Oh yeah, and if you're paying speakers, You're Doing It Wrong. The speakers should be drawn from the attendees/members.
If a speaker is a "guest of honor" (say a major keynote) you should comp them their conference membership, and possibly cover their hotel room and travel (which you'd arrange). That's it.
No paid speakers. No "sponsors," either. Just members. Hundreds of conventions with a great many thousands upon thousands (potentially millions) of members make this work every year in sci-fi and the areas that have branched off from it like anime and comics.
An unconference (like us) can get away with that. A "real" conference often cannot. While certainly not every speaker should be paid, having known names for keynotes is important. Even just comping travel gets very pricey for small conferences.
Also remember in the scifi, anime, and comic con worlds, many of those people who offer to speak for free are doing it as a marketing expense. Nothing wrong with that, but it should be recognized because, depending on your conference, it can alter the flavor. We've been very explicit: no direct marketing.
Comments
Oh yeah, and if you're paying speakers, You're Doing It Wrong. The speakers should be drawn from the attendees/members.
If a speaker is a "guest of honor" (say a major keynote) you should comp them their conference membership, and possibly cover their hotel room and travel (which you'd arrange). That's it.
No paid speakers. No "sponsors," either. Just members. Hundreds of conventions with a great many thousands upon thousands (potentially millions) of members make this work every year in sci-fi and the areas that have branched off from it like anime and comics.
An unconference (like us) can get away with that. A "real" conference often cannot. While certainly not every speaker should be paid, having known names for keynotes is important. Even just comping travel gets very pricey for small conferences.
Also remember in the scifi, anime, and comic con worlds, many of those people who offer to speak for free are doing it as a marketing expense. Nothing wrong with that, but it should be recognized because, depending on your conference, it can alter the flavor. We've been very explicit: no direct marketing.