Big events vs little events

Events suffer from “reverse economies of scale” to a certain point. The more people you have to an event, the more expensive it gets to put together. Coffee shop meet ups can often happen for free - the coffee shop is glad to have the patronage and everyone will buy their own cup of coffee.

Small venues have small fees associated with a couple hours’ custom use, and larger venues charge ever larger fees, sometimes building in catering contracts as requirements for use of the space. It’s little surprise that most two-day conferences cost $399 or more — it costs the event organizer almost that much to host it in the first place. (Once you get to a certain point, of course - say SXSW - every additional ticket is pure profit).

If you’re a startup looking at building your community, nothing beats face-to-face connections for creating real evangelists and establishing a sense of shared ownership in your journey. But big events are a different story that little events.

Big events have a lot going on, which makes it harder for your story to stand out.

Little events have a harder time drawing influential bloggers and connectors.

Unless the small event is really VIP, but you need to have the relationships to start with.

Big events are covered in the Press more often, and you might be included in a story if you do something clever.

Little events feel more intimate and are better for starting (or closing) deals.

Big events are expensive, and unless you want to spend a lot of money ($60k+) you are not going to be the center of attention.

Little events are cheaper to own, but are necessarily local.

You can do little events in multiple cities, which makes it national (TEDx).

Where you should participate? The answer, of course, is both. But remember that the size of the event you are working on dramatically affects the types of connections you will make with the people there, and adjust your approach accordingly.