Lotus Geek :: Lotusphere Friday: Update on the wayward CLP discount

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Well, seems there has been a little bruhahah developing in the blogosphere (hi Greyhawk, Andrew, and Volker) concerning the increase in price in Lotusphere registration coupled with the lack (so far) of a CLP discount. Well, as reported by Ed on his blog (here), Ed, Alan, and I have taken the Lotusphere folks to task for not providing some relief for their most devoted constituency, the CLP faithful. We have no idea if our efforts are going to be successful or not - but please note that we're trying, and the Lotusphere Queens have indicated that they are taking another look at it.

But with that being said, I do want to play a bit of Devil's Advocate here (channeling Al Pacino - some of you will get that

) - "I'm a FAN of CLPs!"

Seriously, I do want to set proper expectations; but before I begin let me state clearly for the record that the following is my own opinion - I have not been told any of this, it is simply my speculation.

Lotusphere has been one of the best values in technical conventions in the world, especially the last few years. And during that time the "street price" (i.e. the price that the bulk of the attendees actually pay) has not gone up. That price has remained at around $1200 or so during that entire time - and the costs for presenting Lotusphere have continued to climb (with fuel costs being the underlying reason, I believe - everyone passes that increased operating cost on to the customer - simple economics). Not only have the operating costs continued to climb, but the stuff we present has continued to get better. Therefore I think you can assume that a price increase was inevitable. Now, a roughly 30% increase? I know, that is a bit of a hike; and it would have been better to do small increases each year. I get that. But the fact remains that costs have gone up, and the price was destined to go up as well.

So, while Ed, Alan, and I are letting it be known that we believe some discount should be provided to the CLPs - at least in the spirit of Barbara Bowen if nothing else - you should also realize that I doubt we're going to get $1195 again. What will we get? No idea. If I had to guess - and remember, this is just me guessing, not a statement of IBM or anything - I think it will be the same as the group discount, which is $1595. Hopefully more, no doubt, but that's what I am guessing will happen, since that price point is already in place.

So, to sum it all up: the Lotusphere powers-that-be are aware of the disgruntledness of the CLPs specifically, and the community in general. They are taking another look at the discount for CLPs, and we should know something soon. But don't expect miracles, and have proper expectations, ok?

That ends my Devil's Advocate. Now, where is Charlize Theron or Connie Nielsen to help me stay in character?

Rock
**A good friend will come and bail you out of jail...but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, *Damn...that was fun!*

Comments

1 - Yup, you're right, must've pulled my numbers from 04. I looked through email and found the same one you did (for $1395), although my emails (while not complete) still make it look like we were $100 less than the early bird.

If it wasn't that way, its the impression I've always had in my emails to other people when trying to cost justify the event. Maybe I've been wrong all these years... who knows

Thanks for keeping me honest... And I agree, the late expiry is the best part.

-Grey

Posted by Greyhawk68 At 03:18:55 PM On 08/25/2006 | - Website - |

2 - I would hope that nobody's expecting that the price come back down to the $1195 level for CLP's, especially as the other pricing levels have gone up. The thing to me is more the one-two punch of the price increase in combination with the dropping of the CLP discount.

That's a little harder to swallow than if they were both done on separate years. There'd still be complaints, because any time there's a chance to give feedback, there will always be complaints, but I think it would have been as bad.

Posted by Scott Gentzen At 09:42:55 AM On 08/25/2006 | - Website - |

3 - My take on this is that LS is far and away the best value conference of the year and whilst everyone comments on price changes I don't see that many people commenting on the added and expanded content we've been getting the past few years (Sunday Jumpstarts, Hands On Sessions, more BOFs etc). Each year it comes down to the same judgement call for me - do I want to go and is it worth the money for what I get out of it - the answer every year including this one is the same - my ticket is bought.

of course before anyone else points it out.. I do have that whole strong pound thing going for me

Posted by Gab Davis At 11:25:47 PM On 08/26/2006 | - Website - |

4 - Assuming that IBM raised the price after analysis or though, I think it is a good thing. By that I mean interest in the conference and by extension Lotus is strong enough to absorb a price increase.

As a BP, I am pleased when the product showcase sells out. I was especially pleased to hear that new BPs were exhibiting for the first time last year.

Posted by David Price At 09:15:36 AM On 08/25/2006 | - Website - |

5 - It is, from what I have heard.

Sorry.

Rock

Posted by Rock At 12:59:00 PM On 09/02/2006 | - Website - |

6 - Let us know how that Charlize Theron thing works out.

Posted by Manning Clark At 09:50:12 PM On 08/26/2006 | - Website - |

7 - According to Sandra, the answer is no
I hope this is not their final answer

Posted by Sean Harris At 12:09:50 AM On 08/31/2006 | - Website - |

8 - First, I want to thank everyone for the understanding on my position on this matter. I am actually very happy about the responses - when I told Ed I wanted to post this we both thought I'd catch some crap for my position. But once again you've proven that you're an astute group of people, and that you know a good value when you see it; however when things just "don't seem right", you'll speak out about them as well. And folks, that is why this is the best technical community on the planet, and why we happen to have the best technical conference on the planet - because of YOU, the Lotus Collaborative Technologies Community.

Oh, and before anyone further comments on Gab saying "But But But YOU are a SPEAKER - you get a free conference registration!" I can tell you from personal knowledge that a) Gab always buys a ticket for herself every year, in case she isn't chosen as a speaker; and b) her (and her husband Tim's) company, The Turtle Partnership { Link } buys quite a few tickets for Lotusphere every year (and they travel to the show from London), so they are quite cognizant of the costs involved in registering and attending.

But, I doubt anyone was going to even mention that - because I know what kind of people are around here, and they understand the bigger picture without picking on the petty things.

I'll be in Phoenix this next week for the Advisor Summit conference { Link } , but as soon as I hear anything regarding the CLP discount I'll post it right away (as I am sure Ed will too).

Take care, and thanks again folks - you ROCK!

Posted by Rock At 01:09:00 AM On 08/27/2006 | - Website - |

9 - Thanks Rock, Ed, and Alan for looking into this. Much appreciated.

With the thought that accuracy just may allow this discount to become a reality again, here's the Lotusphere registration fee I paid the last few years:
LS 2003 - 1695
LS 2004 - 1195 (first year that CLP discount was available)
LS 2005 - 1395 (CLP discount)
LS 2006 - 1395 (CLP discount)

Maybe the $500 figure came from the 2003 - 2004 delta...

For me, the important part of the CLP discount was the late expiry. As noted in last year's email:

"While you'll see some other emails floating around about Lotusphere discounts, notice that this special pricing will be available until December 2, 2005 only for the Lotus certified community. Other specials for general attendees will stop on October 14th and the registration fee will go up to $1595.00 USD per person and then on December 3rd, it will go up to $1795.00 per person."

So, in the end, the CLP discount the last couple years was $400 off the most expensive registration fee (i.e. a late one). It simply matched the "early-bird" discount available to everyone, but with a much later expiry.

Given that, it should be easy to bring the CLP discount back. Right? Not that I'd complain if another $100 was knocked off...

Thanks.

- Rod

Posted by Rod Stauffer At 02:26:49 PM On 08/25/2006 | - Website - |

10 - Hi Rock, I don't really mind the overall increase to be honest. I understand that prices go up. That much in a short period raised my eyebrows, but the overall conference prices being raised wasn't a concern.

I just didn't like the fact that they apparantly dropped the CLP discount and didn't really let anyone know.

If you think about it last year, Early Bird pricing was $1295 and full price was $1695. We got a discount of $500 of the full price. So that brought us down to $1195. It was only $100 difference with the Early Bird. But, the big difference is we could wait to register until later. Some of us don't like to pay up front 6 months in advance, and this allowed us to wait, and still get the best price.

So I would be fine with the $1595 this year (being a $500 discount from the full $2095 price) That would keep it in line with last year and allow us to still feel special

We're still paying $400 more than last year ourselves, just $100 less than the geneneral populace.

Thanks for working on this on our behalf... Much appreciated!

Posted by Greyhawk68 At 10:42:46 AM On 08/25/2006 | - Website - |

11 - Rock: Your quote for the day, "A good friend will come and bail you out of jail...but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, *Damn...that was fun!" I have on a t-shirt. Given to me by a very good friend, no less. Yes, I do get comments and laughs from it.

Posted by Gregg Eldred At 10:54:05 AM On 08/25/2006 | - Website - |