As the New Year is upon us and we start to budget for conferences in 2009, it is time for the annual Flash conference price comparison post. This year the comparison is a little more in depth because it has more significance with the world's (and especially US) economy hitting some hard times. As a refresher, you can see my posts on this subject from 2007 and 2008.
I was prompted to start looking at conference prices for 2009 when I heard that Flash On The Beach Miami's Super Early Bird pricing has been extended through Christmas. John Davey, the conference organizer, sent me a short email stating, "I think everyone is worried about the economy, and although it is worrying me too, I think a show of 'giving back' will be appreciated." I agree, John. And, thanks!
So, without further delay, here is a breakdown of pricing comparing some of the 'major' Flash/Flex conferences:
| FOTB (Miami) |
FlashForward | FITC (Toronto) |
360|Flex | |
| Super Early Bird | First 100 tickets | |||
| Regular | $299 | n/a | $458 USD | $360 |
| Student | $149 | $230 | ||
| Flex Pass | $449 | $542 | ||
| Early Bird | Next 200 tickets | |||
| Regular | $429 | $899 | $542 | $480 |
| Student | $319 | $271 | ||
| Flex Pass | $559 | $625 | ||
| Standard | Last 100 tickets | |||
| Regular | $499 | $999 | $625 | $550 |
| Student | $249 | $313 | ||
| Flex Pass | $629 | $709 | ||
| Door Price | ||||
| Regular | $599 | $1099 | $709 | |
| Student | $299 | $355 | ||
| Flex Pass | $719 | $793 |
When looking at the table, you'll no doubt notice a few things right off. First, FlashForward continues to be the most expensive conference of the bunch at about a whopping 50% more expensive than FOTB or 306|Flex for the standard ticket price. I should mention that FlashForward has not posted their prices for 2009 and the table includes their 2008 pricing. Since the conference just changed hands last year (it was purchased by Beau Ambur of Metaliq) and they dropped the prices at that time, it is most likely safe to assume that they will keep the prices as-is this year.
Another item to consider is that with a new edition to be held in Miami, Flash on the Beach no longer requires international travel. My prior comparisons all had to take into account a flight to London and the very lopsided exchange rate for US Dollar to British Pound. With that no longer being necessary, FOTB is now even a better bargin for those of us in the States. Especially when you realize that all of the headlining speakers from the Brighton edition have also committed to speaking in Miami.
360|Flex has always had some of the lowest prices for a conference. They started out with all tickets priced at $360, but had since risen the price to $480. For their next conference they are taking a new approach of tiered pricing. As you can see above, the first 100 tickets are at the old $360 rate, the next 200 are at the standard $480 rate, and the last are at a premium rate of $550 (which is still about half of the cost of FlashForward).
Of course there is always the extra costs that go along with conferences like flight and hotel. Those certainly add to the cost, but for the most part are the same across the board (except in the case of international travel and/or exchange rates as mentioned previously), so I don't take those into consideration here.
What are your thoughts on the price of conferences in 2009? Am I missing any conferences that you would like to see added?
