Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

[Linda Watson <linda AT lindawatson.com>]

Thanks to everyone who reviewed or explained about the Tech Circus. Here's 
a specific response to Dan's comments:

At 10:10 AM 9/30/2002 -0400, Dan Caugherty wrote:

> On Saturday, September 28, 2002, at 06:39 PM, Linda Watson wrote:
>
> > Did anybody go? Could it possibly be worth $20 for just the last day?
>
> Well, I worked the floor for the past 3 days.  Want the inside scoop?
> Laced with boatloads of opinions, all of which are free?  Here you go:
>
> First and foremost: this was a BETA, not a RELEASE version.

Hmmm, I suspected that given that it was the first one, but the website and 
promotional materials didn't mention this. The pricing didn't indicate it 
either.

> Everybody involved knew that yes, there would be problems,
> as one would expect with any new show.  The Lulu staff wants
> to make the Circus bigger and better, *if* the geek community (e.g. you)
> is willing to provide feedback, to attend, and to spread the word.
> With any luck, this first Circus will be the smallest.

I would have been willing to make a small commitment of time and money to 
start, and then a larger one if warranted. Micropayments and 
microcommitments add up. For example, $5 to get in the door, $12 for all 
three days, and extra money being made by selling gadgets, music, software 
-- and especially recordings or images of creations made by the participant 
during the circus. Charging extra for the specialized "experiences" fits 
into this model too.

You also want to learn from Starbucks. Let people hang out and use the 
chess boards and couches for the price of a cup of drip, because having 
folks play chess adds to the interest of the coffee shop, and hence brings 
in more customers.  Lure a few members of the geek community in, then let 
the cell phones ring and the email fly.

The real question I had was, "On the spectrum of people gathered for 
technology events, will this be more like an afternoon at Exploris or a few 
days at TED?" The discount structure leans towards Exploris: $20 for over 
18, but only $10 for 12-17 -- and under-12 free. But the experiences seemed 
aimed at adults. It's really hard to do both well.

Anyway, good luck on your alpha tests.

... Linda