Since I was lucky enough to be included in your post above, I wanted to add some clarification for what it is worth:

1. My original point in letting you know that ‘attendance’ at BLC 08 will not require being in Boston, but can done virtually is thanks to Alan thinking of possibilities to increase attendance…not as a ‘money-making scheme’. Hey, he is a consultant/speaker and business guy, so he has to pay for his offerings/events, but his intention is pretty straight forward. You can attend on a wide array of platforms in ‘formal’ ways through his offerings.
2. The informal offerings — such as Skypecasts that David Jakes and others provided so that you and I could interact without being in the same room — will still undoubtedly occur; probably better tools available to facilitate the ‘free’ version next year, too.
3. If Alan (and team) blocked the on-the-fly versions (like the Skypecasts) in 08 to protect his bottom line, I’d say that something vital was lost in the mix. I think the best ‘quality’ videos, etc., will be available via paid offerings through his partners who will help underwrite and guarantee server load, etc.. But the ‘in process’ elements (like Skypecast) will most likely still be available for anyone.
4. BTW, many of us — like me — use personal funds when my school/employer won’t pay for my conferences…when I see it as a can’t-pass-up moment for my larger career. Even as a presenter, I paid out of my own pocket for the travel/hotel side of things, while Alan’s team was kind enough to forgo the conference fees itself. I never once felt held-back because someone else was not willing to pay for something I wanted to attend; I simply saw it as a life and professional investment. The goal is to not just attend a great conference (by any means necessary) but to offer a presentation yourself. Sometimes this waives the conference tix fees; sometimes you actually get paid. And when you aren’t there F2F, we are all blessed in this day and age to even have virtual options. Beginning to complain because someone wants to pay for their efforts and to get paid in return has little value in the larger world of ideas/events. Instead, we need to adore the gold-rush of virtual opportunities and info-share we do have.
5. If you can’t join ‘em, build your own. Why don’t you create your own conference…just as Alan did 8 years ago…and see what happens? He had something like 50 people the first year, and probably not from around the world. This year he doubled his participants from last year alone, so it wasn’t too long ago that he was probably just barely breaking even. This year and beyond? He’ll probably do better, but not as a guarantee. But again, he had a vision 8 years ago (or before)…and he built it on his terms. How about your vision: conference planner and presenter?

Cheers to you for pushing on the potential issue…and also for learning in transparent terms. And so pleased that the virtual connections of BLC allowed the 2 of us to cross paths on many fronts. Good day to be alive and teach!

Cheers, Christian

Streaming is expensive. That means having physically larger pipes (i.e. digging up concrete), camera people, sound people and technical help. Charging for it is, at the moment, the only possible way to pay the way. The charge could be met through sponsorship, but that’s entirely Alan’s choice as a businessman – he’s been doing this long enough to know whether there’s a market for it.

I’ll be honest – I think Alan really DOES get it and he is keen to have more the the free Skyping in, backchannelling, blogging and so on.

If you want a quality audio video feed, that can be viewed live and in HD quality, live so that you can interact on the Skypechats *as if you were there* then there is a disproportionate price tag, such is the nature of that technology at the moment. But, in return, you get an “almost there” experience.

I think there is a huge misunderstanding. Alan talked about live streaming video to sites for virtual participation. To do this he will need to hire people and pay fees for the bandwidth for the video. That cost money and the fees he charges would cover his cost.

His comment about charging a fee was not for the type of participation you took part in during the conference.

Also, video and materials from BLC are posted.

My humble comments,

Jim

And what they aren’t getting is the fact that they cannot put a price on virtual learning………

I can tell you for certain that they cannot block skype calls in — they cannot block twitter — they cannot block blog posts — and they cannot block wikis –

They can put a price tag perhaps on their provided content — but they cannot put a price tag on our received content.

I think honestly that Alan November is perhaps kneejerking and will hopefully rethink this.

If not, I feel a rebellion coming on — for when you start to block content (in this case putting a price tag on it) — we, will figure out a way to find a workaround.

Thanks for the post — it was well written.

Jen