Keith Shirley | 
September 20, 2009| 
Yesterday we ran our second Bizcamp – this time in the Guiness storehouse. The event was a great success and I’d like to say a big thanks to all the speakers for donating their time and of course the sponsors for their money.
At one of the last timeslots of the day we had our own session to discuss what we did to organise the event and to show where the money went. We had some very useful feedback from the attandents as well. Normally at these events I’d have a big list of things that I think could have been done better – this time it’s more a list of things we can do to make it a little different.
Of the 499 registered attendants we had 291 people turn up. We probably had a few more come in without registering. Feedback from a number of people was that for a free event this was good – that a 50% dropoff rate is normal. I find it disappointing – and really unfair if people registered with no real intention of going. It basically meant
- We had loads of people that couldn’t come because we had closed the registration.
- We had 120 portions of lunch wasted – money that could have been used for other things
- It reduces the effectiveness of the event
At the review meeting suggestions were made that a number of people registered only with the intention of having their name listed. I suspect they are right. It means that we will have to limit what people can write – and will have extra work next time to try and verify registrations. Keep in mind that this work is voluntary.
We also had one no-show for the speakers – that’s twice as annoying. We had circa 70 people who wished to speak and only 40 time slots. Considering the talk was on time management there were a lot of jokes about the speaker not having the time etc etc. A phone call would have been nice – we could have slotted someone else in or at least warning the attendees so they could go to other sessions.
I hope this post is not coming across as a whinge. The event went really well – we had great comments from people on how much they learned and the contacts they made. I’m certainly glad I did it.
September 20th, 2009 at 17:06
Well Done Keith! Great day all round. While it’s annoying that there were many that didn’t show up, it wasn’t apparent to the attendees. It didn’t spoil the experience. You all did great work – fair play!
September 20th, 2009 at 17:30
Keith, you and your team did a fantastic job and thank you so much for your time and effort and for the opportunity to speak.
You are well entitled to whinge on the points you raised. I’d be happy to pay a nominal charge – contribution towards food and admin – even if only €10. I don’t think it would impact the spirit of the event and would give BizCamp some funds – perhaps even a prize for a Bizcamp entrepreneurial competition.
Once again, many thanks
Una Coleman
http://www.codegaconsulting.com
September 20th, 2009 at 17:39
Thanks Sarah – That’s good to know.
I guess on the other side it could have made some of the talks over packed. As it was some were very popular.
September 20th, 2009 at 19:09
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mark Cahill and keithshirleyblg. keithshirleyblg said: Bizcamp Dublin: Yesterday we ran our second Bizcamp – this time in the Guiness storehouse. The event was a.. http://twurl.nl/elduvl [...]
September 20th, 2009 at 19:21
Hi Keith,
It was a great event. As I said on the day I was just blown away with your ability to run an event for 500 people on such a low budget all gathered from sponsors with no registration cost kudos!
We did I-HCI 2009 recently for €50 a head for 2 days which we thought was a steal. I also went to an international event (which I won’t name) with 80 people and a €600 registration for 3 days!
It’s easy to let the costs run away with themselves.
You had hundreds of people, a great buzz, wonderful speakers and 0 registration cost. Again, congrats I got great value from the event and the contacts.
I think there is a lot of good will in Ireland you can tap into. I suggest you form a steering committee and expand the organising committee for the next BizCamp.
For example, I know two of my postgrads who are about to move into startup mode who would be most interested to pitch in. The have both run businesses before and would be keen to get involved. (Well they will be keen when I suggest it to them next week).
I think this applies across the board. Follow up with everyone who attended and see if you can get some people to commit to help plan the next one.
Best,
Aaron.
September 20th, 2009 at 19:21
Keith & the whole bizcamp team,
it was a great day. Not one of the sessions I attended wasn’t good & only 1 wasn’t jammed. I do not know how you would have fitted many more people. You can see a vid of me talking about my morning at http://qik.com/meylerv. Sound us terrible because there were SO many people chatting in the background!
Well done – I might even volunteer to talk at the next one
Roseanne
September 20th, 2009 at 20:32
I know a few people who very genuinely couldn’t come but the other non attendees can go to hell, especially if they didn’t tell anyone they couldn’t make it. And I really, really hate to see food wasted.. I ate as much as I could!
Would charging a nominal fee not sort this out? Sometimes the more you give the more people take the piss. I’d be quite happy to pay for a quality event like this from which I took a shit load of great tips, ideas and business cards.
September 20th, 2009 at 20:35
I must say I thought it went extremely well. I had thought that there were less than 500 there, but had everyone turned up all the rooms would have been over-packed for every speaker. Well done on the whole team for organising an outstandingly successful event on a tight budget. I’m already looking forward to the next one. I think getting people to show an interest in attending first and confirming a few days before the event would weed out the people who have no real intention of attending.
September 20th, 2009 at 21:49
[...] of the 499 registered, there were 291 there and i know for a fact there were people there who hadn’t signed up so i’m guessing [...]
September 21st, 2009 at 09:00
Well done to you all for organising a wonderful event. Myself and everyone else I talked to since the event left Bizcamp on Saturday richer in knowledge!
Thanks
September 21st, 2009 at 09:26
Keith,
Thanks for the organising, ye guys did a great job.
I got a lot from the event, and also enjoyed meeting the other attendees.
Maybe charge a tenner next time to register …
September 21st, 2009 at 10:06
Keith,
Although I could only make the afternoon sessions, I got a lot of information from the speakers I heard. I thought the facilitation of audience participation was also very useful in terms of pooling knowledge. A definite for my diary for the next event. Many thanks and well done.
September 21st, 2009 at 10:08
Thank you everyone for your feedback.
I agree that adding a few people to the steering committee for the next one will help. That will enable us to spread the load and control the registrations a little better.
I’m not sure if charging (even just a tenner) goes against the ethos of the event but I can see that it might be necessary to do so next time. Aaron – your suggestion of giving something to the value of the registration back when they turn up was very interesting. As you said – it basically makes it a no cost event for those that turn up.
One interesting change for this event was how many people went to the talks rather than staying in the networking area. For other “camp” events there has generally been a lot more discussion taking place outside the sessions.
We could have handled the 500 if this had been repeated. If not we might have been in trouble.
We discussed this on the day and were wondering if it’s because of the way the event is split up over multiple floors.
If anyone has suggestions for a venue with meeting rooms focused around a central gathering area then let me know.
September 21st, 2009 at 10:44
Keith
You guys did a great job. The event was excellently planned and very professionally run in all aspects.
I think the different levels did cause issues, but more down to the fact that the storehouse was a bit difficult to navigate. I think I asked you at least 3 times where the stairs were!!!
It’s a pity so many people didn’t turn up. It was my first year and I was sceptical of how good it would be and I have to admit I was blown away. Will definitely return to the next one!
Thanks for all the hard work!
September 21st, 2009 at 11:33
[...] Bizcamp Dublin by Keith Shirley [...]
September 21st, 2009 at 12:12
Hi Keith,
I’m one of the offending non-attenders and I feel really bad now. I can honestly say that I didn’t just add my name to the list to have it there – I genuinely had planned to go.
I’d been feeling unwell since Thursday and wouldn’t have been able for Saturday.
I did let some people know – not sure if they passed it along as I knew they’d be busy.
I’m sorry that I missed out. The loss is mine entirely.
Just wanted to drop you a little note to explain my absence and hope that I can more than make up for it the next time around by helping out in whatever format I can.
Denise
September 21st, 2009 at 13:44
Hi Denise – Thanks for letting me know – and don’t feel bad.
It’s all a learning experience – now I know that for next time we need some form of reminder and confirmation system.
September 21st, 2009 at 15:05
Hi Keith,
I thought bizcamp was brilliant – you and the team did a fantastic job!
Sorry for skipping out on lunch and the afters! If lunch is on offer again next time I suggest something that is transportable (sandwiches & apples are good) so that extra food can be donated to a shelter. (I used to do that at the conferences & meetings I organised in DC.)
Cheers, Gina (@bassovita)
September 22nd, 2009 at 21:55
[...] http://www.verticalbones.com/2009/09/notes-and-quotes-from-bizcamp-dublin/ http://www.keithshirley.ie/blog/2009/09/20/bizcamp-dublin/ http://www.smemon.com/back-from-bizcamp/ http://www.smemon.com/bizcamp-in-more-depth/ [...]
September 23rd, 2009 at 16:24
Keith and crew.
Well done indeed for a very useful and beneficial day. I went there to help and be helped. I hope I did the first and can report that I definitely did achieve the latter.
It would be useful for those who did set a goal and achieve it to report how useful it was for them so that others can raise their game and look to achieve closing a deal, or manage to engage with enough people to meet afterwards that it was worth their while.
For me it was great too, catching up with old acquaintances and meeting lots more.
Happy to help if I can to anyone who might need it, send me an email.
Gerry Brandon