Some things need to be said. I deeply love community/non-profit events, local groups and meet-ups — all run on incredible efforts of humble, kind people working hard to bring people together. These are incredible people doing incredible work. This message isn’t for them.
At the same time, I'm very sad to see a huge number of commercial events (with ticket prices beyond $450) that expect speakers to speak for free and don't cover flights and accommodation. That's a toxic, broken culture with a fundamental lack of respect for time, effort and work.
Yes, venues are expensive, and yes, so is catering, and yes, speaking budget are limited. But before spending thousands on food and roll-ups and notebooks and pins, allocate decent budgets for coaching and helping speakers, especially new speakers in the industry.
Setting up a conference is a wonderful thought, but you need a financial plan of what it costs and how much you can spend. It's not acceptable to push the costs over to speakers, and it's not OK to expect them to cover their flights for "exposure".
On a personal note, I've been speaking a lot over all these years (Vitaly), yet I rarely get any consultancy projects from "exposure" on stage, and more often than not the time away from family and company costs much more than a honorarium provided. You decide what's OK for you.
It's remarkable how every now and again organizers take pride in providing you with a free Platinum Pass that grants access to all the talks and tracks (which apparently costs $2500) yet unwilling to cover more than 1 night accommodation or cover flights.
Dear speakers, it's not OK not to be paid at commercial events. Don't submit proposals to conferences with a high ticket price that wouldn't cover your expenses. Come up with a fair honorarium for your time, and if possible make exceptions for non-profits and community events.
Dear speakers, be very careful with conferences you speak at — and feel free to ask around how other speakers were treated at the event! I’d be happy to help any time, too. I'm sure @rachelandrew @brucel @amanda
@mariondita @charis and our entire team would love to help, too.
@mariondita @charis and our entire team would love to help, too.
Dear organizers, respect your speakers. No fancy bells and whistles required; no fancy speaker dinners or speaker gifts. But always offer to pay speakers, even if it isn't much, and always cover their expenses first. Help new speakers grow. Their time, work and efforts matter. ❤️
