Re: EG in Korea
| Inbox | x |
| Michael Hawley | 4:44 AM (5 hours ago) | |
| to me, EG |
Dear Yogi Daniel,
Congratulations again on your exciting news! We would be happy to have a conversation with the World Sharing Cultural Organization about the idea of producing a great creative conference like EG in Korea. Such an event would be a dazzling addition to the culture, bringing inventors, artists, scientists, explorers, educators and entertainers to the country. Great idea.
We recently went through a budgeting exercise with another country.
To set expectations, EG in the US (egconf.com and see: two-bit.org/eg-programs.pdf) is produced for less than $2m. The costs include:
– speakers (travel, hotel)
– staff (4-6, plus on-site team of 18)
– event design (web design, program design, site design)
– a/v & post production
– PR & marketing
– venue fees (e.g., the auditorium/conference center)
– catering
This is for a typical size of roughly 50 presenters (plus their spouses) and an audience of 500+.
There are a few important things to keep in mind. Quickly:
1. At EG in California, we are able to leverage our 12 year history efficiently. Starting a new event from scratch will incur more startup costs.
For instance, a new multilingual web site will be required. Some preliminary travel to assess venues will be necessary. More PR and marketing will need to be done in order to effectively announce the new event.
2. Most speakers at EG in California are from the United States. We do not pay honoraria, and most travel is domestic (which reduces expenses considerably). As a courtesy, we always allow speakers to bring their spouse/companion.
For an international event, almost all speakers would come from outside of Korea, thus international travel and and honoraria are required as well as any VIP visa management. It would also be valuable for all to arrange a cultural program for the visitors, as many will not have traveled in Korea.
3. We produce all of our conference designs efficiently, often for “free” as favors from partners. This is not likely to be possible in a foreign country, so costs for printing (program books, banners), food & wine, etc, would be higher.
4. Similarly, we produce A/V efficiently. This is something that Korean companies excel at, but it is important to plan for simultaneous translation and editing (again with translation) afterwards.
5. I would expect there to be a Korean team working closely with the EG team, adding to staff expense.
6. EG productions would not be possible without generous help from many corporate sponsors (who contribute both cash and “in kind” materials). Corporate contributions and attendee registration fees (typically $4,000 per person) are the way we cover costs for EG in California.
7. I think a sensible plan would ramp up an annual event. Begin small, say two days and 20 presenters, in order to work out the difficulties in such a production. In subsequent years, 40 to 60 presenters could over three days would be a good size.
In terms of timing, it would make the most sense to set this event off by about 6 months from EG: since EG is in the spring (April/May), a Korean event would be best scheduled in the fall (October, say).
Without question, Korea should have a major event attracting creative talents from around the world.
Please let me know if the above is of interest, and we can discuss further.
Mike