Hey Memphis,
Glad to hear your feedback about the conference. I was your MC and conference organizer. Sorry to hear you felt some speakers did not interest you or rubbed you the wrong way. I suppose that can happen.
I did want to clarify a few facts though. RISD did have a a very strong attendance actually 22-23 people. I can dig up last years attendance numbers, and I am just guessing here, but that’s up 1000% or so for RISD (no surprise, it was in their back yard!). In fact if you count the number of RISD students who view portions of the conference w/o a badge (a request made to IDSA) then it would be more. I would admit they did not hoot and holler when called on by me on stage, but maybe they are a shy bunch.
RIT on the other hand had far fewer than last year. Only 5 this year, which is more than many schools but not a great showing by RIT standards. I did spend some time talking with those students to understand their point of view. Their colleagues lack of attendance, although, was not because the conference was too expensive. The conference cost was about the same as last year. The difference in the cost is the student membership, but that should not affect your decision to attend the conference. The value is in the networking, content, portfolio review and meeting professionals in person. I know of several students who are in talks with companies about being hired and they got those leads at this year’s conference. And again, if the cost were the same, why not come this year? (btw - many students ask for cheaper prices but they don’t understand that the cost to IDSA for the conference venue, speakers, food, etc. is far higher than the discounted student tix at $99, so we actually loose money on students to encourage their attendance).
What I am really happy to report is that the numbers we lost from RIT, we more than made up for in more professional attendees. This benefits the students and the pros alike . I also saw a few recruiters shopping around for talent and setting up meetings, which further highlights the value for those attendees.
As always there is room for improvement. So I agree with you, I want to hear more feedback, the bad stuff we can reduce, and the good stuff we should do more of.
Also, which speakers did you like the most? Which of the four Design4 themes resonated with you most? What would you like to see as next year’s conference theme? Who would you like to see on the national stage? What did you think of the evening’s events?
I’ll be sure the feedback improves next year’s event.
Marco