How much does it cost?

[mojo]

How much does it cost an affiliate to go to a conference?

Just wondering.

edit: just in general

[pompeyrayuk]

Guess it depends on the location of conference and where you are located.
Also what comfort zone you wish to stay in.

[Daera]

I spent about $1400 going to Niagara. But I got last minute tickets and didn't get the room soon enough for the discount. I also could have gotten a cheaper room without a view of the falls.

It was worth every penny. It was worth twice that, because it was so beautiful and I enjoyed it so much.

I think going to a conference in Europe or someplace, would cost a bit more with the airline ticket. I think the main expenses you'll have is a room and airfare. If you get airfare early enough, you can find some deals. And sometimes you can find an affiliate that you already kind of know and feel comfortable with to share a room with and save on cost.

[GamTrak]

I figured the following is an average of what I spend at a conference for 5 days:

London - flight $900 total
Hotel - $250 a night - $1200 total (cheap)
Expenses - (Taxi, food & drink) $50 - $100 a day - $500 total

Expect to spend $2,500 to $3,000 per conference.

[Chips]

I dropped around 2100 last fall in Barcelona, that is Air, Room (5 nights) and all the other things. Total, out the door $2100.

[TheGooner]

These will not be typical for the board - but a reasonable representation of costs for affiliates from Australiasia, and perhaps parts of asia too.

For most European venues it would be long haul for us (40+ hours - two continental flights each way) so I'd only be prepared to go business class.

That's NZD $8000 return fares per person. Approx USD $5000.
We typically travel in pairs - it makes meetings and agreements easier to recall, confirm and deal with. So thats USD $10K


Throw in 3-4 nights accomodation, food, taxis, spending cash at (say) $500 total per day and we estimate around USD $12,000 for a global jaunt for two people.

It takes us out for about 8 days, and the "business value" done is minimal. A couple of good meetings - but mostly talk that seems forgotton - as the AM's are on a huge schedule of meetings.

-----------------

The "local" conference in Sydney last year was only a 3 hour flight - and we elected to go for just one night (two days).

That cost around NZD$2000 (approx USD$1300) and I considered that money / time well spent - despite it being a low key event - as there seemed more time to connect.

And it only take two (very long) days.

[mojo]

Interesting!

I would venture to guess that it would not be a regular thing for many affiliates. Maybe once a year?

I look forward to when we can do this in the USA. I know there are some and I would like to attend the next Vegas one or the next one in Canada.

I would love to meet up with everyone!

[Daera]

It is pretty regular for *some* affiliates. And for others not.

Personally, I'm not that excited about these conferences to go to all or even most of them. I wanted to go to a few, to meet the people we work with from the casinos etc, and the other affiliates we know (and don't know).

They are a lot of fun. I had a blast in Niagara. But imo, they're more of a party then anything else. For me, I think one conference a year is plenty. Or every two years.

I have gotten and still get a lot of good info from the forums, like GPWA. Much more than from conferences I think. Many of the conferences are more fun then educational or profitable I think.

[matted]

I try to go to one per year...

This year, I went to GPWA / Affiliate Summit in Las Vegas (January). It was done on the cheap. I did not get into ASW - didn't plan in advance to get a pass.

Round Trip (Raleigh, NC to Las Vegas): ~$200
3 Night Hotel (Wynn - I splurged): ~$400
Food; ~$100

Hung out with Michael and Steven and other folks... priceless

For the typical 5 day trip I typically spend ~$1000-1500... Biggest catch is keeping hotel costs down as the hotel of the convention is typically very expensive.

Not sure where I am going in 2010... Its tough with the kids.

[AmCan]

When i was making more money i tried to go to all. but i view them mainly as social events.

now, i'm trying to make europe once a year and hopefully stuff in canada at least once a year.

[alexpratt]

I think the costs can vary massively - for example I know some big affiliates that spend a fortune at these events from 5 star hotel suites to bottles and bottles in the clubs but on the otherhand if you budget well you can make these things pretty cheap (harder if you live out of Europe).

Fly with Easy Jet (or another cheap airline) stay in the cheaper hotels, eat at the conference and drink at the parties - Oh and tak advantages of generous AM's - I am great at getting a bargain so reckon I could cut this back to a pretty reasonable cost. In addition if I was an affiliate I would bring "the wife" and make it a bit of a holiday as well which is all good with tax etc

[GamTrak]

This year was rare for me as I just didn't want to make long international travel trips, (must be getting old) LOL but in the past I would hit at least two a year over the last six years.

Interesting!

I would venture to guess that it would not be a regular thing for many affiliates. Maybe once a year?

I look forward to when we can do this in the USA. I know there are some and I would like to attend the next Vegas one or the next one in Canada.

I would love to meet up with everyone!

[elgoog]

if you pay your taxes
you can deduct them as expenses, wich makes a differences of about 50% here....

[Renee]

How much does it cost an affiliate to go to a conference?

Just wondering.

edit: just in general

It should cost you no more than 3k (depending on your flight cost) to come to the conference in March in Sydney

[TrishOZ]

It should cost you no more than 3k (depending on your flight cost) to come to the conference in March in Sydney

And both Renee and I will buy you some drinks! Right Renee?

[Renee]

And both Renee and I will buy you some drinks! Right Renee?

Absolutely. Not only will I buy drinks, I will show you the best time that I can in my hood

[TrishOZ]

Absolutely. Not only will I buy drinks, I will show you the best time that I can in my hood

Now we're talking! Watch out Sydney!

[Renee]

Now we're talking! Watch out Sydney!

Hehe I just hope the conference in March is going to be going into a weekend (hint hint Alex). I'm actually kinda glad it's been moved to March. At least it will be hot. November is usually warm too, but not as warm as March.

So, mojo, when you gonna start booking for Sydney?

[MichaelCorfman]

I go to a lot of conferences and try to do it as inexpensively as possible.

For example, I went to the Niagara conference. I drove each way (460+ miles times two) so that was a little under $100 to cover the direct expenses of gas and tolls. Then, when I was there, I stayed at the conference hotel. Usually I don't to save some money, but I splurged so that was about USD $450 total for two nights. Add in a few incidentals, and the total cost was USD $600.

The previous conference I attended was Affilicon in Israel. Airfare from Boston was around $1,200 each for my wife and I. The hotel was about $170 a night in Tel Aviv for a double room, and we stayed there for a week, plus taxis and meals made it something like USD $2,200 each for my wife and I. We stayed for another week of vacation in other parts of Israel, so it actually cost us more, but that had nothing to do with the conference we were attending.

Michael

[Dominique]

I like the Vegas conferences for price. Some of the big casinos on the strip comp even on the first visit nowadays (you can ask me for details before you go) with low room prices and free meals or tickets to shows. It's gotten really inexpensive if one plans right.

Pubcon tends to draw a lot of folk from our industry and is a good conference for webmasters in general.

I run into both affiliates and aff managers there every time, would probably a good thing to try for a common meeting place and time this year and see what the actual turnout is. Often I don't even attend the conference and just meet with folks...