CIDC 2023 is now just less than 6 weeks away. (CidcLive.com)
Looking at the attendee list I was struck by the fact that most of the people who have registered are repeat-attendees - they’ve already attended one before.
This lead me to two conclusions, the first is that we’re doing something right - people are getting enough value out of the event to want to come back and do it again. The second is that we’re not doing a good job explaining that value to people who haven’t been, and perhaps don’t understand the value proposition.
ClarionLive is a volunteer, community organization. None of us get paid by ClarionLive. We all have day jobs that pay the bills. The weekly webinars are driven by the community for the community. We welcome anyone who wants to to participate, ask questions, do presentations and so on. Back in March 2009 John and Arnold wanted to meet, so they set up gotoWebinar, and well, it snowballed from there. 718 weekly webinars later, we’re now also doing an Open webinar every week, as well as user-group webinars for noyantis and NetTalk. There are even two webinars a week in Spanish.
John and Arnold liked that so much they approached me in 2010 to merge the CapeSoft World Tour that year with a bigger community event and CLDC (ClarionLive Developer Conference) was born. We occupied a hotel in Denver for a week and were blown away by the turnout. That was also the first Clarion conference which was broadcast live online. Sure it was a bit ropy for the online folk, and there were the odd technical issues, but it was a milestone nonetheless.
In 2011 we joined forces with SoftVelocity and the CIDC events were born. We’ve held them every two years since them (missing 2021 for obvious reasons.) All have been in Florida, mostly because of cost reasons. The websites from 2015, 2017 and 2019 are still online.
As you might imagine hosting conferences is not cheap. There’s a large up-front commitment to the hotel which is due whether we get attendees or not. There’s always a couple months early on which are pretty nerve-wracking. It’s quite something to sign a $40 000 bill before you’re able to advertise, accept registrations and so on. Mind you that’s just the commitment - the actual costs are much, much higher. Hotels charge for everything - the wifi bill alone would make you cry. Most of the costs are per-person though (like the catering) so we dance the line of keeping it affordable while ensuring that all the costs are covered. So far (holding thumbs) we’ve always had modest (very modest) surpluses - money which gets ploughed back into the community in the form of better cameras, more sound and video equipment, nice little extras for attendees and so on. This is thanks to the amazing support we’ve had, for which we’re truly grateful.
The online community makes a massive difference with the costing of these events. The hotel doesn’t take any of that money, and so it can be used exclusively to cover fixed costs, equipment and so on. As the online attendance has grown we’ve also been able to bring the cost of online participation down. In 2015 we had 29 people online, at a cost of $900 each. This year we have 65 people signed up (so far) and the cost is down to $550 for the whole event - which now covers 7 days of material; 5 in Orlando and 2 online in the months beforehand.
So why do people spend this kind of money every couple years to attend? Clearly there must be some value in it, they must be getting something out of it. I think the answer to that question is somewhat different for each attendee, but when I’ve asked I’ve heard the following things;
Firstly, and this is especially true for new Clarion users, or those in out-of-the-way places, it’s an excellent way to meet other developers to learn from them, to hear their stories, basically to “find community”. Life-long friendships, collaborations, business opportunities and so on are common things people mention. For myself I attended my first Clarion Conference at age 27, and that was the first time I met John, and many others. They raised my game,both technically, but also professionally. They opened my eyes to the standard I wanted to achieve, and not get too comfortable with my mediocrity. There are several next-generation youngsters coming this year and I know they’ll go home completely transformed.
This part of the conference has been the hardest part to replicate with the online community. Every year we’ve extended the online offering, and tried to make this more and more part of the equation. This year is no different - we have a number of innovations we are hoping will help people who are joining online to connect, both with us at the event, and with each other. Most of all we encourage online people to participate; ask questions, engage in chat forums, pass comments and so on.
Secondly I hear from a lot of people that the informal parts of the event are where some of the richest value waits to be unhidden. Between sessions, over shared meals, in the evenings, there’s always an opportunity to connect with others who have walked the path before. Sure, you’ve got access to presenters, but more than that you’ve got access to very successful business owners - people who are quiet, perhaps a little reserved, but who have walked the walk; whether it’s starting a business, growing it, managing customers, selling up, or even retiring. To those who are coming I say “Talk to the people around you find out about their lives, glean nuggets of advice you can, take them home and apply them.”
Wherever we are in our walk we can learn. In 2011 I had a long conversation with a very successful developer who had switched to a subscription model. I raised some of my concerns - he was able to share from his experience how it went, what objections there were, how he overcame resistance and so on. We implemented the model in 2012. Since then it has been the back-bone of our business. I can safely say we kept our 50-odd staff employed during Covid because of that model.
Time spent with those who have gone before is never wasted. Every time I come away from a conference with new ideas, new strategies, and avenues to pursue. It’s easy to take credit for the successes we have, and certainly that takes work from us, but we stand on the shoulders of others.
Perhaps the least valuable part of the conference, to me, are the formal presentations. Calling them “least” feels a bit unkind. While I count them “the least”, they’ve also been remarkably useful to me. Given the spread of topics it’s unlikely I’m going to get inspired by all of them, and I don’t expect that. What I’m looking for is the two, three or four sessions that I can take home, implement, and move either me, or my product forward. I’ve never failed to leave with something - some spark that ultimately turns into a new feature, a new process, a new way to make my own products suck just a little bit less.
Presentations are the start of that, not the end of the work obviously. I find myself at home, 6 months later, watching a session again, implementing here, adjusting there, tweaking and refining. I’ll bounce an idea or two off the presenter. They may only be on stage for 30 minutes, but the impact on my code can go on for years. Least valuable perhaps, but still worth way more than the price of admission.
Let me close this rather-longer-than-expected email with a thought. If you have never attended a Clarion Conference before, take a few minutes to consider whether this year should be the first one for you. Perhaps you’ve just never seen the point. This might be the year where you take a chance, where you stretch out and see what might come of it.
Obviously coming to Orlando is expensive. There’s flights, hotels, conference fee, evening meals, and so on. If you can make it happen, and if you suck every moment out of it, then I think you’ll find it’s worth the investment. If your budget doesn’t stretch to coming, then consider joining us online. It’s exceptionally cost-effective and you’ll get plenty of direct, and hopefully indirect, value.
Make the decision that 2023 is the year to invest in yourself, wherever you may find yourself career wise.
To those who are coming, to those joining online, I can only encourage you to participate as much as is possible. Don’t let a meal go past without connecting with someone. Dig below their surface, find the gems. Online participation is equally important. Make use of the opportunities to connect with each other, to discuss things you’ve heard, and so on. We’ll have a number of channels for this - make use of them.
If you want to know more (and you’ve read this far) you can find out more on CidcLive.com. You can also reply here with your questions, ask on Clarion Live Skype, or feel free to email me directly. I’m always happy to share - community, after all, is us all pulling together to make all of us better.
Cheers
Bruce
), I offer to help with hotels etc.