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Google I/O Sells Out in 30 Seconds

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Re: Google I/O Sells Out in 30 Seconds

#51

Post by ek »

colinloretz wrote: post #26
huherto wrote: post #18

They should probably allow one day for people to request the tickets and then assign them at random.

This is how Burning Man did their tickets this year. It didn't work out very well for them but I think it would work well for something like this. You'd get a better distribution of devs and people just looking to get "free" devices.

The problem I have with this is that Burning Man and the festivals are general-audience events. I'm okay with not getting tickets for Coachella because there are only so many of them and everyone wants to go. Such is life. I'm not okay with attending a low-quality I/O because bad people were able to purchase tickets.

My proposed fix was make people code something simple in JS and then run an automated it before allowing registration. That way, dumb people try to register, and by the time they can Google a solution to FizzBuzz and copy-paste it, all the developers have already registered.

Re: Google I/O Sells Out in 30 Seconds

#53

Post by donw »

zdw wrote: post #24

"Lets create a conference where the swag is easily resellable items worth more than the conference admission. Nobody will figure out how to arbitrage that..." I've heard great things about I/O, but the device giveaways seem to always turn registration into a circus...

To be honest, that was really annoying.

I've become a minimalist in regards to personal property, and the last thing I need is another gadget -- I'm already busily cutting down on what I own, to the point where my fiancee is getting a little annoyed.

It's just more cognitive load to manage that much stuff.

Is a Galaxy Tab bundled in with the admission that much of a draw for people, or is this more a way to offload inventory?

Re: Google I/O Sells Out in 30 Seconds

#54

Post by ceejayoz »

adestefan wrote: post #48
justinchen wrote: post #23

I hope they revoke this guy's ticket: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Google-IO-2012-GA-Adult-Ticket-/2307...

Why do you want them to revoke the ticket? Is it because he acquired a limited resource and is now profiting from the demand? Is it because you want to go, but don't want to spend $2000?

Registration is for people who want to attend, not scalpers.

Re: Google I/O Sells Out in 30 Seconds

#55

Post by zach »

BHSPitMonkey wrote: post #21
ceejayoz wrote: post #12

I guess that's what happens when everyone who attends gets a free phone/tablet. Maybe registration should have a quiz requiring knowledge a developer would have.

Last year, they claimed they'd be doing something like this. For some reason they backpedaled.

It seems like the "let's try to find actual developers" faction lost convincingly.

Last year, I won a ticket via Last Call for Google I/O, their Google-technology programming competition, but got no early registration access this year (yes, I was shut out this morning too). So not only did they not qualify developers for registration, Google had no interest in registering developers who already passed a recent Google-technology developer test.

I think they're squeamish about restricting access too much, even by a meritocratic approach. I admit that it would be a huge PR problem if developers are angered at feeling classified as "unworthy", or if Google I/O is perceived as elitist. So I guess developers are going to be complaining about I/O registration year after year from now on.

Re: Google I/O Sells Out in 30 Seconds

#56

Post by rbanffy »

ceejayoz wrote: post #12

I guess that's what happens when everyone who attends gets a free phone/tablet. Maybe registration should have a quiz requiring knowledge a developer would have.

They do that with the Google Developer Days. Interesting things happen then - sometimes, the attendees who pass the test are not sufficient to fill up the event and they have to start the ones who failed it.

Re: Google I/O Sells Out in 30 Seconds

#57

Post by donw »

jc4p wrote: post #19
funkah wrote: post #17

Uh, awesome. Hope you had your finger on the button if you are an actual developer who wanted to go.

I did, no such luck. Same as every single year I've tried. You'd think having been invited down to Google for other summer events would help but it doesn't. I'd buy a ticket that doesn't qualify you for any swag if I still get to talk to people but it seems like they don't care about that.

Frankly, I'm planning on going to as many after-parties as I can -- the reason to go to Google I/O is the people.

Re: Google I/O Sells Out in 30 Seconds

#58

Post by georgemcbay »

donw wrote: post #53
zdw wrote: post #24

"Lets create a conference where the swag is easily resellable items worth more than the conference admission. Nobody will figure out how to arbitrage that..." I've heard great things about I/O, but the device giveaways seem to always turn registration into a circus...

To be honest, that was really annoying. I've become a minimalist in regards to personal property, and the last thing I need is another gadget -- I'm already busily cutting down on what I own, to the point where my fiancee is getting a little annoyed. It's just more cognitive load to manage that much stuff. Is a Galaxy Tab bundled in with the admission that much of a draw for people, or is this more a way to offload i…

It isn't just about one gadget, at past IOs attendees have walked away with like 4+ gadgets depending upon the talks they registered for, with the resale value of those gadgets far exceeding the ticket price to get in, especially when the gadgets are new on the market and hard to find.

For the organizers, giving away gadgets makes some sense in that if you're doing a deep dive into how to code for XYZ, it is nice if you know everyone in attendance has a default configured XYZ.

I've tried to register for IO in the past and never made it past the always-overloaded servers... this year, I didn't even bother... I'm sorry for those who tried and didn't make it but glad I didn't waste my time.

Anyway, if the conference is still selling out in 20 minutes, I guess this means they can bump the price by another $500 or so next year and see how it goes.

Re: Google I/O Sells Out in 30 Seconds

#59

Post by nextparadigms »

zdw wrote: post #24

"Lets create a conference where the swag is easily resellable items worth more than the conference admission. Nobody will figure out how to arbitrage that..." I've heard great things about I/O, but the device giveaways seem to always turn registration into a circus...

They should've at least done that coding contest that was initially rumored. At least it would've brought in only developers that might actually use those devices to make apps.

Re: Google I/O Sells Out in 30 Seconds

#60

Post by abraham »

donw wrote: post #53
zdw wrote: post #24

"Lets create a conference where the swag is easily resellable items worth more than the conference admission. Nobody will figure out how to arbitrage that..." I've heard great things about I/O, but the device giveaways seem to always turn registration into a circus...

To be honest, that was really annoying. I've become a minimalist in regards to personal property, and the last thing I need is another gadget -- I'm already busily cutting down on what I own, to the point where my fiancee is getting a little annoyed. It's just more cognitive load to manage that much stuff. Is a Galaxy Tab bundled in with the admission that much of a draw for people, or is this more a way to offload i…

I think the gadget gifts is more about making sure developers have the hardware to develop for. If I don't have an Android device there is next to zero chance I will write a Android app.
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