(Price of the 3-days event only, not counting Bootcamp)
Did the value of the event really almost quintuple? I mean, sure there are more presentations to choose from, more people to network with. But the duration hasn’t changed, you can’t see more presentations than before, you can’t network with more people.
Sponsor pricing followed the same trend in 2018. I’m a bit worried we (Skatter & Transmutr) still won’t able to afford a booth for 2020…
I can’t answer from an insider’s perspective since I’m not an insider but the cost to rent facilities has gone up dramatically along with the increased costs of things like AV services and catering. In order to accommodate the larger number of attendees, they’ve had to take the show out of Boulder which adds to the cost, too. It takes a larger group of SketchUp team employees to put this together, too. I’m sure their salaries for the time they are working on Basecamp are paid out of those admission fees. I’ve been to all of those Basecamps plus at least one more. Each time I saw a major improvement in the quality and professionalism of the program. Granted it’s not cheap but I’m betting Trimble isn’t making much if any money off the price of admission.
As I understand it, it’s a seller’s market for hotels and exhibition space for small-to-medium events like BaseCamp (it’s a very big deal for SketchUp people, but medium-small in the world of conventions). Finding a suitable venue that’s available on the right dates and that’s affordable is a tall order. Toss in hotel availability, room rates, and proximity to the event–plus all the miscellaneous charges like food catering, electricity in the meeting rooms, and a zillion other fees, and you have a whopping exhibition bill. Divide by the expected number of attendees (a little bit of wishful thinking combined with voodoo) to reckon the cost to attendees. I’m not surprised that the cost of BaseCamp has increased so much; it’s a wonder that it hasn’t increased more.
These events do get pretty pricey. I remember my wife wanted to go to an Adobe conference a while back and it would have cost the same as my monthly mortgage payment. If you work for a medium to large company and they are covering the tab its one thing but when it’s coming out of your own pocket it can be a bit of a stretch, I get it.
Extensibility has always been the motor in the history of SketchUp, it would be a pity if they were left out.
With the current prices of (a large group of ) extensions, the ROI of buying a booth or spot at such event is hardly measurable.
As an independent distributor (Not part of Trimble!) we and our resellers have to find a balance between ‘what is good for the client’, ‘what is good for SketchUp’ and what are the margins…
