Serious stuff here - I hope BMC is reading it. When I told my boss that UserWorld may be in Las Vegas next year, he observed that the hotel and airfare costs are usually lower there, which is why so many other IT conferences that we send people to are also located there. Hey, he could probably send more of us (or he might go with us again) if it's cheaper, but the conference fees can still be a killer. It made a difference last year when the university moved accounting for conference costs from the M&O budget to the travel budget without moving any $$$ to match. Suddenly the cost of the conference fee became a big issue. Matt's comments below are very interesting in that light.
Christopher Strauss, Ph.D. Call Tracking Administration Manager University of North Texas Computing & IT Center http://itsm.unt.edu/ -----Original Message----- From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Carey Matthew Black Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008 9:50 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: 2008 User World All, If we (customers) are trying to "watch the bottom line" then why not use the User Group conference as a "loss leader"? Total price ( ROI ) is always a consideration for a smart company. ( I think both companies, BMC and the customer, can win on a conference.) BMC could do something like: Give every attendee _one_ "free" AR System Fixed (or maybe optional Float) license. (NOTE: To be added to your current support contract and all normal renewal fees applied at your next renewal.) With maybe a cap of "N" per year per "Support Contract"/"Customer Company". Or... If BMC wants to push a given product (Example: Non-AR System), then give away "1 year free use license" to all attendees. (Returnable at no cost, at any time during the first year, but you have to purchase it at the end of the year if you want to keep using it.) Or... Lower the customer cost to attend the conference and make the price of the hotel room much greater than the "cover charge at the door" for the conference. Those are all tried and true "loss leader" marketing techniques. For software companies the cost of generating a license is very low. (It is just data. It could also likely be done with the existing PO process if a special "BMCUW2008" PO number was introduced for the customer who attended. It could all be "self service" to generate the key just like they purchased the product.) BMC might even be able to get a "advertising" write off for the market purchase value of the license in their taxes as a business expense too. Sure they do not get the initial purchase cash from the license. (and does BMC really need the short term cash flow?) However, they increase the customers support cost every year after that. ( The customer may not take the "free" stuff and it is a wash for BMC. No cost to BMC, No cost to the customer.) The more BMC can show _value_ to the customers that do choose to attend, then the better the customers feel about sending a representative (or 10) each year. If the cost of (travel + hotel) > ("free stuff they bring back") then the decision is defiantly one sided and based on an evaluation of "is it really worth it to us this year?". If you can flip that equality in the other direction (AKA: expenses for convention "less than" value of the stuff they bring back) then the decision becomes a no brainier for a company. They in effect "save money" by sending someone. :) If the "cost" to BMC also produces a longer term customer who has a slightly higher "year over year" bill, then I think we have a real win-win. If the conference experience also produces a more loyal, better informed, activist for the product(s) then BMC has a real world win that is not measurable, nor can it be purchased. The effect of an excited and engaged customer base can be measured, and IMHO, is what made Remedy as strong of a company as it was. I will also throw in that if the swag from the conference is a BMC license, then there is no "08 Miami" branded swag that you get stuck with in the closet, if something happens like the hotel deciding that they can not open on time for your event. :) I wonder how many backpacks or tee shirts, or what ever the gift bag was going to be this year were already made up and "non-refundable". Or even how many staff hours were spent trying to figure out and agree on the object and it's design too. Yes, location effects customer expenses, but so does time of year. Time of the year at the location, and in the customer/product business life cycles too. ( Which was part of why Oct 08 did not make as much sense as say Feb 09. With respect to ARS 7.5 release.) Personally, I do not care if the User Group is in the middle of a corn field. (As long as there is a reasonable hotel near by and my laptop can get a WI-FI signal. :) ) I know that I go for the content not the location. If the conference is worth attending for the content/value then the attendees should have no problem avoiding being distracted by the "shiny location" that happens to be outside the bounds of the conference. If employers really find that there employee's are skipping out on work to go play then there sounds like some disciplinary actions are needed to me. (But that sounds like is an internal personal issue to me.) I do think the most cost effective "place" for everyone is a virtual place. ( Not a trivial technical task, but maybe possible too.) You just loose something when you do not get to interact directly, in real time, with 1000's of other "fans"(AKA: fanatics). Meeting in the real world does have real value and it also has real costs. However, if the infrastructure for a mass meeting exists then it can also be leveraged for things like Alpha/Beta/Gama testing groups, tech support escalation calls, etc.. during the rest of the year too. Note: I am not advocating the discontinuation of yearly face to face meetings. But rather it might be an opportunity to meet more than once a year mass meetings too. As far as the time of year goes.... No single time of the year will be ideal for everyone. (Nor any single location will be ideal for everyone.) However, if the schedule, year to year, is more consistent then customers can begin to "expect what they get" and hopefully that stability will also add to their confidence in the software company too. Not to mention that if the conference is the "launch" for the new version, then the customers can plan (year to year) when they will need time to do their upgrades too. ( Which would be really nice to be able to do. ) I guess I am trying to say that if BMC focuses on delivering quality (AKA:value to the customer) then I doubt they can go wrong. And if we (the customers) can tell BMC what we think is valuable, then maybe we can get them to focus on those things. ( If they agree that they will ultimately benefit more by keeping the customers happy than by not listening to them.) I also really like to try to keep ARSList as positive as possible. When I am critical I also try to remember to communicate what I think would have been better too. Even if their is still disagreement about my idea of "better", at least they know what I do want. IMHO: It is ok to express your feelings. However, it is better to communicate your plan with passion than to cry over spilled milk. :) -- Carey Matthew Black Remedy Skilled Professional (RSP) ARS = Action Request System(Remedy) Love, then teach Solution = People + Process + Tools Fast, Accurate, Cheap.... Pick two. _______________________________________________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org Platinum Sponsor: www.rmsportal.com ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are" _______________________________________________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org Platinum Sponsor: www.rmsportal.com ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are"
