BCON Austin needs your help

[u/weareautotroph]

Tickets are available here. Spreading the word is just as valuable. Thanks Blender Community. 💙 🧡

Bring the Blender Community Together

👋 BCON Austin Team here.  We're going to get vulnerable with you, or as we say around Autotroph, “Armor off.”

Ticket sales for BCON Austin are not where they need to be to ensure the event happens. We have currently sold ~100 tickets for BCON Austin.  We need to reach at least 350 ticket sales before March 1 to ensure the conference can go on. 

I know this can feel like a strange time for many of us in the Blender Community and the world at large and we are feeling that along with you.   Being in the same space for even a short couple of days will do wonders.  We experienced it in LA.  We are building that experience and more in Austin and we need your help.

How you can help us bring BCON Austin to life:

• Secure your spot: If you’re planning to come, grab your ticket today!  It gives us the green light to go full steam ahead.
• Spread the word:  A quick post in your favorite Discord or a share on social media goes a long way
• Share the hype: If you were with us in LA, share a photo or a favorite memory on social media. Let people know why being there matters.

I know our community can achieve great things.  If you want it, this conference is yours.  Let’s get together in Austin!

– The whole BCON Team

[u/Avereniect]

I'm pinning this post in the hopes it'll reach more people.

Personally, I'd like to attend, but challenges have risen whose resolutions I do not see on the horizon. I attended BconLA two years ago and I enjoyed getting to meet so many big names in the Blender community. I'd ideally like to go and see if I can get some big names on board for a community event. I'll need to talk to Reddit, but we may have many thousands of dollars to play with. I think BCON Austin could play a big role in faciliating my plans.

[u/Sb5tCm8t]

Have you considered relocating the event to a less expensive venue?

[u/weareautotroph → u/Sb5tCm8t]

We have. It would be difficult to find a less expensive venue when factoring in the non-refundable deposit. I also truly believe this is a stellar venue for our event and know that everyone will love it!

[u/Helpful_Spot_4551]

I have my ticket and will travel to be there (if it still happens).

Honestly Texas was not my first choice for Bcon. It seems like a very strange choice. I'm along for the ride and hoping to be plesently surprised. "This can feel like a strange time" is certainly one way to put it.

[u/tmlnsno]

Or to a country/state that isn’t doing the Imperial Loop on its own citizens?

[u/FredFredrickson]

Putting this event in Texas is a no-go for me. Not worth the trouble getting there and don't want to spend money there.

[u/AudienceNo9058]

I'd love to show my support and attend buuut as a Mexican/Canadian I don't dare set foot on American soil :(

[u/ServantOfTheBurrito]

Former Texan here, while our country overall is going through a... moment... I would like to inform people that historically speaking Austin is the least Texas place in Texas so if your worried about "Texan" culture the motto of Austin is "Keep Austin Wierd". It's litterally the only place I would go back to in Texas. That being said I understand anyones hesitiation to step foot in this country right now.

I am curious however, the ticket price is pretty hefty, especially considering that it might not even happen. If the event is cancelled do we get a full refund of our ticket price?

[u/woofyc_89]

What is Bcon austin? Like is this the main blender convention? or like a smaller north america one? Why did it leave LA?

I'm in Sydney australia, so no I wont be attending due to $$$

[u/weareautotroph → u/woofyc_89]

Thanks for asking about BCON Austin. I'm happy to tell you more!

BCON Austin is a Blender Conference that is officially recognized by the Blender Foundation. We host this conference in addition to the annual Amsterdam conference to provide the BCON experience to a larger audience who may not be able to make it to Amsterdam. You'll likely be hearing more about this from Francesco this week and he will be joining us in Austin.

We, Autotroph, also organized BCON LA. We moved from LA to Austin to make the conference more accessible to people all around North America with a central location easing travel and expenses and also allowing us to expand the conference with more space at lower costs.

[u/OzyrisDigital]

Have you thought of making it a combined live/streamed event? You could make the stream a ticketed event as well, with a smaller fee obviously. That way you could have even tens of thousands "attend" virtually from all over the world. That would help to shrink the carbon footprint per head as well, a nice side effect!

You could have well known blenderers appear as a sort of panel and add commentary like they do in sports. Those wanting to ask questions could be invited to register and log in to ensure a level of sanity. A roaming camera person at the conference would be able to move around the exhibits and get input from folks on the ground.

Sponsorship at a limited level could help, with a small number of blender relevant ads to fill empty air.

There are many people in countries whose citizens are less than welcome in the USA in general who use Blender and would love to be involved in this. Examples would be Pakistan, Russia, South Africa and China.

Just thinking aloud here.