Learn how we work with startups and entrepreneurs to deliver marketing strategies and tactical execution

inbox

Bubble Watch: Expensive Conferences

October 17, 2007 BY Mark Evans

Another thought about the growing fascination about whether there’s a dot-com bubble happening: conferences have become big business, especially in Silicon Valley.

Facts to consider: About 1,000 people are attending the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco this week. At $3,595 a ticket, that’s gross revenue of $3.6-million, not including money from sponsors such as Nokia, AOL, eBay and Microsoft.

This sold-out event comes on the heels of TechCrunch40 that saw 800 people cough up $2,500 a ticket, which is gross revenue of $2-million. (Cynthia Brumfield suggests this meant a cool profit of $2.1 million for the organizers, Jason Calacanis and Michael Arrington, after taking into account sponsorship.)

You can find my chicken list post about the bubble worries from earlier today here.

0
Subscribe to "This Week in Canadian Startups"
A weekly newsletter delivered to your inbox!

This entry was posted in Web 2.0. Bookmark the permalink.
  • http://www.stubbleblog.com/ Tony Stubblebine

    I don’t have first-hand knowledge of either conference, but I do know that most attendees at a conference are there for free or for a reduced price. I’d be surprised if either conference grossed more than $1M in registration. Also, running conferences isn’t cheap. I’m sure both of these events turned a profit, but I’m also sure it wasn’t the outrageous profit you suggest.

  • http://www.markevanstech.com Mark Evans

    You’re right, conferences aren’t inexpensive to arrange – something I have learned first-hand from helping organize the mesh conference in Toronto. That said, our prices are significantly less than the TechCrunch40 of the Web Summit. :)