Speak at Collision Conference

Posted on March 7, 2018

Description:

The Collision Conference is “America’s fastest growing tech conference” and is happening next month in New Orleans. I’ve been asked to speak at this year’s event, which is a semi-honor, as other guests include almost-president Al Gore, actress and activist Sophia Bush, and, of course, Jillionaire Leacock of Major Lazer. Among others. And me, maybe. Here’s a link to the site:

collisionconf.com

Attending to present KmikeyM to a group of 700+ potential investors seems like a good idea, but the problem is there’s no speaker’s fee, and Collision wouldn’t cover my travel expenses or hotel. I predict the weekend would put me out of pocket by about $800.

Help me with the cost-benefit analysis. I’ve done some research and Collision seems well-regarded — it’s known at “the anti-CES” and has received good press. But is the opportunity worth the financial hit? I’m not sure.

I’ll be giving a short presentation, only about 15 to 20 minutes, and I’ll be able to use Sli.do, which allows for live Q+A and polls during a talk. If this passes, I’ll kick off my presentation with this vote, so leave a comment about why you’re voting yes or no.


Yes - 237.0

UserShares
Robby Russell ☕💯 106.0
curtiszimmerman 🎖 82.0
Medicalmack 20.0
awnelson17 ☕️🌮🕴 10.0
imcclintic 5.0
young9599 4.0
justdorkin 4.0
GriffithParker 3.0
Lisa 2.0
pvfofi 1.0
kingfred 0.0
jer 0.0

No - 2826.0

UserShares
aaronpk 💯☕️ 680.0
Josh Berezin ☕️💯 647.0
rugger 💯 304.0
davehayden ☕️💯 300.0
mathowie 💯☕️ 200.0
beau 💯 185.0
Ryan Feigh 💯☕️ 131.0
GeneM ☕️💯 104.0
rwalworth3104 56.0
Ryan Thompson 53.0
brendanjones 50.0
awmahan 💼☕️ 47.0
jrg3 15.0
danielpunkass 10.0
humanclock 8.0
Jos 🎖☕️ 6.0
freddy ☕️ 6.0
EyeScream 5.0
egli 4.0
Besst 2.0
TAF 2.0
chiyeung 2.0
skjain2 2.0
LeviMoore 1.0
CravenAcquisitionsLLC 1.0
Josh Kilpatrick 1.0
dev 1.0
hunterstack 1.0
Comb 1.0
foxmambo 1.0
cdrobison 0.0

Past Discussion

awmahan 💼☕️ (47.0 shares, voted no)
So are you a "speaker" or just doing a small presentation to a subset of attendees? I think conferences that don't, at the very least, pay travel expenses, are sort of bullshit. If they're such a big deal, they should be buying a plane ticket for their speakers.
davehayden ☕️💯 (300.0 shares, voted no)
Looks like a tech marketing wankfest. I don't see this being worth your time or money.
Josh Berezin ☕️💯 (647.0 shares, voted no)
I don't see how this delivers anything like $800 of value back to you.
beau 💯 (185.0 shares, voted no)
their site is janky and i second josh, probably not going to provide $800 + opportunity cost to attend back to you
aaronpk 💯☕️ (680.0 shares, voted no)
They are charging a minimum of $895 to attend. While I realize running a conference is not cheap, not paying your speakers when you're charging your attendees hundreds of dollars is B.S. If they were covering your flight and hotel but not paying you then I would be on the fence about it, but not even covering your flight this is a definite no.
skjain2 (2.0 shares, voted no)
Your time is worth more than this. Agree in full with @aaronpk
curtiszimmerman 🎖 (82.0 shares, voted yes)
Overall I agree with the reasons stated and, given the existing context, I would vote "no" if I were the tiebreaker decision. But I think if we played our cards right, this could be a lucrative opportunity, so I voted "yes" just to highlight that I think it could be a positive thing.
foxmambo (1.0 shares, voted no)
I can't imagine for one second that the other speakers you name are giving their time for free to this conference. It's a piss-take. Artists get asked all the time to do free stuff "for exposure", more often than not by institutions that cash in on their name and aura. A resounding no from me!
Ryan Thompson (53.0 shares, voted no)
Honor or no honor, speaking at a conference should come with at least a token honorarium.
Jos 🎖☕️ (6.0 shares, voted no)
Yeah, I vote no. Personally, "sharing the stage" with Al Gore is a deal-breaker for me, even if they paid you. I help run conferences here in Calgary. Even small ones pay plane fare and hotel for the out-of-town speakers we bring in.
GriffithParker (3.0 shares, voted yes)
New Orleans is a fun city which is good for your psyche and I trust your presentation would help recruit new shareholders and boost value so I vote yes. Try to make yourself a big enough star to get the trip paid for next time...
chiyeung (2.0 shares, voted no)
Hellllll no. Know your worth
GriffithParker (3.0 shares, voted yes)
New Orleans is a fun city which is good for your psyche and I trust your presentation would help recruit new shareholders and boost value so I vote yes. Try to make yourself a big enough star to get the trip paid for next time...
mathowie 💯☕️ (200.0 shares, voted no)
I was thinking yeah, sure, what the hell because I've done a few like this, but only when it was an awesome conference I already wanted to go to. This sounds like it's not that, so only go if you really need an excuse to visit New Orleans.
EyeScream (5.0 shares, voted no)
I was actively looking for a way to justify saying yes, but in the end couldn't find one. While I think you'd probably be able to drum up a few more investors, I don't feel like it'd be significant enough to justify both the time and cost. Seems like you could do just as well (or better) participating in more internet-based outreach/Q&A's/collaborations/etc.
brendanjones (50.0 shares, voted no)
No pay... no play.
justdorkin (4.0 shares, voted yes)
would be good press and lead to more and paying gigs.
Lisa (2.0 shares, voted yes)
Did you already use those free airline tix? This would be a good use for them.