A couple of years ago, working with a number of artist clients, I was shocked to see a greedy trend in the gallery world: where artists used to be represented by a gallery, now increasingly galleries ask rent fees in order for an artist to hang their work.
Now, it appears that the same trick has appeared on the public speaking field.
Last week I had a meeting, to discuss my giving a talk at an upcoming local conference. Seemed like a nice organiser, the theme and other speakers fit my area of interest&operation, and hey: public speaking. Good for making connections&getting the word out.
And then she drew up a price list and started talking about the different price levels.
“Just a sec”, I said. “We’re talking about giving a talk – a speaking engagement, right? Not renting a stand?”
“Yes, a talk”.
“Ok, I’m just checking, because normally people pay me for giving public talks”.
She was quiet a bit, and then: “Erm… we sell talks”.
Seriously?
What she sells isn’t a talk, it’s floorspace and an audience. The speaker sells the talk.
“Ok, well why don’t you send in a proposal and a quote, and we’ll see if we can fit it in”.
In the end, I didn’t. It would probably be fun and useful, and paid, but:
Aside from the fact that I consider it wrong to charge an artist for wallspace or a speaker at a normal conference for floorspace, it’s a sign of bad business thinking.
The argument is ‘we need to cover our costs’ – but that cost should be covered from other things, such as ticket sales, revenue share on sales the speakers make, book sales, workshops… there’s a hundred ways to create revenue around a conference.
But if the organiser does it by charging the very people who bring life and value and content to the affair, there’s something wrong.
A gallery should be so confident in their ability to attract the right audience, that they’ll take their commission, but charge nothing.
And likewise, a conference organiser should have a marketing plan so well thought-out that they know they’ll cover their costs from ticket sales.
If they don’t have that in place, how do I have the confidence that there will be people in the room?
A paid speaking gig sounds like a nice opportunity, and it is – but only if I can develop it with people a) who share my values and b) with whom there’s alignment in the way we both see how things should be done.
Opportunities abound. Pick only the ones with the ‘right’ people, and you’ll save yourself a lot of time and a lot of disappointment.
Cheers,
Martin
