pouët.net

This just randomly came up on IRC, but I think it's worth a look at. Crowdfunding demoparties. Like kickstarter type crowdfunding.

Instead of the people going just buying tickets, you'd have a few different options: a couchscener ticket for a few €, a real ticket for an average ticket price, and perhaps a VIP ticket for more money with a reserved and refridgerated crate of beer.

It'd allow the orgas to set a few levels (we need so much for the party to happen, so much extra for a high-end projector + sound, and if it goes past that there's free beer). Hopefully it'd take a bit of the financial risk away from the orgas too.

So, does that idea have legs or is it about to get shot down like a lame pony? :)

couchscener gives access web cast access like PPV ?

with beer and a party branded mini fridge sent by courier?

Crowdfunding works because you don't have to do it, just if you feel like supporting the project. Conversely, if I'm going to a party, I'm already required to shell out the travel costs and entrance fee, so the rest would just feel pointless, especially if someone lives around the corner so they can afford the higher tiers for a lot less money than I spent just to get in the door.

On the other hand, I support the idea of pay-per-view party streams.

I'm by no means speaking for any party organizer, but having prepaid tickets, pretty much helped on that particular problem when organizing TRSAC.

This is of course possible because most sceners are getting older, and plan their participation in demoparties in due time etc etc, and then makes the commitment of buying the ticket anyway.

The crowfunding model could get some of the non-attendees to give a donation too - maybe it could work, but I'm not really sure - and I havn't really thought it through :)

Any = every

Buying tickets wouldn't be any different I think - we'd just buy them from a different place, and have a few more options perhaps. And if 1 month before the party we see there's not quite enough money for extra large speakers + beamer we could throw a bit more money into the pot.

rewards for non-attendees too, like t-shirts/early access to download prod's before they go on pouet/scene.org ftp would make it more desirable too

And I thought this POUET PREMIUM GOLD ACCOUNT thing was just a joke.

oh dear christ. there are enough partyorganizers who dont even upload to scene.org in the first place, and you want additional delays on that?

It's called ftp.party.

As long as you can get refunds if you can't go for any reason.

Blocking access to stream or releases, even temporarily, is stupid - everyone wants his stuff and party to get popular and well-noticed, don´t we?
Scaring away people which just want to watch the stream during the compo without paying full price or interested newbies would have an adverse effect in the end.

Anyway, a couple of parties allow for "sponsor" or "pro" entrance prices, which already supports funding the party well if the additional cost starts with a reasonable amount (like 10,- extra: get listed as donator and feel happy, 50,- extra: get a goodie like a pro-ticket-only shirt or sth. like that, 100+ extra: official sponsor,...)

The kiwicon NZ security conference does a thing when buying your tickets where you write in how much you'd pay for VIP seats. Ie: A tender. When it was held in a uni lecture theatre this meant a comfy couch just off the stage, with food and drink brought to you by the organisers. The last couple of years it's been at the opera house, so it gets you a private box as well. Most of all it gives you a better position to heckle the presenters from.

"there are enough partyorganizers who dont even upload to scene.org in the first place, and you want additional delays on that? "

OK. just putting it out there, i figured people at home might want to run the prod's if they were available there once they've been shown til the parties over...

and if they don't get upped, maybe it would help actually move it along.

i wasnt talking a huge delay, just making things available once comps have been aired.

now i'm home from work, i'm thinking actually probably anything more than t-shirts is too much hassle :D

well didn't we crowd-fund brokepoint? early adopters ftw

Yeah, instead of having a PPV model, you can just do it like at BP09... Have people donate in advance for a stream, and if enough people donate, there will be one, otherwise there won't - simple as that.

Make the party attractive, people will prepay. At least that seems to work?? Unless every party goes minus and no orgas admit it...

Involvement makes the scene go around, the scene go around (c) Liza Minelli / TRSi

Crowfunding a party seems to be a nice idea... bute maybe only "bigger" parties are able to reach the funding deadline...

apparently, someone already did it: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/598757620/party-keep-the-demoscene-spirit-alive-in-north-ame?ref=live

The problem with crowdfunding parties is the long preparation time you need. For smaller parties you will need a couple of months for securing locations an stuff and you also need to now most of your costs in advance as well.

For an even like Revision, I think we'd need to set a funding deadline like around 9 months in advance or something like that.

I have thought about this a bit in the last years and I guess it's possible to do it. Although don't forget the fees that have to be payed if you use a cf-service or prepayment like with PayPal.

dfox: yeah, i'd figured the deadlines would be an issue and the fees would be.. well, lost money.

But it might be doable for smaller parties (@party seems good evidence :) If it's done for a few smaller parties, and it's worked out well for them, perhaps it's worth building a demo-specific ticket site with the same kind of features? Obviously not if there's not much benefit.

Anyone from @party care to tell us how it worked out?

http://www.funds-off.me/ ?

To what it boils down in the end is it's just a fancy way of paying-for-your-ticket-in-advance.
And parties have been doing that since forever, just without the oh-the-internet-is-so-social-and-trendy buzz.

For parties that need it: pre-sell tickets. If a certain goals aren't reached, some party features might get scrapped - up (or rather down) until the cancellation of the whole party.
Add supporter tickets as a bonus (if you like), which net the supporter a minor perk - like different color t-shirts, mentioning them on the beamslides etc.
Boom, case closed. ;)

Oh, sour puss, is progress such a bad thing?

I like the idea of crowd funding, in fact Sundown on many occasions was made possible with generous donations on top of entry fees - making it public in such a fashion is no bad thing.

I didn't (meant to) say that progress was a bad thing, but that I can't see where the actual progress is - apart from giving the same thing a new name...

We did this for several editions of Riverwash. We didn't have enough funds to start organizing (after this infamous tradition of some Polish parties when organizers had to draw loans to pay back for party damages) and so I decided to ask people how they felt about it. It was a success and since then every Riverwash (now WeCan too) has had a supporter ticket which is practically an advance payment of at least double the entry ticket price. Some people give even more and that money goes towards either prices or attractions like concerts (people can say what they want to support). It works fine for small crowds and I have no problem paying in advance if I know the orgas are going to deliver. However, If I was to give money to people I don't know very well, I'd be more cautious.

I'd gladly pay for Revision via Paypal or similar service, were it possible.