On 06.02.2014 15:33, Riccardo Attilio Galli wrote: > I've just subscribed to the mailing list and I can't insert myself in older > discussions, sorry for this new thread. > > Last year me and my girlfriend participated to the Florence conference. We > paid 340€ (early bird, 100 for a lite ticket and 240 for a standard ticket). > > This year we should pay 600€. > > Now I read on this list that the prices are "comparable". I can't see how. > Maybe these prices are driven by the costs of living in Berlin and the > organizers have done their best, but I find them unaffordable. The fact > that other conferences cost more doesn't change much, and we should compare > the costs only between Europython editions (every conference has different > policies about volunteering/launches/etc.). > > I suppose that the main problem is that the Berlin conference is "all > inclusive", with trainings included. > Last year I had an hard time choosing between the standard and lite ticket, > giving that if you follow a training, you miss the conference, and the > opposite is also true. But while I could gain something from a couple > trainings, my girlfriend, neo programmer, would just throw her money away. > > This year I wouldn't pay for the trainings, because my last three year > experience tell me that I like more to follow the conference, but I can't > choose anymore, and my girlfriend neither. The result is a disheartening > huge increase in the cost of our participation. > > We may ask for a discount for my girlfriend "because she's a woman and does > some coding", but we both find it immoral. > > The result is that we will probably not participate (unless my boss is > struck by lightning (in a positive way)), quite certainly not her. > > I can't see how beginners can justify such prices, and I don't think that > the Europython want to be for seasoned well paid pythonistas only. > > On another note, I'm dubious that it's possible to offer trainings to > everybody. There must be a maximum number of seats and ratio > people/trainers to receive a quality teaching, and a free for all will > probably means early assaults to take a reservation, or loose the training. > > I can only hope that these prices don't end up as a reference for next > editions, unless to set the top of the bar. I wish also that the trainings > will be optional again in the next editions.
Hi Riccardo, thank you for your open words. It is true: the ticket prices this year are higher than we all liked. Unfortunately, the venue costs in Berlin are a lot higher than in Florence. This is mainly due to EuroPython hitting the 1000 attendee level for 2014, which results in the conference needing venues specialized in running larger conferences. Those typically have a higher cost per attendee, since they can't rely on mix calculations such as hotels often apply (taking both room nights and attendee costs into account). The EPS ran the Berlin budget against several different pricing structures (including the one used in Florence), but it turned out that the one chosen by the local organizers in Berlin results in the lowest average prices for everyone. Please do consider using the financial aid program if you can't afford the prices. We are a community after all, so people who have no problem with the higher prices can fund people who would not be able attend otherwise. This is what the financial aid program is all about and there's nothing to feel immoral about when using it, really :-) Thanks, -- Marc-Andre Lemburg Director EuroPython Society http://www.europython-society.org/ _______________________________________________ EuroPython 2014 Berlin, 21th27th July EuroPython mailing list EuroPython@python.org https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/europython
