> This kind of no-notice cancellation of a contract is unheard of in the conference business.
That's a big claim to make. Can someone with relevant experience confirm whether this is true?
DEF CON 32 Was Canceled. We Un-Canceled it
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Re: DEF CON 32 Was Canceled. We Un-Canceled it
#12I suspect Caesar's dropped DEF CON because the DEF CON attendees likely have a fairly low "avg revenue per attendee" yield because fewer of them gamble compared to the avg Vegas conference attendee. They also probably spend less on high-end restaurant dining and bar drinking inside the hotel. Since the pandemic Vegas has had a pretty strong resurgence in general and this may be a sign that Caesar's is doing well enou…
I doubt they would cancel a contract already in place for that reason.
Not renew the contract - sure. But canceling an already scheduled event because of low revenue per guest doesn't seem very likely to me?
Or maybe it was some sort of ongoing agreement and canceling it was effectively "not renewing".
Re: DEF CON 32 Was Canceled. We Un-Canceled it
#13Not a fan of what DEF CON has become in the last years, so I selfishly hope it somehow "goes away" and reborn in a more technical and actual hacker note.
Too many "security researchers", "staff engineers" and people playing politics.
But I suspect they will have no problem finding another venue, sponsor money has been flowing quite well, so I wish them well.
Re: DEF CON 32 Was Canceled. We Un-Canceled it
#14I find it hilarious that defcon.org can't handle the traffic from being on HN.
Re: DEF CON 32 Was Canceled. We Un-Canceled it
#15> This kind of no-notice cancellation of a contract is unheard of in the conference business. That's a big claim to make. Can someone with relevant experience confirm whether this is true?
I don’t think it’s that bold of a claim. Organizers ask attendees to spend a lot of money to attend, buy lodging and everything else, not to mention pay a lot to organize and it takes a lot of time and effort to line up all the required facilities. I’ve been part of organizing at least a few big events and if we had a late stage hard cancellation, there probably would’ve been lawsuits.
Re: DEF CON 32 Was Canceled. We Un-Canceled it
#16> This kind of no-notice cancellation of a contract is unheard of in the conference business. That's a big claim to make. Can someone with relevant experience confirm whether this is true?
It's seven months away. It's not like it's seven weeks.
Re: DEF CON 32 Was Canceled. We Un-Canceled it
#17Not a fan of what DEF CON has become in the last years, so I selfishly hope it somehow "goes away" and reborn in a more technical and actual hacker note. Too many "security researchers", "staff engineers" and people playing politics. But I suspect they will have no problem finding another venue, sponsor money has been flowing quite well, so I wish them well.
There are dozens of other conferences that do anything else you want a security conference to do. The point of Defcon at this point is to be the giant annual social event.
Re: DEF CON 32 Was Canceled. We Un-Canceled it
#18I suspect Caesar's dropped DEF CON because the DEF CON attendees likely have a fairly low "avg revenue per attendee" yield because fewer of them gamble compared to the avg Vegas conference attendee. They also probably spend less on high-end restaurant dining and bar drinking inside the hotel. Since the pandemic Vegas has had a pretty strong resurgence in general and this may be a sign that Caesar's is doing well enou…
The simplest explanation is often the correct one. Casinos aren't exactly known for having moral qualms. They are, however, known for caring about their bottom line. They probably analyze every single event they host and then shuffle things around to maximize their expected revenue based on their past experiences with the same type of event.
Re: DEF CON 32 Was Canceled. We Un-Canceled it
#19I suspect Caesar's dropped DEF CON because the DEF CON attendees likely have a fairly low "avg revenue per attendee" yield because fewer of them gamble compared to the avg Vegas conference attendee. They also probably spend less on high-end restaurant dining and bar drinking inside the hotel. Since the pandemic Vegas has had a pretty strong resurgence in general and this may be a sign that Caesar's is doing well enou…
Or they figured they're somehow net negative when they do gamble :D
Re: DEF CON 32 Was Canceled. We Un-Canceled it
#20I suspect Caesar's dropped DEF CON because the DEF CON attendees likely have a fairly low "avg revenue per attendee" yield because fewer of them gamble compared to the avg Vegas conference attendee. They also probably spend less on high-end restaurant dining and bar drinking inside the hotel. Since the pandemic Vegas has had a pretty strong resurgence in general and this may be a sign that Caesar's is doing well enou…
Not everything is about money or the bottom line. Sometimes it's about politics. Vegas takes a loss on so many things. Nevada has grown more and more corporate over the years. This move doesn't surprise me at all.