React Finland

I was recently discussing with a developer from a country nearby to Finland. After a while, I figured out that due to the difference of the economies, the acceptable ticket price for him would be around 40 euros especially given his employer wouldn’t cover the trip.

What’s an Appropriate Price Level#

As we’re spending many times 40 euros per attendee, the price level wouldn’t make sense for us and we’ve tried to balance between affordable and value-based pricing. We do early/regular bird tickets for this reason as it’s the chance for people to get the tickets before they become more expensive.

It’s a way for us to control the scope of the conference as we don’t want it to become too big as then the quality and the atmosphere of the conference will suffer.

One problem is that a price that would seem fair for someone, might be too much for someone else. Some people have companies supporting them and especially freelancers have to cover it on their own. For students, it might be too much no matter what the price level.

If the price is too low, or free even, then you might jeopardize the entire conference as that would mean you would have to rely entirely on goodwill and sponsorships. For us, striking a balance for a budget driven by ticket sales and sponsors seems to be the key.

Diversity Tickets for React Finland 2019#

Since it’s good for a conference to attract people with diverse backgrounds regardless of their income level, we’ve decided to run a diversity ticket scheme for React Finland 2019.

We’ve allocated twenty conference tickets for this purpose. The final decision on who will receive them will be made around eight of April after which we’ll let the chosen people know.

In addition to this, we’ll collaborate with local organizations working with students and less fortunate people to bring them in as volunteers.

We’ve also paid attention to have a diverse group of speakers and topics present at the conference. It looks like the attendees will be a rather diverse group as well and the event will have plenty of international flavor to it although the basic flavor will be Finnish.

What Could We Do Better#

I know we are a little late with the diversity tickets this time around. Here is what we are considering for the next event:

• Offer full diversity scholarships including travel and accommodation since these are major costs.
• Offer “buy one, give one” kind of diversity tickets where buying one ticket, you’ll give a diversity ticket for free to someone.
• Figure out a way to support local diversity movements through collaboration and financial support.
• Figure out a way to deliver diversity tickets faster. We don’t want to make people wait for a specific date and instead it would likely be better to decide on applications as we get them till we run out of diversity tickets.

Conclusion#

Although it’s not ideal and you may have to travel and cover some costs, you could still apply for a diversity ticket. We also have regular tickets left if you are interested in our Nordic conference.

Today (19th March) is the official equality day in Finland. To learn more, read about Minna Canth.