My gripes about Blog World Expo

Sorry I’ve been so slow to write about Blog World Expo.  So much stuff happened, and we met so many people, that the topic seemed almost overwhelming!

I’m going to start with one complaint, in hopes that if the BWE organizers ever see this entry, they’ll read enough to get my criticism.  There were two different entry passes you could buy for BWE.  Flippy and I bought the $75 pass, which gave us access to all the exhibitors, and also gave us our choice of six, one hour educational sessions.  In addition, there were a few open keynote speaker sessions we could attend if we wanted.  The other level of pass cost $695, and it allowed you to attend any/all of the one hour sessions we had access to (I’d guess there were about 30 to choose from), plus it gave you access to an entire day of sessions we couldn’t attend, and a number of special panels with speakers like Arianna Huffington.  Some of the educational sessions available to people with the $695 pass sounded amazing, and I got the feeling that the cheap pass holders got “overview” sessions, while the $695 pass people were given specific hints and advice about successful blogging.  It felt like a case of “the rich get richer”, because instead of sharing information with everyone, only people who could afford the expensive entry fee were given access to the really coveted information.

There were two high-level sessions I really, really wanted to attend because they’d help me with my job, but I couldn’t afford $695.  There was no option for me to buy access to sessions individually; it was all or nothing.  I don’t mind if there are two or more levels of access fees, that’s pretty normal for a convention, but the difference in price between the two was just outrageous.  All bloggers are fighting for credibility, to be taken seriously, to be paid a fair wage, etc., yet the very first convention for bloggers was priced so that bloggers were divided against each other.

To give one specific example of how unfortunately the conference was arranged… we had a nice talk with Jalali Hartman, the CEO of a new site called Yovia.com, and he invited us to attend his session about social media, and his vision of “Web 3.0”.  We told him we didn’t have access to his session, so he went to talk to someone “in charge” about getting us access to his talk.  We went with him, and we heard him tell the woman he was speaking to that he wanted to invite us to his session.  The woman told him there was absolutely no way we could attend unless our passes were upgraded to the $695 pass.  It’s pretty ridiculous that a speaker can’t even invite their own guest to their session.  He told us he paid $3000 just to have an Internet connection at his exhibit booth, yet the convention organizers wouldn’t let him invite two guests to a lecture he was giving.  I was really frustrated by that, because I have a feeling that anything Jalali Hartman wants to teach you is good to know.  Go check out Yovia.com, by the way… they’ll pay you to write blog content, but in a different way than Pay-Per-Post, so you should check them out if you’re interested in extra income.

I hope the entrance fees will be changed for Blog World Expo 2008, which is already planned for September 19 and 20.  I think there should be an “exhibits only” pass.  There should be a limited pass, like the one we had, and an all-access pass, like the one we couldn’t afford.  There should also be the ability to buy sessions individually.  Obviously Flippy and I got our money’s worth, if only from the stuff we won, but I wanted to learn more.  I want to be a better blogger, I want to help my employers, like IFAW, be successful, etc.  I hope we’ll have more opportunities to learn in 2008.

I’ll write about the good stuff in my next entry!

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 11/12 at 03:03 AM

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  1. So not fair! Even famous musicians can have a guest list!  That’s terrible.
    Man that price is nuts for the unlimited pass.  But, my guess is, it’s still pretty general content (the sessions are still short) but the number of attendees are smaller so you probably would get better Q & A time. Plus the presenters are better known. 
    Either way, it’s fantastic you got all the cool gadgets.  That Ipod thing is cool (as are all things Apple, no matter how much I can’t stand their stronghold on things!)

    Posted by Ryssee  on  11/12  at  04:17 PM
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