[Inpycon] Ticket Prices

[Sanchit Balchandani]

On Sat, Aug 26, 2023 at 1:30 PM Rishav Kundu via Inpycon <inpycon at python.org>
wrote:

> I would like to register my disappointment at the atrociously steep ticket
> prices, along with the fact that there are no student tickets!
>
> Given that the regular tickets have sold out a month (!) before the event,
> I’m not sure what students will be able to afford Rs 2500 for tickets!
>
Hi Rishav,

Thank you for expressing your concerns regarding the ticket prices for
PyCon India. We genuinely value feedback from community members like you,
as it helps us understand the various perspectives. Let me try to address
your worries and disappointment with some points below.

   1.

   *Ticket Categories and Pricing*:
   - The price you mentioned is specifically for the late bird tickets,
      priced at 2500+GST. However, a breakdown of our tickets reveals
that many tickets
      were offered at more affordable rates:
         - Early bird ticket (250 quantity) - 1200 INR + GST
         - Regular bird ticket (355 quantity) - 1500 INR + GST
         - Combo tickets for Conference + Workshops (200 quantity) - 2300
         INR + GST
      - The late bird tickets represent the FINAL *140* for the conference
      days.
   2.

   *Post-COVID Challenges*:
   - We've experienced increased logistic costs in the post-COVID time,
      starting from food, branding, accommodation, etc, Technically all costs
      have increased.
      - Also, as you might know, our event relies significantly on our
      generous sponsors. This year, because of slow market conditions,
      we've faced challenges, and secured only 16 sponsors so far after 2
      months of effort, in contrast to the 50+ Sponsors for PyCon India 2019
      and 2018.
      3.

   *Event Expenses*:
   - Our intent is to make PyCon India accessible, and transparency is
      essential. Here's a high-level breakdown:
         - Food: Approx. 1200 INR/person for TWO days (includes lunch,
         breakfast, and high tea)
         - Swag: Around 410 INR+GST/person (t-shirts, cloth bags,
         stationery, lanyard, stickers, etc.)
         - Foreign keynote flights: 2.2 Lakhs
         - Keynote speakers' hotel stay: 1.1 lakh
         - Speakers' accommodation (40 Qty): 1.75 Lakhs
         - Speakers' travel (40 Qty): 2.4 Lakhs
         - Speakers + Sponsors Dinner (100 Qty): 1 Lakh
         - Finance Partner Expense: 5-6 Lakhs
         - AV Setup for 3 days including Sponsor Stalls: 10 Lakhs
         - Branding including Banners/Standees/Signages (4 days): 1 Lakh
      4.

   *Student Tickets*:
   - We are actively looking into providing discounts for students who
      reach out to us at tickets at in.pycon.org. While an explicit student
      discount is challenging due to our budget.
      5.

   *Comparison with Other Conferences*:
   - For context, you might find it helpful to compare our ticket structure
      with other conferences:
         - GopherCon India 2023
         <https://www.townscript.com/e/gopherconindia-2023-404223>
         - React India 2023
         <https://www.reactindia.io/conferences/2023/tickets>
         - DevOps Days BLR 2023
         <https://konfhub.com/devopsdays-blr-2023#tickets>
         - DOIS 2023 <https://konfhub.com/dois-2023#tickets>
         - KCDBLR Tickets <https://tickets.kcdblr.com/>

We are doing our best to make PyCon India affordable for everyone, but as
you might understand from the above stats we are tight on budget this year
and we don't have a lot of Sponsor Funds to reduce costs on attendees. By
the way, I am also attaching an image <https://ibb.co/TTVmvk2> for ticket
prices we had in PyCon India 2019, Please do check, it seems 2023 event
tickets are very much on the same lines, even after 4 years and post covid.

I hope this email clarifies the reasoning and the context behind the ticket
prices. Please don't hesitate to reach out with any further questions or
concerns.

P.S. - I am happy that you brought this up, this gives us an opportunity to
clarify to the larger community about the ticket prices.

Thanks
Sanchit
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