We, the S4 team, wanted to give a big thank you to the speakers, attendees and sponsors for their support of the new S4x22 dates. The unfortunate Omicron led S4 move from the usual January dates to April 19-21 inconvenienced a lot of people, and we were unsure what this would mean for the event. Here’s the good news.
Speakers
It’s funny. The biggest loss of speakers we had was due to job changes, and the another on the project or role pitched in. We also lost a speaker due to the recent cyber incidents in European oil terminals. It became too hot for a related company to stand up at a security event. Other than that, we have all of the speakers committed to the new dates.
We have also added sessions. The required move of the Cabana Sessions to 4PM meant more stage time on all three stages.
Attendees
Just over 40 of the 460 registered attendees requested a refund either due to a conflict or change of mind. The attendee support is definitely appreciated. I think there is a lot of pent up demand for everyone to get together, and S4x22 is one of the beneficiaries of that feeling.
As of this week we’ve had more than 40 new attendees registered, so the count is going up again. If you know someone who should come to S4x22, tell them to register now before the price goes up at ticket #501.
Sponsors
We’re gratified that only one sponsor declined to move to the new date. Unfortunately it was the largest partner, but the waiting list of sponsors has filled in for them.
Six years ago I had a demanding sponsor upset that we wouldn’t provide attendee emails and some other things that are in typical sponsor packages. They said, “you need to decide if this is a sponsor event or an attendee event”. The decision was easy. Everything we do is to improve the attendee experience.
The funny thing is this led to an amazing collection of attendees and environment that actually make this one of the best marketing events for sponsors. There is usually a lag of about two years until the sponsors get it, but then they push for the bigger packages and the waiting list grows.
All this is a long way of saying thank you all … speakers, attendees and sponsors … for your support in the move to the new dates.
We will do all in our power to make it an informative, challenging, fun and transformational event.