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Dear JAMF Nation,

I am pleased to announce that on April 6, 2016, the registration site will launch for the 2016 JAMF Nation User Conference (JNUC). For the sixth consecutive year, we will host JNUC at the historic Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 18-20, 2016.

Prior to the registration site opening and issuing our public press release, I wanted to first write a personal message to you, JAMF Nation, informing you of several changes to this year’s event — and more importantly, the reasons why.

Back in 2010, JAMF founders, Zach Halmstad and Chip Pearson, had a vision to bring together a community of JAMF customers for the sole purpose of connecting with and learning from each other. Zach and Chip did not want a ‘marketing event.’ They wanted a gathering for JAMF customers, where the content came from JAMF customers. For those of you who have attended frequently, you know JNUC has become a lot like a reunion, where friends gather to hear stories — some related to our profession, and some not. In short, JAMF Nation has truly become a community.

As JAMF's new CEO, the 2015 JNUC was my very first. I never experienced the intimate gathering of only 100 people back in 2010. I have only known JNUC as the largest gathering of Apple administrators in the world, with more than 1,000 attendees last year. Despite it’s size, it still had a community appeal.

For those who joined us last year, you had an opportunity to meet several new members of the JAMF leadership team, connect with over one hundred new JAMF team members, and witness many informative presentations from JAMF Nation members, including the amazing IBM story of 30,000 Macs deployed in less than four months (having now grown to over 50,000 Macs, as documented in this IBM paper.

During JNUC 2015, you also witnessed first hand, after six years, we have now hit capacity in our current venue at the Guthrie Theatre. Yet JAMF is adding more than two thousand new customers every year. To accommodate this growth, and your desire for even more educational sessions, JNUC requires additional space — which of course requires more investment. The unfortunate reality is that all investments in the JNUC event comes directly out of JAMF’s capacity to invest in your product and support. Thus, we are at a crossroads.

After months of consideration, JAMF has decided it is necessary to share the cost of JNUC with its attendees in order to improve the quality and scope while protecting investment into your product. To be clear, JAMF has no intention of profiting from JNUC. We are not morphing it into a marketing event. Our intent is only to charge enough to help cover the costs of hosting this large gathering. This year’s JNUC prices will encourage early registration, allowing JAMF to plan the best possible event for attendees. The prices will be as follows, based on registration deadlines:

  • $499 if registered before May 4th
  • $599 if registered between May 5th and July 12th
  • $799 if registered between July 13th and October 11th
  • $999 for those registering after October 11th

JAMF’s desire has always been to keep attendee cost as low as possible. At $499 for early registrants, it continues to be one of the most affordable conferences in the industry. However, we understand that, for over half a decade, it has been one of the very few free technology events. The hard truth is that, with its size and scope, continuing to provide a free event has proven an immense challenge. That challenge is exacerbated when combined with JAMF’s desire to maximize our spending on your product development and support.

When I joined JAMF nearly one year ago, the first improvement I wanted to make was to maximize our investment in product development. In fact, at JNUC 2015, I promised you that JAMF would grow its research and development organization by 60% year-over-year by March 2016. Now that March 2016 has come and gone, I am pleased to report that we have surpassed this goal and grown our product development by 100% since the same time last year.

The result of this growth will be directed toward more new product capabilities delivered with higher levels of quality in 2016 than any year in JAMF history. I can tell you now that in 2016, JAMF will deliver substantial improvements in cloud computing, enterprise integration, scalability and performance, patch management, classroom and school management, usability — for both IT admins and self-service users, and of course, support for the latest Apple releases on the day they become generally available. And you will be able to see and touch all of this new functionality at JNUC 2016.

Proof of our increased product development is already visible with the release of Casper Suite 9.9 on March 31st. As you know, Apple recently announced iOS 9.3, which includes many new features like Managed Home Screen Layout and Managed Lost Mode, as well as substantial functionality to serve the education market like Classroom app and Shared iPad. I am pleased to tell you, with Casper Suite 9.9, JAMF is first in the market to support all of this new functionality, as well as adding iOS and OS X capabilities independent of iOS 9.3. Casper Suite 9.9 represents the first of several feature-packed releases we have planned for 2016, which is possible because of our increased investment in research and development.

With all of this development, rest assured, I still stand firm in the commitment I made to you at last year’s JNUC: At JAMF, quality is more important than time. To support this commitment, our development processes have been bolstered to make sure that products are truly ready when we make them available to you.

Now, back to the topic of JNUC. Last year, I enjoyed meeting and speaking with many of you. In each discussion, I asked, “What about JNUC is valuable to you?” Predominately, you told me relationships and content from customers. However, you also told me you’d like more content from JAMF. You wanted topics to go deeper. Some of you long-time Casper Suite experts felt you had seen everything, and wanted a deeper technical understanding and visibility not only into what Casper Suite does, but what it will do in the future.

Considering this, we are committed to provide you greater information, training, and value than ever before. At JNUC 2016, in addition to customer presentations, JAMF employees will offer tracks that provide education on:

  • All new functionality offered in 2016
  • All functionality in planning and development for 2017
  • Deep dive technical sessions delivered by JAMF’s team of experts

In addition, JAMF will offer shuttle services to visit our new headquarters in Minneapolis and participate in our new usability lab — where you will have an opportunity to direct the user experience for future product. And we will offer simultaneous Casper Suite certification courses through JAMF Education Services, giving course attendees the opportunity to attend JNUC keynotes and social events at no cost. Our registration site will contain details regarding all of these plans. In short, JNUC 2016 will be the best single week of Casper Suite training available anywhere.

We understand the JNUC fee may cause some past participants to miss the 2016 event. We deeply regret this. While the size and scope for JNUC may cause a short-term logistics problem, we are excited about turning the challenge into an opportunity to improve your experience. Our JAMF team plans to over-deliver on the promise of content and experience I'm making in this post. In addition, we will offer complimentary passes to customers providing presentations at JAMF. This incentive will attract case studies on the best and most innovative Casper Suite implementations in the world.

Regardless of whether JNUC is free or for fee, only a small subset of JAMF Nation is able to attend each year. At JAMF, our first investment priority is development and support of product that impacts 100% of JAMF Nation. With the new changes, we will be able to grow JNUC in the future without limitation and deliver you the best event and product experience possible.

In closing, for those able to attend JNUC 2016, my hope and plan is that you'll say, other than purchasing Casper Suite, it was the best JAMF investment you ever made.

Thank you,
Dean

Okay @mm2270 I was just merely standing in solidarity with those who are unable to afford the pricing and I have made my own comments - but I think you should spend some time reading the earlier posts and perhaps take another look at my posting and try to understand what my opinions mean. I worked for several companies (small, medium, large, enterprise, etc.) and I have had the luxury to participate in running some of the conferences and know how much it costs. The point of the conference that I recall is for the purpose of keeping your customers "HAPPY" and enticing potentially new customers. But, in any case you seriously have no idea whom you may have the luxury of addressing...never assume anything my friend because some may know more than you think :)

@bentoms, It's great that you're making plans to come again this year. More faffing, please!

I thought his goal was to avoid the faffing. Seriously Ben...looking forward to your session. You taught me last year to beware of malformed Marios not named "Mario Mario" working for Mario Brothers Plumbing.

That was a funny session but I've now used the analogy since to explain certs to new techs or admins who don't get it.

@blackholemac I meant more use of the word "faffing" in his presentations. Even to describe the absence of it. It's such a fun word, and so delightfully British.

@mm2270 and I totally see your point BTW. I did not mean to sound pretentious at all.

I know...just trying to get some laughs in a thread that started as an innocent discussion about the new registration fee but later had folks turning on each other.

Everyone can laugh at Ben Toms' "faffing" around at whichever JNUC they have been to before.

On behalf of Apple, I'd like to welcome JAMF Software to the world of never pleasing everyone when it comes to conferences.

@jarednichols, truth. BTW, when's Apple bringing back the IT track to WWDC? ;-)

@Chris_Hafner We pay for yearly maintenance plus licenses and we are an EDU...so not to burst your bubble, but if it weren't for the "free" SCCM management for the Windows machines, we wouldn't be able to afford the Casper Suite.

Maybe there can be a bundle package of training+JNUC in the near future. My boss will surely pay the fees for certifications alongside of the JNUC.

@Chubs Fair enough. I know it's not cheap regardless but perhaps I misunderstand the pricing structures now-a-days. That said, JAMF has always treated us all like Rock Stars at all levels. I do hope for the best for all and hope that you do go.

@Chris_Hafner No, your understanding of Casper licensing pricing for Edu is correct.

I'm not sure what @Chubs situation is, but I'll leave that between his school and Jamf to figure out.

Last I checked it's my own responsibility to keep up w/what is going on in the industry and learn what I have learn to get ahead. I have self funded my trip every JNUC I ever been to and I will continue to do so. My experiences at every JNUC have been incredible, and well worth the 500 + travel & lodging.

Thanks JAMF for providing an AMAZING product, INCREDIBLE support, and JAMF Nation!

@georgecm12 @Chris_Hafner You all are correct. The POs that are listed here state something differently (University validation for cost).

Regardless, Casper isn't cheap - even if we (edu) get a "discount". That said, I do understand that conferences should cost money - that is, NON-user driven conferences. I learned a bit at the JNUC last year, but no hands on. I feel that if we had hands on classes and JAMF driven seminars (as stated above), then the conferences will be well worth the money. I guess I'll wait until next year to propose the increase in cost to my boss (as the vids should be available to explain).

I can foresee this causing some issues with education customers, or others who have a more fixed yearly budget, but I totally understand the cost. I registered on the 6th before I saw this post, and I thought that the cost of the event was the likely reason behind the registration charge. I'm very excited to be coming back for my second JNUC. I was a Casper newbie last October, and I gained a lot of great new ideas. I'm a CCT now, but I will have my CCA by the time I make it to JNUC 2016. I'm looking forward to getting some more great ideas, and sharing some of mine as well.

why are you people writing and saying you cannot attend because of the fees ? JAMF knows this, it was only time until they eventually started to charge for attendance.

JAMF knows that eventually you will fork over the money and attend, whether it's this year or starting next year.

JAMF will not take any financial hit this year with the conference whether they charge for attendance or not.

This was going to happen sooner or later, looks like sooner.

think like a business man and you'll realize this was eventually going to happen.

This will be my last comment on this and agree with @CasperSally about moving on, it is what it is at this point and we learn to adapt now that we know the rules of the game so to speak.

@Chris_Hafner I'm not sure of your environment, or who deals w. the cost of services at your place. We've been a customer w/ JAMF since 2007 when JAMF was just getting some traction. To date we've spent nearly a million dollars in maintenance fees (yes, are seats are free), we've bought private courses, we've sent personal to courses so to see them reluctant to meet us (.edu) half way is a bit disturbing.

@deanhager If JAMF is taking on over 2000 new customers a year that alone exceeds your comfort zone for attendance at JNUC. If each new customer received a voucher for one free seat to JNUC. Something has to give, either change venues and charge or limit the event and make it no cost to those who get registered in the allotted time period. I understand the cost aspect, but if it wasn't for the community the Nation wouldn't be what it is. At some point there is a price of doing business, and JNUC might be that one item you look at that away.

I'm going to at least to try to get approval to but I'm not optimistic about it..

Can we Tailgate? They have a nice park over there, it'll be fun to watch the conference in the park while barbecuing and drinking beer, oh and we can do the bottle share while we're at it!

Mr. CEO, maybe you can just include the JNUC fee in the Casper Suite pricing. Like, you get 2 free pass for 1 year if you buy Casper Suite, or 3 free pass for 3 years if you buy 3 year Contract.

One logistical issue I can see with free entry or complimentary tickets as part of subscriptions is that it becomes difficult to keep a hold on who is actually showing up. No-one seems to worry about cancelling a free ticket if they don't end up being able to attend which makes it a nightmare for the organisers. A substantial reduction (but still a dollar amount to make people think before registering) for Training Pass holders or the like might be a way around this but given the cost of the tickets compared to similar events I guess JAMF would feel that the tickets are already heavily discounted.

I'm still putting in a proposal to my employers to attend as the conference fee is a drop in the ocean compared to the flights over from Australia. Hope to see a bunch of you there!

Mr. CEO @deanhager I should rephrase what I posted. JAMF should just include the JNUC fee in the subscription. 2 JNUC passes when you buy or renew 1 year subscription. If you buy or renew 3 years, you get 6 passes. This way, every year, 2 of IT staff can take turns to attend the conference each year. If they include the JNUC fee in the subscription, attendees still required 6 months to register prior to JNUC event. If they decided to cancel prior to 6 months, JAMF will refund the fee. If they do not cancel before 6 months, its either forfeit it or go. I think its fair right?

@Eigger i think it's easier to just charge the 500 bucks. If they did it your way and one group buys 50 licenses for the year and another buys 5,000, how would that be fair to the people spending 100x as much money? And if you are building in the cost for that into subscriptions then what about all the institutions that DON'T want to go? Should they be subsidizing other people that do want to go? And then if you turn around and say "ok, well we'll only have the people who want to go subsiding it with their subscription pass", then the easier path again is to just charge the people who want to go the price of a ticket.

I think the simple thing as has been stated multiple times by others already is this year there are going to be disappointed folks that can't go and there's not much that's going to change that now. Next year when it can be planned and budgeted for then just charging everyone the same fee will be the best coarse of action. I think folks trying to figure out convoluted ways to hide the cost of a ticket so it looks "free" is just that, a more convoluted way of having attendees shoulder some of the burden of attending that can be more transparent by just charging for a ticket if you want to go.

Hey @chriscollins , they "bundle" in training for the MDM piece regardless of how you try to save money. They force you to "pay" for training - even though I'm a self-learner on most things. How would "bundling" in the JNUC (just say, $500) into the yearly maintenance be anything different?

I guess there is no right or wrong model on how they do it - just company-personalized preferences.

Our school just signed on. Haven't even had the training or installed the software yet. We are a small school and had to go through a great deal of effort to get the powers that be to even consider this kind of investment. And now, we learn of a wonderful learning event, perfect for small town, small budget people like us - probably the kind of people who could most benefit from it - and more than likely we won't be able to attend because even at the early bird price, we may be priced out of the event. Excited about the product. Pretty bummed about the cost of something so valuable that usedf to be free.
I completely understand the need for for a fee, especially since the event is growing. However, the software is not cheap and the on going costs are significant. I know you folks in larger schools or businesses probably scoff at that concept but to us, it is prohibative. The only part I question is going from $0 to $1000, or $500 for the early bird. And one cost for all size clients. I wonder why some sort of stepped process couldn't be there - either stepped over time or stepped based on client size. Again, even though we haven't gotten the product, we are impressed enough by what we have heard to basically put ourselves out there to recommend it to a school board that really doesn't want to buy it. Going to this conference probably would help us be as efficient users as possible, making justifing the cost easier. But $500 to $1000 for a conference? On top of the thousands to purchase it? I hope we can attend. We have requested it, but the look we got when we did tells me something about our chances. Not complaining. I just think it is a shame - just wish some thought had been put into us little guys

Man life is tough.

@JimNyland I think you've made a great case against the fee. I totally understand JAMF's reasons for instituting the fee, but I hope that they find a way to make it possible for you to attend. Casper is very expensive. It certainly has been for us. Last year, we paid to send me to CCT training. Then a month later, we paid our yearly licensing fees. A month ago, I registered for CCA training, and then I paid another $500 for JNUC. If we total all of that together, it comes to about $8000 invested in Casper in less than a year. Now, we're being told we have to pay another $750 for an iOS jumpstart. This is not to mention the cost of traveling to Minneapolis for JNUC 2015 and my hotel stay. Again, I totally understand the reason behind the charge for JNUC, but I do feel that maybe the decision makers at JAMF may not have thought this through fully with consideration given to the price of training and licensing. For small companies like mine, all of these costs are a huge investment that we must be able to recuperate from client billing. It could actually cause us to lose business because we may have to pass on the extra costs to our customers. I think more thought needs to be given to all pricing for JAMF products, training, and other things. I think that Casper is awesome, and the support we get from JAMF is awesome too, but pricing can be a problem for a lot of us.

@chriscollins The idea of modelling I have in mind is not per seat but per year. And like I said, the buyer have an option to cancel to get a refund if terms and condition are met. You may ask...how you will determine who will go in your IT team. It can be just as easy as "Whoever gets the shortest stick Go!" Or It can be a Reward to an employee for a Job Well Done, or a Price Item during your departments Christmas Party or something. I think this is not a half bad idea at all. Getting a JNUC pass everytime you renew or buy subscription to give away to your team can boost moral, get them motivated, something to look forward to every year.

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