Just a small note, but it’s interesting how inflation has hit SaaStr events this year:
- Booth costs are up 26% (!) from 2020, on top of another 10% or so costs in building them outdoors
- Labor costs overall are up about 18% from 2021 Annual
- Internet costs are up about 45%, as just one example
Now it’s not all bad. With record attendance and record sponsorship, we’re able to spread fixed costs across a higher base.
Sitll, on a blended basis, average costs are up about 15% from 2020. Our ticket prices are actually down about 8%, and sponsor costs flat from 2020.
But we will ourselves have to raise prices on November 1 on sponsorships about 10%-15%, for the first time in years. Having said that, with record attendance, in some senses, the effective “sponsorship dollar per attendee” rate won’t actually go up. Same with digital media sponsorships, where we aren’t increasing pricing, and our base has grown 30%+ the past year. Pay the same for 30% more reach is really deflation. 🙂
We also won’t raise ticket prices for Annual, most likely. Instead, we’ll assume we’ll sort of make it up in volume. Sort of.
Sponsors that renew by Halloween for 2023 Annual or Europa won’t see any increase. You can even lock in 2 years through 2024.
But after that, this almost 20% increase in costs has to be baked in.
Inflation. It’s almost everywhere. It went away for a little while, and we ignored it for the past 6-9 months. But it’s caught up to us.
