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1. Embed this notice
   Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Tuesday, 01-Jul-2025 16:03:13 JST Aral Balkan

   Had my talk on Small Web accepted at #why2025 but I hadn’t realised (my bad) that not only do you have to cover your own travel and accommodation but you also have to buy a ticket to speak. I’m sorry, as part of a tiny two-person not-for-profit working for the common good, I can’t afford to pay to speak at events. I’m not Deloitte. So I sadly had to withdraw my session.

   If any conferences do want to hear about the Small Web and are willing to support our work by paying us to speak about it, please feel free to get in touch:

   https://small-tech.org/contact-us/

   #SmallTech #SmallWeb #speaking #events #conferences #decentralisation #humanRights #personhood #democracy #peerToPeer #web #design #dev

   • Embed this notice
     Gabe Kangas (gabek@social.gabekangas.com)'s status on Tuesday, 01-Jul-2025 16:28:15 JST Gabe Kangas

     in reply to
     @aral I've had to turn down opportunities for the same reason.
   • Embed this notice
     @BjornW@mastodon.social (bjornw@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 01-Jul-2025 16:34:50 JST @BjornW@mastodon.social

     in reply to

     • why2025camp

     @aral That's a shame.

     Not sure if you've seen this, but there might be options to solve this (see tickets screenshot) please contact the organization about this, they might be able to do something about this.

     It would be a pity if you aren't able to participate due to a funding issue.

     @why2025camp

     #WHY2025 #Open #Tech #Web

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Tuesday, 01-Jul-2025 16:34:50 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • @BjornW@mastodon.social
     • why2025camp

     @BjornW @why2025camp With all due respect, I’m not going to go begging for a discount to speak.

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Tuesday, 01-Jul-2025 20:03:53 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • @BjornW@mastodon.social
     • why2025camp

     @BjornW @why2025camp When we organised the Indie Tech Summit¹ – an international conference with zero sponsors that we funded entirely through ticket sales – we made sure our priority was that we could break even while at the very least paying speakers travel and accommodation. We treated them like royalty, even picking them up from the airport. It’s really about priorities. No one ever says they’re not going to pay the venue or the catering staff, or, worse, that they’re going to ask the catering staff and the venue to pay them. But for some reason with speakers – especially those who do not work in Big Tech or the mainstream – it’s apparently fine. I don’t enjoy living under capitalism but if we’re going to move to a post-capitalist future, it’s not going to happen by making those of us working on the alternatives that respect and protect human rights and democracy poorer for the privilege of attempting to inform people about their existence.

     ¹ https://ind.ie/archive/summit/

   • Embed this notice
     @BjornW@mastodon.social (bjornw@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 01-Jul-2025 20:03:54 JST @BjornW@mastodon.social

     in reply to

     • why2025camp

     @aral understandable.

     Just want to make sure that you're aware of this option & as a signal towards @why2025camp that in these times prices like this prevent people from attending & contributing.

     I know the organizers try to keep expenses low. Sadly organizing anything in NL has become prohibitively expensive & requires jumping through lots of bureaucratic hoops. Cumulative inflation rose to 25% since 2020. Had my doubts on attending due to ticket prices & additional costs as well.

   • Embed this notice
     Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Tuesday, 01-Jul-2025 20:32:04 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • @BjornW@mastodon.social
     • why2025camp

     @BjornW @why2025camp Were the Dutch hacker camps also sponsored by Deloitte and pals?

   • Embed this notice
     @BjornW@mastodon.social (bjornw@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 01-Jul-2025 20:32:05 JST @BjornW@mastodon.social

     in reply to

     • why2025camp

     @aral Thanks for sharing.

     Traditionally the concept of Dutch hacker camps was: everyone is a volunteer & everybody has to contribute to the camp incl buying a ticket. In that sense it was different from conferences. My first one in 1997 even had a communal kitchen, dinner was included & afair everyone helped out incl speakers. It was a community effort.

     This spirit is still alive @why2025camp, but expectations, people, prices & the world has changed. Maybe the camps should adjust to this?