Topic: Bitcoin EU Convention 2013 (Amsterdam, Netherlands September 27th~29th) (Read 9081 times)

FYI, I'm attending as a panelist in the alt currencies panel.
Looking forward to it!

Moe seems OK. He's a "normal person" with experience planning and running conventions. He the one doing most of the work.

Rassah,

Finally someone to inspire confidence!!

But who is Moe???

Hi. To those worried about M.N.W. being involved in this conference, he's at most a court jester, there for the rest of our entertainment, with a silly but useful idea thrown out once in a while. All operating decisions for this thing go through Moe. All financial related aspects go through me. If you have any concerns, feel free to ask either of us. Personally, I plan to be as transparent as possible.

By the way, ticket sales are up http://theconference.eu

Hey there, you're right, there will be many side events, and if you have a suggestion, please contact me!

About the price of the ticket.

There is value exceeding €150 by having people that fly in internationally to do business with and learn from. This conference will offer amazing networking opportunities that should help you get ahead with your career or your startup, as well as hear talks from the best in the community. I know entrepreneurs who raise funding, meet journalists that cover them and meet partners they do business with at conferences.  Some entrepreneurs could meet companies that end up acquiring their startups. Think about what you want to achieve and how much that would be worth to you and the 150 euros for the ticket should pale in comparison. If it doesn’t then why would you even consider coming?

We're saving you a bunch of money in travel costs. We are saving you that money, and more, by inviting potential business partners from all over the world. Everybody flies into the same venue and is there to share ideas, network, and meet other enthusiasts. Compared to flying around the world, a ticket to this event is dirt cheap.

We have been working on this event for the past 6 months with a team of people. We spend thousands of euros to make it the best event we can. We don’t rely on sponsors to pay our costs (although we do have some sponsors) but try to focus on giving you great content and we charge a very reasonable price for all of this. Do we make a profit? Well, we do hope so. But if we do it is generally used to pay for food, rent, preparations for our next event, and investing in the Bitcoin Community.

Moe

I attended many scientific conferences, of different scales. In my opinion ~150€ for 3 days is a reasonable price.
Splitting between people who just want to "talk together in the main hall", and people who could attend presentations does not make much sense. It would be extremely weird and unfriendly to have such a distinction within the conference center. And if you just want to talk, it's true that a meetup around is best. I'm pretty sure there will be one prior/during/right after the conference!

I'm sorry if you guys can't spend the 2 BTC on the conference. When I was a student I also couldn't do many things because money was missing. These days time is much more the critial factor. However, for a three day conference this is not that much, I think. I don't think that anyone is making money with this entry fee. If you prefer to just talk to people regarding Bitcoin, why not join a local Meetup. If you don't live in Amsterdam you will even save much more money that way as you save on hotel/hostel, train/flight etc.

I hope the organizer will soon publish a list of services in Amsterdam which accept BTC. e.g. Hostels and Coffee Shops 

Edit: Just seen all is taken care off: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/wanted-amsterdam-vendors-230906

Not for me also. The price will ensure that mainly business types in suits who can put the 2BTC on their company tab will attend and are only interested to make money, not support BTC. Not my kind of crowd.

There will likely be other events more worth my while in the future.

2 BTC to attend??? That's €150 for god's sake.
I'm a student with little to no money and i feel terribly pushed out by that pricing.
Bitcoin is only just gaining ground, and already, the elitism is kicking in.

I would love to come, but that price is just too steep
It's a conference on a new technology that only a few people use. Wouldn't it be better to make a smaller pricingformula(free?) with limited acces for people that just wanna hop in and talk about bitcoin with fellow entousiasts? If they want coffee and snacks, they can buy them there per unit (with bitcoin?) and if there are parts of the conference that need a lot of money to set up, you can make those exclusive for the attendees with a paid ticked.

I wanna come, but not if it's gonna cost me €150 for entry alone....

Hey there,

Thanks for the message. Hammering out the final location and dates this week. We have plenty of speakers confirmed and attendees have already bought tickets. We're doing this with a very small team and your patience is appreciated.

Check back towards middle of next week and we'll have tickets open for sale, and a tentative agenda.

Thanks!

Moe
[email protected]

Hi, I'm planning to be in Europe around the time of this conference and would love to attend.  But before I book a hotel and make other arrangements I'd like to know if the conference is really happening.  Any ETA on when you'll have things sorted out? The dates on the web site say 26th - 28th but this thread says 27th-29th, and still no price or agenda.  Thanks

So far, the ticket prices are unknown. The current expenses are high for renting such a good place (Rozen Theatre), and organizing speakers and panelists.

While we are aware of how attractive it would be to have low-priced tickets, a high calibre event has huge overhead which needs to be offset by ticket prices.

M

No indicication of ticket prices yet?

I'm only interested if the registration fee is reasonable. If it's going to be a convention catering primarily to financial professionals that charges something like a 300 euro's fee I won't be going. If it caters to the Bitcoin enthusiasts and charges a moderate fee I might possibly go.

doh.. was reading the wrong thread 
also want to visit the convention

Arghh. Why September?

I will be at home waiting for my KNCminers to arrive... i dare not leave for Amsterdam, what if UPS calls me about delivery of my miners?

Such a shame, i would love to hit Amsterdam again.

This looks like it could be fun. Can't fit it into my work schedule. Maybe next time!

I would love to help you guys set up and run a btc and alts focused hackathon as part of the event.

Is that something that u would be into?

Here is one my friends and I set up in sweden and will be continuing ... www.pandahax.com

Send me a pm

All this talk is nonsense. People felt the same way about Amir and he ran an excellent conference.

MNW and I have done business together and he is nothing but stellar. Actions speak louder than words and his track records of getting projects of the ground is second to none.

We all agree (himself included) that his posts were a bit far out on occasion but this is certainly not a reason to judge him on his credibility on getting a job done..

I for one will be there a look forward to seeing a very interesting lineup of speakers.

As for your comment about the organizer hiding in the shadows maybe its the case of not making a name for himself on this board due to the constant FUD and other nonsensical that drives many of us away (myself included, visits to this board are incredibly sporadic these days due to this).

I appreciate your input, and think that you make some valid points. You seem very hesitant about joining this conference, so I invite you not to attend if you don't feel it's right for you. However, should you feel that you want to join, we have confirmed speakers and panelists who will be presenting very interesting talks at the event and many interested attendees.

Let me know if you do want to join, and if you have any other questions about the conference.

M

Moe I think that is great.  I would love to see that happen and attend.  Unfortunately your credibility as a legitimate endeavor is undermined by your association with the narcissistic troll M.N.W.  (I don't know M.N.W. personally but my entire opinion of him has been formed by his numerous inane posts here [when he is not on my ignore list] and from his idiotic music videos [which he has since removed] from his youtube channel) and your own anonymity. 

If you want this to be a unified European conference of anonymous (potentially illegal) bitcoiners, bitcoin business and narcissistic trolls then be clear about that.

James McCarthey (the scammer Nefario) and Amir Taaki organized the London Bitcoin Conference in 2012

Peter Vessenes (regardless what you may think of him and his foundation) organized a very successful US bitcoin meeting in San Jose in May of 2013

Pamir Gelenbe has organized BTCLondon 2013 coming up in July.

Somone is organizing a "expo" at a pub in london in November of 2013 http://bitcoinexpo.co.uk/

Amir Taaki is orgainzing the unsystem conference in Vienna November 1-3 https://unsystem.net/

Lot of "conferences" coming up and I think this can only help grow the bitcoin economy, but bitcoin is "growing up" and  it is my strong opinion that  to be legit you have to 1. come out of the shadows and 2. Associate with reputable individuals.