[...] about that time of year where a few of us Flash speakers get together and have a good old whinge about Adobe’s speaker expense policy. In fact it’s become somewhat of an annual [...]

I think the biggest problem was paying for some and not others, then not paying for anyone. Paying for speakers full expenses is expensive. and hard to do. There’s no if ands or buts about it. I heard about the Inspire ‘thing’ a while back and new it would end badly. As is (again it seems) the case.

Short of a blanket stipend, there’s no fair solution. Even an event like MAX would need a small team to make or pay for individual travel arrangements. Tom and I know we can’t, we thought about it. A blanket stipend is uneven. The guy that lives in SF gets nothing, while the guy from Egypt get’s a nice big check? Hotels is orders of magnitude easier, and the cost is the same for every speaker. Strictly speaking it’s the fairest approach, IMO.

I know exactly what Tom and I spent just on hotel rooms for 40+ speakers (and believe me, it wasn’t 4 star at all), and can’t imagine us being able to support airfare too. We’re definitely for profit, though not getting rich profit, LOL, and even then we couldn’t swing it.

(disclaimer: ‘you’ is the global you, not you seb personaly, LOL)

My personal opinion, is this; if you wanna speak, speak. I feel its giving back to the community, and it certainly doesn’t hurt the career either, so there’s lots of ‘soft’ benefits to speaking at a conference. Yes you’re not billable, but you’re not exactly sitting around. You’re networking, meeting potential new clients, making new/stronger connections inside Adobe, etc. There’s a business value to that.

If you’re not interested, as much as it’s a bummer, that’s how it is. My only advice to Adobe is make peace with not having certain people at the event. IMO, it’s their loss, not the communities. It really just comes down to what’s more important to you.

Like I said, my .02 on this never ending issue,

thanks for the clarification, and I’m honestly sorry to be making a fuss about this one. I actually hate how I sound LOL.

I appreciate that you can’t pay my travel expenses without also paying for the other speakers’ travel. But to be honest I don’t want to be some elite “inspire” speaker that gets greater benefits than others! I want all speakers to at least have their expenses covered so they’re not paying to speak.

The conference pass is a benefit? That’s just insane. Would you consider inviting a speaker and then not give them a pass to the conference?

And the other benefits? A hotel : well I wouldn’t expect to have to sleep rough!

A free gift? Well to be honest I have no idea what this is. If it’s a copy of CS4 Master Collection then I’ll happily pay the air fare, and this argument is closed

Greater coverage? I pride myself on the fact that I share code and reveal all the things I’ve learnt. In fact most people don’t realise that I’m actually a company Director at Plug-in Media, because my presentations are never a sales pitch.

I’m sure I could justify covering my own fares and hotel fees if I did give an hour’s pitch selling my company’s work. But I feel that the audience wouldn’t enjoy it so much. Surely it’s better to gloss over that stuff and spend the time showing how to make a particle system or get started with Papervision?

I feel like your whole model here is aimed at people who need the coverage. And I’m not sure that’s necessarily the best speakers. Or perhaps it’s just different, like Peter says.

And I’m honestly pleased that you asked me – I love presenting and sharing the things I’ve learnt. Is the free gift worth more than the airfare? Is it something I would want? I think that’s the only way I can make this one work at this stage

cheers

Seb

Remember hearing that the issue was being looked at and things would improve for the next edition. Seems to me like a missed opportunity.

I personally was happy to do the US and Europe last year and agreed to speak before other ‘inspire speakers’ were offered their expenses paid. From what I gather many of the inspire speakers were not aware that others would not get their travel covered and vice versa.

While I completely understand wanting to keep the policy consistent this year, why not have fewer non-adobe speakers and pay for their expenses? Have the community vote on who they would like to see.

Alternatively if you just offer a fixed amount to all speakers they can choose how to spend it. While its nice to get hotel accommodation covered, some might prefer spending money on their flight and not necessarily want a four star hotel.

- Peter