Pete Finnigan's Oracle Security Weblog

I was approached by a lady on LinkedIn a few weeks ago to ask me if I would speak at a conference in another country. I said that I was interested and asked for more details and importantly do they cover the travel, hotel etc. They came back to me after a couple of weeks and said that they would offer me a discounted entry to the conference and they would not cover any expenses for travel, hotel, etc.

Of course I politely declined to attend at this point. They said they are a commercial company and have to watch the bottom line BUT I am also a commercial company. Why would I pay for flights, hotel, transfers, food AND pay to enter their conference so that I could speak?

Is this normal? Its the first time this has happened to me. Normally I will speak for free at conferences in the UK and drive there; its worth it in the UK, my potential business audience is here. I have spoken many times in other countries; most European countries and as far as Singapore and Dubai but always the organiser would cover the travel and accommodation and not ask me to pay an attendance fee. Some paid me a fee to speak.

If I was organising a conference then I would want the best speakers and pay their costs as it would make my event better and attract more people to attend.

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