Expo Attendies (UPENE, UPEC, UPEW) - We need your help with this.
Oldbitcollector (Jeff)
Posts: 8,091
Gang,
Our final attendee tally for UPEC was 94. We had around 130 registered.
We need your help.
While we don't charge for attendance, our RSVP system is designed to give our team (and sponsors) an idea
of how to budget for these expos. A tricky part is the food. In the case of an expo location which requires
us to order a month ahead of time, we have to be able to count on our numbers. (within reasonable limits.)
When I pre-order food for a group of people, those small local businesses are counting on our order. Many times
they are ordering supplies ahead, as well as making sure that extra staff are ready to swing into action.
We can always adjust a "little" without causing a problem, but like any good guest, we are looking to
keep our word and do what we said we would do.
In fairness, several folks did contact me and let me know they could not arrive, but not 35 of you.
We need your help by only registering for an expo you are fairly certain you will be able to realistically attend.
(If something changes, then be a good guest and let me know ahead of time if possible.)
We'll do our part by continuing to find ways to improve your expo experience.
We've even hashed out some additional stuff on audio, etc which will make our game even more impressive
by the next expo. Our team, Bryan, Rebekah, Matt, and myself are committed to this amazing project.
Thanks guys! I'm already looking forward to UPEW!
OBC
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Are you Propeller Powered? PropellerPowered.com
Visit the: PROPELLERPOWERED SIG forum kindly hosted by Savage Circuits.
Our final attendee tally for UPEC was 94. We had around 130 registered.
We need your help.
While we don't charge for attendance, our RSVP system is designed to give our team (and sponsors) an idea
of how to budget for these expos. A tricky part is the food. In the case of an expo location which requires
us to order a month ahead of time, we have to be able to count on our numbers. (within reasonable limits.)
When I pre-order food for a group of people, those small local businesses are counting on our order. Many times
they are ordering supplies ahead, as well as making sure that extra staff are ready to swing into action.
We can always adjust a "little" without causing a problem, but like any good guest, we are looking to
keep our word and do what we said we would do.
In fairness, several folks did contact me and let me know they could not arrive, but not 35 of you.
We need your help by only registering for an expo you are fairly certain you will be able to realistically attend.
(If something changes, then be a good guest and let me know ahead of time if possible.)
We'll do our part by continuing to find ways to improve your expo experience.
We've even hashed out some additional stuff on audio, etc which will make our game even more impressive
by the next expo. Our team, Bryan, Rebekah, Matt, and myself are committed to this amazing project.
Thanks guys! I'm already looking forward to UPEW!
OBC
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Are you Propeller Powered? PropellerPowered.com
Visit the: PROPELLERPOWERED SIG forum kindly hosted by Savage Circuits.
Comments
One thought would be to do what we've been forced to do on some company outings (actually at the last three employers spanning 20 years) for the same reasons:
Registration involves a fee. If you don't show, you don't get the fee back, so sorry.
If you cancel far enough ahead of time, no problem, full refund. (lenght of time varied based on event requirements)
If you show up, you get the registration back in some way shape or form. In some cases, cash. In others it was drink tickets (cash bar, tickets good as cash) or some other way of covering what otherwise would be an employee expense.
There are lots of "gotchas" for this particular situation. Dealing with payments at registration, refunds for those who cancel on time, and how to give the value back (cash, goods, raffle tickets or what).
Personally, I could see "requiring" registrants to buy X dollars worth of raffle tickets for the Red Cross. When you show up, you can enter them. If you don't show up, you just made a donation, either to the Red Cross, or to help offset the expense of waisted food.
Jeff, I can see you making faces at me, and understand the complications and negative implications. What I'm really hoping for is that these thoughts help trigger a more workable solution.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
John R.
Click here to see my Nomad Build Log
We've got some ideas which should help, but I thought I'd appeal to our attendees to do their part. [noparse]:)[/noparse]
(BTW, we were able to re-purpose about 90% of all of the leftovers, so very little was wasted. [noparse]:)[/noparse]
OBC
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Are you Propeller Powered? PropellerPowered.com
Visit the: PROPELLERPOWERED SIG forum kindly hosted by Savage Circuits.
When we were collectively talking about that at the end of the expo, the fact that this was a full 25% plus didn't register.· That high of a no show is rediculous on so many levels.· The amount of food waisted, the lack of anticiapted contacts for vendors, etc.
That's right folks 1/4 of you signed up for a free to you event, that was not free to the sponsors and vendor participants and didn't show up!
For those of us who find these Expos of value, we need to apply peer pressure to see that this doesn't happen in the future.· If sponsors/vendors start to see this type of thing as a pattern, they will think twice about coming, or committing money to sponser these events.
A certain amount of "no shows" are expected.· 25% is just plain rude.
There is a difficult balance to be had.· I'm quite certain the organizers don't want to discourage anyone from signing up, but by signing up "just in case I can go" is not fair to the sponsors, and in some cases also would not be fair to others who would like to go, but by the time they "know" that could attend, the expo is "full up".
Let's find a way to make this work for everyone.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
John R.
Click here to see my Nomad Build Log
A category of registration that says "I want to go, but may not make it". This category gets you a ticket, but not some of the "freebies" (e.g. meals and/or gift bags, etc.).
Alternately, have the ability to show up "un registered" with the same caviats, no freebies.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
John R.
Click here to see my Nomad Build Log
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
John R.
Click here to see my Nomad Build Log
I would not be at all averse to paying a small attendance fee, and I think that might be a viable way to keep the no-show problem down. If you had charged me something like $10 to attend, I would have still most certainly attended, and would have been very pleased at what I'd gotten for my money. If it had been (say) $30 I'd still have·been pleased, though that might be enough to make them·think twice about attending in some situations. Of course collecting a registration fee opens all sorts of other issues for the organizers, and you'd have to balance whether the improvement in ability to plan was worth the extra hassle.
UPEC was my first expo, and I really want to thank you, OBC, for the great job that you did. And of course Parallax was wonderful as well, as were the other attendees. I'm quite glad that I attended.
You might consider adding a forum here for Expo presentations. The idea would be that presenters could upload (or link to?) their materials (handouts, Powerpoints, photos/videos). I would like to see (Gadget Gangster) Nick's materials again, for example.
Post Edited (sylvie369) : 5/17/2010 9:53:53 PM GMT
Rich
I agree with OBC's approach and some of John/Rich's suggestions. If we knew that 25% wouldn't turn out we could have saved money on the unit cost/person and we could have provided those who attended with further benefits. Parallax's cost/person includes expense (accounting term) for those who don't attend, so I'm even more sensitive to this than OBC. These costs are in food, hardware packages, etc.
I can truthfully say that we're a generous company, to our team and customers. To do this we request a similar commitment from people who click on the "please register me" button.
A further problem is that a non-attendee has locked a position that somebody else may desire.
I recognize that situations happen and people are unable to attend, but they should use the cancellation process. Having been through this with our BASIC Stamp Educator's Courses, I could tell you that a registration with fee solved the problem. Not sure what to do here - it's up to OBC.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Ken Gracey
Parallax Inc.
Follow me at http://twitter.com/ParallaxKen for some insider news.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
My Prop Info&Apps: ·http://www.rayslogic.com/propeller/propeller.htm
My Prop Products:· http://www.rayslogic.com/Propeller/Products/Products.htm
You said.
"Not sure what to do here".
Not Register that ones to NEXT UPE's
Regards
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Nothing is impossible, there are only different degrees of difficulty.
For every stupid question there is at least one intelligent answer.
Don't guess - ask instead.
If you don't ask you won't know.
If your gonna construct something, make it·as simple as·possible yet as versatile as posible.
Sapieha
There is no perfect mix. And we will never have a meeting that cannot be improved. As it was, every seat in the lecture area was full. The demo area was full and everyone that came had something to offer, a Propeller tale to tell and the most fascinating array of of techno-life histories.
A remarkable experience for everyone.
Rich
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Check out the Propeller Wiki·and contribute if you can.
Not sure about rjo_, don't promote the event because newbies would get in the way of Prop-gurus?
OK, thats starting to sound like more a party for a high-school clique than an event to publicize and evangelize a commercial product.
BTW, if you have barely enough open spots for the existing Propheads, then this isn't really about increasing exposure of the product to new people. I guess thats why this is the 'Unofficial" event? I don't see an 'Official' event listed on the main website for 2010, so aside from Maker Faire in San Mateo, there is not much chance for the average hobbyist or engineer to get to any hands-on or face time with a real person?
I've helped run these sorts of things in the past, and the vendors fee usually helps cover the food and part of the space rental.
If the goal is to help vendors sell their products primarily, then you are probably on the right track.
If the goal is to increase interest among hobbyists and curious engineers, with an eye towards sales, then this seem pretty backwards.
You need the maximum number of interested parties actually able to get into the venue. A free slice of pizza or a soda is nice, but thats not why I am driving 14o miles from the Bay Area...
Bring that stuff in and sell it at cost, that way no complaints from vendors. Extra food is a pretty common thing at these types of events, check with the local foodbank or churches in the area for extra's. This should be pretty small expense as most of it has been covered by sales.
If there are free-bees being given away, then give everyone a ticket and pick numbers. Heck, have Prop running some app that keeps track of the numbers picked and allow people to go up and check their numbers. A Prop, little cell camera, character recognition, flash you card under the camera and it tells you if its been picked, yet.
Just my $0.02 worth having helped run some of these things. It just depends on what path you are looking to take, bringing the faithful together, or bringing others into... enlightenment. [noparse]:)[/noparse]
Sapieha has one idea that may work, especially if OBC can be the bad guy!
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Ken Gracey
Parallax Inc.
Follow me at http://twitter.com/ParallaxKen for some insider news.
Jeff, did you receive my cancellation? I know that I wrote to you, but my name was still on the list the last time I checked.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Ron aka sailman58
Ron, I did indeed! And some others.. Just trying to train the rest of our group. [noparse]:)[/noparse]
OBC
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Are you Propeller Powered? PropellerPowered.com
Visit the: PROPELLERPOWERED SIG forum kindly hosted by Savage Circuits.
<disclaimer>
Um, it's been a long week at work today, so I can't take responsibility for a few sarcastic (but hopefully humorous) comments. This one I really can't help, so my apologies to your significant other...
</disclaimer>
Careful there Sailman! If you are already giving up the prop expo for the relationship, you should probably start selling off your parts, tools, equipment, etc. You REALLY need to set the tone early on! Once you start down the road of self sacrifice, it is a dangerous and slippery slope!
On the other hand, I had my wife tail along. She watched and pretended to listen to two of the presentations but later said "I didn't understand anything they were talking about."
The part I really can't figure out, is she said she had a good time... She also went to the ATM to get more money for more "stuff". (Am I a luck guy or what!)
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
John R.
Click here to see my Nomad Build Log
Regarding a fee for the expo, in my opinion it would be a good idea.· The revenues would help cover the costs of running such an event.· But even with the fee, it is still proper to·communicate·your cancellation·- it was upsetting to see all that food there and not enough people to eat it.· I tried to eat it all but could not do it - I ate so much, I had to buy XXL shirts instead of the usual XL!
The fee for these·events doesn't need to be much, just enough to make people think twice before hitting that registration button.· I am pretty sure everyone that went would say it was a great value at the price of free and I bet they would say the same thing if the price was 10 or 20 dollars.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Chris
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Propeller Forums RSS Feed!
Gadget Gangster - Share your Electronic Projects
Bean
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Use BASIC on the Propeller with the speed of assembly language.
PropBASIC thread http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=867134
March 2010 Nuts and Volts article·http://www.parallax.com/Portals/0/Downloads/docs/cols/nv/prop/col/nvp5.pdf
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
There are two rules in life:
· 1) Never divulge all information
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice. [noparse][[/noparse]RUSH - Freewill]
My idea: free admission (as now) and pay for meals with some kind of additional "ticket." There was a huge (ginormous) amount of uneaten food at UPEC. I tried my best. but I couldn't begin to reduce the pile of leftover food.
Option 1: [noparse][[/noparse] ] I'm planning to attend
Option 2: [noparse][[/noparse] ] I'd like to have lunch/dinner ($5.00) <or whatever is reasonable>
Any uncollected giveaways could certainly go back to Parallax, thus losing only the cost of assembly/packing. Of course, there's still the problem of folks checking both options and then not showing up ... but at least the money is paid up front. And meal tickets would be necessary to gain admittance to the dining area.
I certainly wouldn't object to that scenario, and I would willingly pay up front for my meals. Or, opt to dine in a local eatery instead. Either way, it seems to benefit the community at large, and smooth the overall operation at least a bit.
Tom.
Paul
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Check out my new website!!
Use the Propeller icon!!
Follow me on Twitter! Search "Microcontrolled"
John Abshier
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Powered by enthusiasm
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Propeller Forums RSS Feed!
Gadget Gangster - Share your Electronic Projects
For years, I'd been involved with a local running race, which charged a non-refundable fee for entry -- and more if you waited until the day of the race to register. Break a leg and can't run? Lo siento mucho, but no refund! Moreover, day-of-race registrants were not guaranteed to receive a shirt on race day, although we did mail them out to finishers who had to wait, and they did get beer and bagels upon finishing. There's nothing wrong with a business model like this. It simply recognizes and deals effectively with the frailties of human nature and protects the sponsors from soaring costs.
-Phil
Just a thought[noparse]:)[/noparse]
-Phil