Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to the common questions we receive. If your question isn’t here, e-mail us!
1. What does buying a ticket do?
For 2020, tickets are optional since we’re doing an online streamed event. However, if you support us by buying a ticket, you’ll be given access to a private chat nearing the date of the event. Other ticket holders, speakers, and contributors will be there!
2. Why can’t everything be free?
Physical conferences cost us thousands of dollars months before ticket sales begin. In Seattle, large venues start in the range of 5-10k, with the best conference halls asking you to call because the price is too obscene to display online. That’s the price for the rental of an empty venue. Insurance, staffing, and A/V equipment are deals you strike separately.
Online events cost less thanks to reduced infrastructure, so ticket prices go down. Cost isn’t zero because Handmade Seattle will give some recompense to contributors, pay partners, pay commissioned content, pay to spread word of the event, hire part-time contractors and upgrade equipment.
We are also ultimately a business, and a bit of income will incentivize us to host future events.
3. Are refunds available?
We don’t process refunds, so think it over before supporting us! If you can’t attend, send an e-mail and we’ll transfer the ticket to anyone you request.
4. Where is the stream taking place?
On Twitch and this website. Possibly everywhere. We’re using Vimeo’s premium service to simulcast across Twitch, YouTube, and even Twitter’s Periscope. The camera and audio feeds of the organizer and contributors are consumed by Vimeo’s broadcast servers, stressing their bandwidth and not ours.
Handmade Seattle still needs to complete the tests against this system. In the worst-case, we won’t go beyond Twitch and our website.
5. Why are ticket sales for an online event limited?
Contrary to popular belief tickets for an online event can’t be unlimited, though the supply is larger than a physical conference. Proper chat moderation, server resources, and so on must be taken into account.
We encourage the audience to register early; even if tickets don’t sell out prices may increase as demand grows when the event approaches.