Every year we get various questions and feedback on Tech Ed and the way it is managed.
This year we took some criticism with regards to the tickets selling out in a short time (slightly less than three weeks).
Firstly I’ve heard/read/seen people asking why we don’t lock down the content before Tickets go on sale. It seems like the ideal thing to do, and I’d love to do it, however the reality is that many speakers are not organized and so can’t commit to speaking sometimes until a few weeks before the event. On top of that the last month before Tech Ed is spent dealing with speakers who have committed to come but for whatever reason can no longer keep that commitment. So while we’d like to have the event locked down well in advance the reality is that I was making changes to the schedule within a week of the event starting for a variety of reasons.
Then there is the issue of selling out so quickly. I’ve dealt with this here, but it was disappointing that many who wanted to come to Tech Ed didn’t even know that tickets were for sale until after the event had sold out. We are already thinking through what to do next year. Ideally we’d split the event between Sky City and the Aotea Centre (which is a short walk away) – however the Aotea Centre is closed for refurbishment and it causes other problems with things like the market place and shared sessions (e.g. Security sessions) which are popular with both IT Pros and developers.
There are a bunch of options on the table and you’ll know more as we get further down the track. Our goal is next year to not have the difficulties with selling out we had this year and to make Tech Ed available to more people.
If you have any ideas of how we can make Tech Ed better or more accessible, feel free to drop me a line or leave a comment.
How about splitting the IT Pros and developers in two separate events? This is how the North American one is done – they have Tech·Ed 2008 Developers and Tech·Ed 2008 IT Professionals.
Thanks Stuart, we are looking into that. It has ramifications on the Marketplace and overall costs which we’ll need to deal with, but it is something we are seriously investigating.
what about a paid subscription to techedlive that broadcasts all sessions live? I know it’s not the same as being there, but might be one way to cope with the demand.
I think the problem is that NZ doesn’t have many annual conferences, so when TechEd rolls around, everyone wants to come along. I’m one of the ones who missed out because tickets sold out too early. I knew when tickets were on sale, but it was too far out from the event for me to confirm that I could go due to potential work and family commitments.
I don’t think cost would be a problem as you’d be running two conferences with more attendees in total. So you’d be able to share resources between the two conferences, but still bring in more paying attendees. The marketplace should be fine too as there would be more people visiting.