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Comment by jschuur | Hacker News Reader

Is it my imagination, or has the number of sign-ups dropped dramatically since introducing the £6 fee?

I don't think the amount being asked for is unreasonable, considering the speakers, the beer and pizza, and I agree with why it was introduced, but is the new system still filing up the venue in the end? Before the sign-up fee, a week before a meetup, it wouldn't be uncommon to see most/all of the 4-500 slots already filled up.

Sanderson is hilarious though. A great addition! Something to look forward to, since sometimes some of the talks can get a little... less interesting.

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The first two events of the year were probably some of the busiest ones we had, judging by the number of people in the hall. Last event was only announced a week in advance which led to lower numbers. The dropout rate for free events is fairly high so I'd say you get the same attendance at a 500 person free event and 300 a person paid event.

Having said that the attendance does seem to be declining. I suspect one factor is that there are so many great events happening in London these days and busy folks only have so much time to spare.

If anyone has suggestions on where the event may be falling short and could do with some improvement, I'd love to hear it.

I don't know if it's related to the larger trend, but I do find myself frustrated when the speaker lineup is finalized late. No doubt, there's logistical reasons for this, but for me, the quality of the talks is often very hit and miss, even when I do know who is attending. The Hacker News brand alone isn't enough to draw me and I'm not much of a mingler, so I rely on the speaker lineup to see if I'll go.

>Is it my imagination, or has the number of sign-ups dropped dramatically since introducing the £6 fee?

I don't know, I think the reaction to the last one was that the speakers didn't really provide anything of use for most of the audience just sadly weren't interesting enough.

Whilst it is easy for me to be an armchair critic in the audience I do remember remarking at one point that we were witnessing the worst, most boring explanation of hill climbing / optimisation I've ever seen. It was sufficiently lacking in background to be of no merit to someone who'd never come accross the concept before, but far too basic for anyone who had. I appreciate the guest speakers don't get paid, but I know I wasn't alone in finding them a distraction from talking and drinking with the interesting people in attendance.

I can't imagine a £6 fee would put people off, most would have paid that just to travel there.

> I can't imagine a £6 fee would put people off, most would have paid that just to travel there.

The numbers did drop dramatically when the fee was introduced - it used to fill up well ahead of time, and now it regularly doesn't reach capacity at all.

I don't know the reasons why fewer people are coming, and whether it's a good or bad thing, but the numbers definitely dropped due to the £6 fee.

If you are having the beer and pizza it's pretty good value. I wonder how many people don't/wouldn't have the beer and pizza, and therefore consider it less good value.

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