Your 2015 MN Blogger Conference organizers have been hard at work getting ready for this year’s event. The date and location are set, so now it’s time to get on to our other announcements.
Call for Speakers
Our call for speakers is NOW OPEN. You’ll have just over 3 weeks to put together your talk proposal before the deadline on July 24, 2015.
The speaker selection committee will meet at the end of July to evaluate all of the submissions. All speakers who submitted a talk will receive an update on their acceptance status by August 1st.
Schedule
Confirmed speakers & sessions will be posted the week of August 3rd, along with our general conference schedule. A more specific schedule will be posted as details are finalized throughout the end of the summer & early fall, including information about our after party.
Ticket Sales
We’ve got some changes we’re implementing this year, so there are two pieces to this announcement.
- Tickets will go on sale the first week in August. Unlike previous years, they will not be released in waves and will instead be first come, first serve.
- Tickets will be priced at $20 per attendee. Tickets include access to all conference sessions, lunch, and the after party.
We anticipated some questions about the change from a free conference to a paid one, so we put together a little FAQ below.
Are you guys selling out on us?
Absolutely not. We’re still committed to putting on a great event that supports and connects the local blogging community. There’s a lot of money that goes into putting on a conference of this size, and at the end of the day, we need to make sure those costs are covered. Sponsors help offset those costs quite a bit, and in the past, we’ve covered any leftover expenses ourselves. Now that the conference has grown to 3 tracks and 300+ bloggers, we have to set up systems to keep it operating smoothly year over year.
Where does the money go?
All ticket sales and sponsorship dollars will go towards conference costs. The organizers do not profit monetarily from this event. (Though Jen might argue it’s one of her most lucrative events for getting hugs.)
One of the biggest reasons for us implementing a ticket fee is to allow us to operate the conference more efficiently on an ongoing basis throughout the year. All funds we receive go into a reserve we can draw on for venue deposits, catering, advertising, and other overhead costs. Money is first allocated to cover expenses for the current year’s conference. Anything left over will go into the bank as a reserve for next year’s event.
Why $20 for a ticket?
We know similar conferences that charge $100 and up for people to attend. And we know we could probably charge in that range, but that’s not what we’re about. We want to keep the MN Blogger Conference accessible and affordable for local bloggers to attend.
We know we can deliver a great value for attendees compared to the ticket price, and we feel confident that $20 is a price point we can maintain for several years to come.
Will speakers & volunteers still receive a free ticket?
Absolutely yes. We couldn’t do this without you. Selected speakers will receive their ticket code upon confirmation of participation. Volunteer opportunities will not be announced until late summer/early fall – if any confirmed volunteers have already purchased their ticket at that time, we will gladly issue them a refund.
If you have other questions, please feel free to reach out to us directly at mnblogcon@gmail.com.
Photo: Joe Lanman on Flickr