Meeting C++ 2024: the last hybrid C++ conference?

published at 24.10.2024 22:31 by Jens Weller
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While I'm happy that Meeting C++ 2024 is not the last online conference, I do have once again to wonder if its the last hybrid one.

Once again I'd like to document my thoughts on running a hybrid conference, and also ask the C++ community for the support if you value such an offer being available world wide. In the end the numbers of this years conference will once again decide if I think that continueing is worth it.

Its easier to run a conference without a live stream, it is also cheaper. As one does not have to invest into licenses and the technical things needed for streaming. And then there is another effect and problem that I and other organizers see with the hybrid model - that with out this, some of the online attendees would be onsite. With the rising costs for conferences, that is hard to ignore. This combination is the reason that Meeting C++ is the last one left.

One other unfortunate trend for conference organizers is that folks buy their tickets late, especially for the online part tickets will be available for a long time. So its to early to make a descion on this, and I do believe in the hybrid model, and that it is worth reaching so many folks online, making this content available world wide. That is why even if Meeting C++ 2025 is not hybrid, I may return to this model once it seems feasible again.

And it is still true that every time one halfs the price, one needs to double the sales. While competing with the free videos on youtube. Meeting C++ continues to release the videos later for free on its youtube channel. The online conference aims at an audience that can buy the ticket through their employer/school mostly. The streaming and online platform are expensive and take some time to setup and run the conference it self on. And (un)fortunately the online conference is the wrong audience to sell things to. So far I've not had a sponsor ask a particular question about the online conference, and since 2020 there has been no company interested in sponsoring the online part. In the hybrid conference, the online part has always been 100% funded through ticket sales. In this year I've tried to offer early bird tickets for 75 €, there has been very little interest in these. That is half the price that "early video access" costs you for other conferences.

So far Meeting C++ has not offered after conference access (aka "Early Video Access"). Most other conferences do this now, and it is something I may give a try this year for a limited time. Though I'd prefer not to rely on this, as I know that some speakers are not happy about it. Though an initial poll in social media seems to indicate that there is interest in such an offer.

Plans for 2025

From the current point of view after organizing 3 hybrid conferences, I do think that the model has more of a future when the online part contributes more to the funding of the conference. For the last years I had hoped that this would be something to grow into, seeing the early years as an investment. But it seems that raising prices is likely the more economical way to do it. There still could be ways to have cheaper online tickets for those that need them.

One thing I'd want to add is that there is also a certain influence of the current recession and effects like less interest in hiring. Meeting C++ has been running online job fairs for the last years, and after good success for a few years, interest in this year has died down. This is also true for the conference in term of sponsors who come for the visibility and hiring folks through this. And the reason to keep your employees happy with extras like conference visits has less weight when the hiring market and economy is at a low. This does also extend to related things like C++ trainings as I've heard from various C++ trainers.

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