Three days, 800 miles, and 18 sessions later, I am back from the Financial Blogger Conference.
Here’s the breakdown of my spending:
The conference itself: $67
Breakfast on Friday: $8
Lunch on Friday: $19
Lunch on Sunday: $10
Gas: About $160
Hotel: $182
Tips to the bartender: About $10
That brings the total to $456. The hotel cost is really an opportunity cost, because my rewards card will be reimbursing from my accrued miles. Actual out-of-pocket cost: $274.
What did that money get me?
First, I got to meet a lot of the bloggers I read every day, including a lot of my fellow Yakezie members. That’s invaluable.
I got to spend three days meeting other bloggers, and learning how they operate. I got to hear how they manage Twitter, how often they post, what they do, and how they do it. Phenomenally valuable.
I got to spend 2 days learning better ways to do this whole blogging thing, by listening to some of the biggest names in the personal finance blogging world. That’s a value that you’ll have to judge for yourselves over the next few months as Live Real, Now evolves.
From a purely financial perspective, was this a good spend? Probably not. I spent $274 to get intangibles that won’t pay my bills or put food on the table. There is certainly an argument to be made that this was a waste of money. However, I strongly believe that those intangibles will prove far more valuable than any other way I could have spent that money. Using simple math, I may have wasted that money. Looking at the long-term value, it was definitely worth the time and money.
I will be going back next year.
I completely agree. The value of what you (we) got was pretty incredible. It was a pleasure to meet and hang out with you and all the other bloggers there, and I think what we came away with will help us to better serve our readers.
You made out like a bandit with the iPad2! lol
I’m excited to attend next year.
Yes, yes, I did. 😉 It was torture to have to wait until I got home to play with it. Apparently, you’ve got to sync it with a computer and itunes before you can use it and I didn’t bring a computer with me… Next year will be even more fun, I think!
Thanks for sharing your reflections. I am looking forward to attending next year! It also sounds like people took away the importance of story and have a new drive to change things about their site. Amazing how much one weekend can offer inspiration. I can’t wait to read other people’s reflections to try and get tidbits of info.
I’m rushing trying to take advantage of the inspiration while it’s still fresh. 🙂
I think you might be under-rating the value of the conference. Some of tips over time if you continue to blog will add up to more than $300 in value.
I knew a lot of stuff that was discussed in the panels and I still found it to be tremendously useful.
I’m positive it will be worth far more than I paid. I should have said “From a purely financial and simple perspective….”
Thanks for the breakdown…I wish I could have been there. Definitely next year!
Totally worth it.
Although it won’t pay your bills or put food on the table, it was an experience that may have changed your life (and your blog). Sometimes you can’t put a price tag on experience.
I have absolutely no regrets about going. I think it’s one of the best things I’ve done for my site. Now I just need to follow through.
Sounds like the conference was well worth every penny it cost. I unfortunately missed it this year but hopefully I can go next year.
I probably spent slightly more than you because I was there an extra night I think – but still I think it was worth every penny. For me the biggest part was forging and building upon all the relationships with people there. I think that, along with all the great sessions will help it to pay off with interest for sure!
It was fun meeting you at the conference!
How can you put a price on advice from JD Roth, Pat Flynn, Ramit Sethi and Adam Baker? It was well worth it, but I agree with your point that it is now up to us to follow through.
You can’t price that. I’m buying tickets for FINCON12 the day they are released.
The intangibles are the things that make one great.
I hope to go next year too. Sounds like everyone had a great time, and I do think experiences like that are valuable.