Points mean Pixels
By Mike Street
Points. A simple, barely-a-conference conference.
For ease of reading, this post will follow a traditional approach with a modern twist: Who, What, How Much, Where, When, Speakers, Sponsors Why.
Who?
Points, is me. I am Points.
What?
For those that know of me and my ventures, you will be familiar with the event I put on near the end of last year (13th October to be precise) at the Brighton Media Centre. This event was an informal, free 'conference'. It allowed people who had never spoken before to speak and was aimed at all web related folk. To be honest, it was open to everyone, but non-web people would have been bored.
Last time Paul Davis, Alex Sexton, Kris Noble and Anthony Killeen all spoke. Several people were kind enough to blog about the event, and you can read the opinions of Kris Noble, Anthony Killeen and Mr Clive Walker on the event.
So, now that you are all clued up on what Points is all about, let me show you why I am blogging about this age-old event.
Evening ladies and gents. After a warm, gentle winter the points beast awakens for the spring. Keep April free! — Points (@PointsBrighton) February 25, 2012
How Much?
As I mentioned, the last Points was free. However, I learnt my lesson and because of the basic human instinct, the natural emotion of getting free things the last event sold out. Now I bet your wondering 2 things:
- how can a free event sell out and
- whats wrong with that?
A free event can sell out if I say I have 50 seats and 50 people say that they're coming. The problem with that is that 20 people turned up. They were 20 wonderful people who made the event spectacular, but the sponsor providing the drinks catered for 50 people unnecessarily.
This was because of the freeness - nature educates us to get free things, so people booked a place and then could decide later if they're coming.
So, because of this, the next points will be a small amount of £5. £5, I feel, is enough for people to make sure they want to come and means I can pay the speakers their bus fare home.
To make you feel a bit better, when all the money is in, costs will be covered and the profits will got to a charity. Maybe that will convince you to spend that £5, if not, a little more.
Where?
This is the first question I cannot answer. I am after a small space, preferably with Wifi and a projector. It also, really, needs to be in Brighton. If you know of a suitable place, please let me know! I am open to any suggestions and will consider anything
When?
At the moment I am considering mid/end of April, but this is completely down to the venue. I will keep you posted though!
Speakers
Speakers are the easiest to find. Everyone wants to talk and would love the opportunity to give it ago. I've (hopefully) already got the speakers lined up. The subjects i've got in store for you are range from SEO to Typography and a couple of other winners!
Sponsors
Where speakers are the easiest to find, sponsors are the hardest. All you have to do is ask, but a lot of people say no.
Why?
The hardest question out of this list to answer. There are not enough cheap conferences, there are not enough reasons to meet up and learn. Meet ups are great and this is just another reason to talk face-to-face about anything nerdy without feeling guilty. The thing I love about this industry is that everyone wants to share. You spend weeks developing something and the next day give it out for free. I love it and I want to give something back. Because of that, Points was born.
