giving their time and lives to make something that is cool so you can come of your own free will if you also think it is cool and want to come, you are not being a good open source citizen and your entitled attitude makes me genuinely angry.
Like others have said, you don't have to participate if you don't want to. A search of g.d.o prior to your rant (even last year) could have quickly provided you with all you needed to know to get involved as a volunteer, and had you engaged in productive dialogue we would probably be in a different place right now. I suspect that this bridge may be burned now as interactions with you seem to become toxic quite quickly, but that would have been an avenue to be constructively involved without spamming everyone on the west coast with unnecessary drama. Furthermore, each time you hijack an informational thread without engaging in a constructive dialogue, you turn people off from the project and community itself--the one thing we all have in common.
You mentioned that you had extensive experience organizing totally free, kick-ass events using techniques from Native traditions. I would love to see something like that. You should do it and then we can all learn from it.
In sum, I feel like the PNWDS has a very Burning Man-type ethos of participation. You get out of it as much as you participate. Some participate more than others (kind of like bringing a fancy theme camp) and bring awesome topics or time or love or whatever. Some participate less, but all are welcome who want to be there. And each year of the PNWDS everyone that was there really, really wanted to be there, and it was awesome.
Please come if you like. If it is not your style, please organize something awesome that is.
Just to keep in touch
I thought I would say that I appreciated your comment and will reflect on what you said - I really want to give an opportunity for others to speak their voice, so if you would like to contact me privately to go over anything else feel free.
Let's say that camps were to
Let's say that camps were to consider doing something like Drupalcon has taken on: free attendance for 1 of the presenters at each session. They are also paying staff and contractors to handle many of roles of producing the event.
My biggest problem with doing speaker payment at a camp is that it could alienate the volunteers who produce the event leading to either having to pay the volunteers (which would break the budget) or lead volunteers to not be passionate about their work (leading to a lower quality overall event).
Drupalcon can do it because
1. They have much higher ticket prices than a typical camp
2. They have much higher sponsorship revenue given the additional value for the sponsoring organization
I know DIWD has done minor compensation of presenters. What about other events?
I don't know for sure - are there any camps that pay presenters or at least make it free? If there are none that has to say something about the viability of the model.
knaddison blog | Morris Animal Foundation
I know DIWD has done minor
I think the Midwest Dev Summit did this. We're also evaluating this for Drupal Design Camp LA.
My experience in Dallas
I've been organizing Dallas Drupal Camp for the past 4 years and this issue comes up every year by at least a few speakers. Here's my overall thoughts:
Not sure it would take, but I would drastically raise the price of DrupalCamps. DC did that, was well attended and was still 1/3 the price of many other conferences. The Salesforce one is over two grand I think. Of course, they got Metallica to play the afterparty ... for some reason. Then it would make sense to pay some speakers anyway, and comp the rest. If it would take. I'm not sure it would though- people are too used to them being (practically) free. You should have seen the riot when we proposed $99 for OpenCamp 2010 (with DrupalCamp as part of it) - you'd have thought we were serving baby panda burgers for lunch.
So upshot - come to Dallas Drupal Days Sept 7-8! Heh. It really is a nice speakers' lounge. But seriously - thoughts? I'm all for figuring out how to do these better. I'll bitch and bitch until it's over, but shortly thereafter I'll be starting to think about #5 ..
David
Feedback from Atlanta...
+1 on what David said, I think he is on target with his comments.
Likewise, I am in the midst of being the primary organizer of my fourth Drupalcamp (Atlanta 2009 - 2012).
I firmly believe some wholesale changes need to take place on how we organize Drupalcamps. The "M.O." is that most Camps basically mimic each other, and fresh ideas are sorely needed. Here are some top of mind thoughts:
--Pay for a keynote outside of the Drupal echo chamber (my unscientific observation is that the most popular presentation at Drupalcon Denver was one of the morning keynotes by Luke W. on Mobile First; what was interesting is he barely mentioned Drupal, yet, created a huge buzz). Personally, I am against compensating session speakers for the reasons David articulated. In short, a presenter will get plenty of Drupal street cred that will be beneficial to them, the company they work for, etc. However, a keynote from a prominent "web" speaker may be able to draw those fringe attendees, who are on the fence with registering.
--Encourage the DA to get more involved. I get it, yes, in the past they have been resource constraint and this is always easier said than done. However, the same vigor should be spent on regional Camps that is given to Cons. This should be a prime opportunity for the DA to grow membership/revenue, evangelize, and in general expand the Drupal circle.
--We need more sessions that cater to non-techies, particularly marketers. Dries has rightfully noted several times recently that the paradigm is shifting, Chief Marketing Officers (not CIOs) are now driving the CMS purchasing decisions. However, there are rarely any sessions that speak to this audience at Camps or Cons (note: "Drupal in the Enterprise" type sessions do not count).
--Lets figure out a system to organize and globally archive Camp videos. These free videos would be particularly useful for training and educational purposes (am sure a service provider like Brightcove could help us here).
--The DA should form a consortium with other open-source communities for the sole purpose of marketing. For example, how about allowing free advertising on each others websites - trust me, the Symfony, PHP, Linux, Alfresco, communities are all scratching their heads on how they get more Drupal folks involved in their community just like we are of them.
--Reach out to regional universities and get them interested in your Camp; show professors, career placement centers, etc. all of the Drupal jobs in the area.
--Segment; see Badcamp, along the lines of more non-techie sessions, they do a great job of creating focused tracks that appeal to attendee's specific interests.
--The sponsorship model needs to be overhauled - I've talked to enough Camp sponsors (mostly owners of other Drupal shops) and no one really sees a direct ROI out of sponsoring a Camp. We mainly do it for purely altruistic reasons - to support the Drupal community and one another. We need to provide compelling sponsor benefits that will draw the actual organizations that are using Drupal into the ecosystem. This is one I'd really love to spend more time tackling.
Thanks for getting the conversation going Greg.
Cheers,
Dave
Mediacurrent
Dave, I think your "We need
Dave, I think your "We need to cater to non-techies" is spot on. This year we are running a Social Media Summit (http://rosmsummit.eventbrite.com/) in conjunction with our DrupalCamp. I will let you know how the cross pollination goes.
Website: www.leveltendesign.com
Twitter: @levelten_tom
Learn Drupal: Tutr.tv
Another 2cents
The honorariums I've seen (I've seen many as an advanced toastmaster), they were rarely taken 100%, but usually went to pay for travel expenses and the rest was returned to the organizing group. Exactly what is appropriate and what isn't was always to the speakers discretion.
independent developer
My 27 DrupalCamps and what I learned from them
I just returned from DrupalCamp Asheville which brings me to 27 total camps in a 45 month span. That's a camp every 7 or so weeks. I delivered 63 sessions across those 27 camps; an average of 2 1/3 sessions per camp. [I don't know why I keep track of those numbers LOL!]
Here's a smattering of the scenarios that have played out for me.
[a] I pay for it all: Camp ticket [if not a free camp], flights, hotel, meals, etc.
NOTE::: This is the most common experience for me.
[b] The Camp organizers provide the hotel [this has happened 3 times]
NOTE::: i asked for this assistance back in the days when I wasn't making the money I am now. Two camps agreed and one of those two offered it again the following year
[c] A company I am working for pays my expenses and in return they get an in-kind sponsorship level of the camp because they brought me in. [happened at least 1 time]
[d] One company [but NOT my employer] pays my expenses and in return they get an in-kind sponsorship level of the camp because they brought me in. [happened at least 2 times]
NOTE::: This happened when I was broker AND camps really really really wanted me out to provide lots of beginner sessions and BoFs.
[e] The camp pays me a flat fee [that exceeded my costs and took care of most of my meals] for showing up. [this happened once]
NOTE::: again.. in this case the camp REALLY wanted a strong beginner friendly camp. Every proposed session was on the leve lof nuclear and astro physics so they offered to pay me to come in if I would take the beginner track and run 6 straight back to back session. I accepted to offer. We had a HUGE class and it went very very well.
[f] I pay my way BUT the pre-camp training either defrays the cost OR I make a small to medium profit.
NOTE::: This model actually worked against me at CapitalCamp2012. I had a pre-camp class lined up and only had one registered attendee for 6weeks. Finally as the day got nearer I cancelled the class and did not come to the camp. In this case, I had a time-sensitive, billable work I could do onsite with a client. THUS going to DC and not doing the training would have cost me a great deal. This was a very unusual case and I don't expect to me in the position again where I'm planning on going to a camp and then bailing simply because I can't make a buck on training. For that matter many camps don't have training and I still attend them knowing that I'm investing in to the camp echo system.
What did I learn from all this?
Well.... I found out that I was some what good at training and that ppl were willing to pay for it. I also saw that there was a tremendous need for it, especially at the beginner level. I even contacted a few camps and said, "hey... I see you have NO [or maybe 1] beginner class proposed... If (some company) paid my way out would you give them an in-kind sponsorship level?"
In 2009 and 2010 two camp organizers said that was absolutely illegal and they would be no part of it. Also in that time frame another one or two said that sounded unfair to other sponsors or presenters and they would be no part of it. I didn't ask that question any more. PLUS I started doing better for myself and I could afford to get out to more camps than I had time for.
My point.....
Camps will do what they need to do. If in the future one camp needs to pay some one to come do 6 beginner sessions in a row then they're going to do it. If another camp really needs some one with [theming or services or server-tuning, etc] skills then some one may need a little LOVE to make the trip to the camp possible so that they can provide the service.
My BIGGER point...
NO! I do not expect to be paid at CONS or CAMPS. If they have a good budget and/or they have blocks of rooms available then YES I will accept an offer. If after the gig they slip my a $50 iTunes or Amazon card, I will be honored and graciously accept. [I've been on camp organizing teams where we did this and it's never been rejected. LOL!]
I think camps should run LEAN on the funding. Having a 'little' seed money for the following year is great, but if you find yourself with a 'lot' of leftover cash, consider using some of that to help a newer camp OR maybe offer a scholarship the following year directly to a module maintainer that you would like to see come in and speak. "hey so-and-so, if we covered flight and/or hotel would you do two sessions on your module; an intro and an advanced?" But to be clear... I don't think we need to start shaking down more sponsors so that we can make a habit of that kind of thing. ;-)
In closing.....
My next camp #28 is Atlanta. I have never missed an Atlanta camp and I never will. I have never made a dollar while at the camp BUT I have made tremendous, long lasting friendships and partnerships that have yielded healthy dividends. I regret not being able to make it to Dallas for their gig. I have tremendous respect for Tom and the gang down there. They do amazing things in Distributions, Modules, Events, Blogs, and Training. If any one is on the fence.... Dallas and Atlanta should NOT be missed! ;-)
Doug Vann [Drupal Trainer, Consultant, Developer, President of Synaptic Blue Inc.]
http://dougvann.com
Great points Doug. I agree
Great points Doug. I agree with everything you said except your next camp should be Dallas. ;)
http://dallasdrupal.org (just in case)
Website: www.leveltendesign.com
Twitter: @levelten_tom
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