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Comment by Ar-Curunir | Hacker News Reader

If they have paid to register for your conference, it’s your duty to write those letters.

I doubt people having speaking slots at the conference will just skip out to go vacation. It’s not like they can’t vacation after the talk. More likely that they just didn’t get the visa because European visa processes, while better than US ones, are just slow.

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It's not his duty to do anything, and he's explicitly saying people have accepted speaking slots then not shown up so your doubts are unfounded. Have you never attended a conference where there is a last-minute change in a speaker or talk? Theirs is not the first time I've heard of that happening, either.

Have you never attended a conference where a speaker was not from a developing country but didn't bother to show up anyway? I had

I say charge more, take higher deposits if needed but be more hands on with all speakers (not discriminating against "global south"): get their precise arrival info, always be in touch about their status, meet at the airport, organize their accommodation, etc. So they have no chance to escape your hospitality

A large tech conference may have 100+ speakers. They're not all getting the white glove treatment.

Life does happen in any case--especially in these days when people are acutely aware that they can't show up at conferences with an illness. I've also filled in for a speaker who just totally forgot they had a session at the conference and were double-booked elsewhere. It happens. Might seem odd but it can happen when you might have a a dozen speaking slots a year and many more proposals in flight.

> If they have paid to register for your conference, it’s your duty to write those letters.

I should probably have made it clear that I'm talking about conferences without registration fees.

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