Google I/O 2013 Registration Sells Out In 49 Minutes • Hacker News Board

Re: Google I/O 2013 Registration Sells Out In 49 Minutes

#21

Post by gav » Wed, Mar 13, 2013, 4:05 PM UTC

untog wrote: post #3

Given that 99% of the people I could see on Twitter were not able to get through to the checkout, 49 minutes feels like a relatively meaningless number. I suspect that if the system actually worked properly it would have sold out in 30 seconds.

I'm always perplexed by the way that they handle these ticket sales--they know that the demand considerably exceeds supply.

Why not have a 24-hour period for people to register for a lottery, then randomly assign tickets? Tickets that aren't claimed (and paid for) in a certain amount of time go back in the pool.

The advantage would seem that the attendees aren't just those who were best able to buy the tickets and thus more representative.

Re: Google I/O 2013 Registration Sells Out In 49 Minutes

#22

Post by kyrra » Wed, Mar 13, 2013, 4:08 PM UTC

spartango wrote: post #20

I haven't been to I/O, and have only seen a few of the talks online. Can someone explain what the biggest appeal for going to the conference is? Talks? Networking? Workshops?

Free gear. Last year was the Nexus Q, Nexus 7, and Galaxy Nexus.

The talks are good too, but the appeal has definitely been the gear, which is unfortunate.

Edit: to add, interacting with the devs is really nice. I went 2 years ago and was able to talk with the GWT team a bit after one of the talks. As well, if you want to network, there is definitely lots of opportunity for it, but it is not something I've cared about.

Re: Google I/O 2013 Registration Sells Out In 49 Minutes

#23

Post by ozgung » Wed, Mar 13, 2013, 4:10 PM UTC

FlyingAvatar wrote: post #12

Three people (including me) from my team were attempting to get tickets. We were all on the page 30 minutes before opening and entered the queue within seconds of opening. 2 of us never got anything other than the looking for tickets page multiple times. 1 of us got to the payment page on one attempt only to have it fail. It's frustrating that we should each spend 1.5 hours of time to babysit what is essentially a lo…

This was a global waste of developer time resource.

Re: Google I/O 2013 Registration Sells Out In 49 Minutes

#24

Post by yskchu » Wed, Mar 13, 2013, 4:10 PM UTC

I wanted to go too, wow the tickets really sold out fast.

Ah well, the sessions are available online; though of course, lose out on the networking not being there.

Re: Google I/O 2013 Registration Sells Out In 49 Minutes

#25

Post by sjh » Wed, Mar 13, 2013, 4:17 PM UTC

BHSPitMonkey wrote: post #4

untog wrote: post #3

Given that 99% of the people I could see on Twitter were not able to get through to the checkout, 49 minutes feels like a relatively meaningless number. I suspect that if the system actually worked properly it would have sold out in 30 seconds.

From what I've been reading, it sounds like Google Wallet was really the weak link in the chain. A significant number of reports from people who were lucky enough to grab a slot indicated 5xx errors and other difficulties with the payment processing stage. If that hadn't been an issue, I think the sellout would have been reached a lot sooner.

It would have been better for aspirant attendees to have been able to put the price of the tickets into an escrow attached to Google Wallet and/or pre-authorise the transaction with their payment provider.

Re: Google I/O 2013 Registration Sells Out In 49 Minutes

#26

Post by kyrra » Wed, Mar 13, 2013, 4:20 PM UTC

FlyingAvatar wrote: post #12

Three people (including me) from my team were attempting to get tickets. We were all on the page 30 minutes before opening and entered the queue within seconds of opening. 2 of us never got anything other than the looking for tickets page multiple times. 1 of us got to the payment page on one attempt only to have it fail. It's frustrating that we should each spend 1.5 hours of time to babysit what is essentially a lo…

myself and 3 others at my company did the same. Everyone but me got a ticket. One of them was hit by the google wallet problem, but just closed and re-opened that popup and got it to go through on the 4th attempt.

Re: Google I/O 2013 Registration Sells Out In 49 Minutes

#27

Post by myko » Wed, Mar 13, 2013, 4:28 PM UTC

bobz wrote: post #2

I'm pretty sure this outcome is exactly what Google wants. Hardest tickets to get in town, even with a $900 price tag. Why else would they continue to give away such great swag at an event with such high demand? On the up side, streaming basically the entire event for free does calm the righteous indignation to a degree. Still, it would have been nice to get a chance to meet and chat with other people working on the…

At least this year the tickets are non-transferrable. I'm hoping a lot of scalpers get screwed on this.

Re: Google I/O 2013 Registration Sells Out In 49 Minutes

#28

Post by zdgman » Wed, Mar 13, 2013, 4:35 PM UTC

With the way the checkout system worked wouldn't it have been better to just have developers note their intention to attend beforehand and then on sales day just hold a raffle (in batches)? Everyone gets an email when they are able to purchase a ticket (selected at random, hence the raffle) and you only send out emails as long as you have tickets available for purchase.

This type of process would control the flow of participants and keep the experience optimal for those going through checkout. I wonder if they are going to release any numbers for how many people were trying to hit the servers all at once.

Re: Google I/O 2013 Registration Sells Out In 49 Minutes

#29

Post by niggler » Wed, Mar 13, 2013, 4:38 PM UTC

gav wrote: post #21

untog wrote: post #3

Given that 99% of the people I could see on Twitter were not able to get through to the checkout, 49 minutes feels like a relatively meaningless number. I suspect that if the system actually worked properly it would have sold out in 30 seconds.

I'm always perplexed by the way that they handle these ticket sales--they know that the demand considerably exceeds supply. Why not have a 24-hour period for people to register for a lottery, then randomly assign tickets? Tickets that aren't claimed (and paid for) in a certain amount of time go back in the pool. The advantage would seem that the attendees aren't just those who were best able to buy the tickets and th…

"they know that the demand considerably exceeds supply."

That's true in 2013 (clearly), but was that always true?

Re: Google I/O 2013 Registration Sells Out In 49 Minutes

#30

Post by eloisant » Wed, Mar 13, 2013, 4:41 PM UTC

niggler wrote: post #29

gav wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm always perplexed by the way that they handle these ticket sales--they know that the demand considerably exceeds supply. Why not have a 24-hour period for people to register for a lottery, then randomly assign tickets? Tickets that aren't claimed (and paid for) in a certain amount of time go back in the pool. The advantage would seem that the attendees aren't just those who were best able to buy the tickets and th…

"they know that the demand considerably exceeds supply." That's true in 2013 (clearly), but was that always true?

Yes, ever since they started to give away cool gear at IO.