JNUC 2016

[deanhager]

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

[dstranathan]

I have been boasting to my bosses that the JNUC was "free", so I have booked the time off already, but now that it's a paid event (albeit affordable), I may have to choose between the JNUC this fall or the PSU Mac Admins Conference this summer. Its most likely too late in my 2016 budget cycle to get the funds allocated for JNUC (unless I pay out-of-pocket).

[mmainccs]

Like Chris_Hafner, I hesitate to offer my two cents when many others from the education side have expressed similar concerns, but I do think that I have a unique perspective. I have been lucky enough to attend 2 JNUCs, but was only able to go in both instances because it was free and because I live in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. I work at a K-8 Catholic school and am the only technology person, making it difficult for me to get out of the building for anything (and particularly at JNUC 2015, I spent plenty of time remotely working on issues back at school). On top of the difficulty of being away with no one else able to handle my responsibilities, it is a stretch for our school to handle the Jump Start cost and well as the licensing fees for Casper Suite, even at their reduced levels. I am tremendously grateful for those reduced fees because I would be lost without Casper Suite and all of the tools that JAMF provides me. And, I completely agree that it is phenomenal that JNUC had remained free for so long. But, I also know that it is highly unlikely that I will ever be attending another JNUC if the lowest price point is $499. I do not disagree that the pricing is reasonable in comparison to other admin and technical conferences, but I also know that I will never be attending any of those because their costs are so high. Another conference that I and many other K-12 educators attend is ISTE. Their early bird pricing is $434, and it jumps to $494. As a conference geared specifically to education, it wins when deciding how to spend the extremely limited funds that we have for things like this. While I have no doubt that JAMF will still have many customers attending JNUC, I do think that many of the previous attendees from K-12 institutions will not only be absent this year, but also for the years to come. Even for well-funded public schools, $499/person (if they can even swing a pre-July 1 "early bird" payment) is going to be difficult. The final complicating issue specific to K-12 folks in Minnesota is that JNUC has always occurred during the October "break week" that results from Education Minnesota's annual conference which virtually every Minnesota school uses as a time for conferences. I only attend part of both of my previous JNUCs because of schedule demands at school specific to conferences and because of family obligations resulting from school not being in session on Thursday and Friday. JNUC 2016 is running from Tuesday until Thursday meaning that it will overlap with Education Minnesota's conference and the first of two days of school being out of session across Minnesota. Even if my school could afford to send me to JNUC 2016, I would question whether it should be sending me for $499 when it is highly probable that I would be unable to attend on Thursday, October 20 because those two days off will allow my wife and I to visit our daughter at college in D.C. I would guess many other K-12 Casper Suite users in Minnesota will have to confront similar situations each year. Please know that I completely understand JAMF's position on this, continuing to have a free conference is not a sustainable situation. And, I found both JNUCs that I did attend invaluable. I would love to have the opportunity to continue attending, but $499 is simply out of reach for my school. I urge JAMF to explore some of the suggestions being made in this discussion — discounting JNUC for educational accounts, tying JNUC's cost to a clients number of licenses, etc — if they really do want JNUC to continue serving all of their clients.

[cchichester]

you win this round, Dean..

[Chubs]

Yup, I'm in higer-ed and I likely won't be able to attend this year. Since I live in the south, the plane ride alone is over $600. Then think of hotel costs (around $300) and food costs. My workplace DOES budget for this, however, it's only $1k to $1.1k.

I'm thinking if I can "sell" to my boss to allow me to get casper certified (since it was stated that the certification courses are offered and people taking those can attend the conference for free), then I might be able to attend. Change is something that should be embraced, however, I think @deanhager you should have consulted with the users of the product before rolling out such a large change. Usability and consumer base is what keeps a product going - Think about the "free" flavors of linux.

I totally understand the premise of charging for a conference. However, rolling these changes with 30ish days to get the discounted price simply is not how you implement the said change.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my $.02

[EvstersTech]

another vote to take care of your education customers which I would assume are a large customer base. With education I would assume most of our fiscal years start July 1 and then the approval process - so 'if' I go for the first time - it's already going to cost an extra $200.

Consider extending the early bird discounts, especially since you will now be charging, out to at least the end of July or mid-August. Or.... an option where we could register now to capture the early bird discount but mail the check in we we get our new budgets July 1.

[ernstcs]

Not totally surprised. I've just sent a note in to see what's possible to get registered now. I'm in EDU as well and not only is the timing poor, but so are budgets depending on where you work.

If the goal is to trim away some of the attendance, you'll likely succeed. Where two of us went last year, only one of us may be able to attend.

[5kinner]

@deanhager I was just thinking about the 'Convince your Boss' document. I'll wait for the update before I tell managament, thanks

[wilesd]

Totally understand why JAMF need to charge for this, it was obviously an expensive event and a complete outlier in the technical community.. But so are JAMF.....?

[Taylor_Armstron]

I don't have much to add that hasn't already been said, but just to throw my two cents in...

1st, I've been amazed that the conference was free in the past. In this day and age, it is basically unheard of, so I think those who have been attending for years have had an excellent benefit.

2nd... current pricing structure seems "reasonable" when compared to other tech conferences. I think the conference which is probably the easiest comparison is the PSU Mac Admins conference. JNUC's early bird pricing is lower than PSU's, while the "top end" pricing is higher. (FWIW, the PSU conference only has two tiers - early bird and "normal"). On average, it will probably cost most attendees about the same.

I do think that including at least one JNUC entry in an Organizational Training Pass is completely reasonable. The organizational training pass runs nearly $10K. Considering that the full-price of a JNUN entry is 1/10th of that, I think there should be some wiggle room to reconsider there. We have two JSS administrators at my organization, so a full training pass would already be a hard sell to management, but if I could tell them that it would allow one, or both of us to attend and NOT try to approach them for an additional $2K in JNUC costs, it might help you make that $10K sale. In other words "Penny wise/pound foolish".

Last... I definitely feel for the .edu market, but please remember - you're also paying about 1/2 of what other customers do for your Casper licensing. I'm .gov... which means taxpayer-funded as well, have to justify every penny, and it took me nearly 4 years of lobbying to convince management to put the funds for Casper into the budget last year. We've finally got it, and I'm anxiously hoping to get approval for my 1st JNUC, but also acknowledge that with the cost, it probably means I'll have to give up the PSU conference this year (which has been an easier sell since it is only a few hour's drive from me). I have friends in the Twin Cities area, so I can likely couch-surf and save a bit, but my point is simply that if they discounted .edu, where should the line be drawn? Just .edu? Non-profits? Government (including me?). Should IBM pay more than say... PBS? No easy answer. As others also commented, my organization has a line item in the budget for training and PD every year - my only real challenge is to convince management that JNUC will satisfy their requirements even if it isn't a "training" class. I'm putting in my request today though, to try to secure the early bird rates.

[cierra]

Unfortunately, we share the budget misfortune along with most other education customers. We won't be attending this year because of the price. Thanks for my first and last JNUC in 2015. It was fun.

[bentoms]

Well, talk proposal submitted.

Looking forward to JNUC2016 & hope to see a number of folks there. (Even if the changes have made attendance more tricky for some).

[Gocobachi]

Looks like I am not going this year. It's not that my company could not afford it, I think this is absurd to ask for fees for an event that has not ever had them before. This event is ideal (specifically for JAMF Sales) to pitch the idea to the population to use an extraordinarily superior product such as the Casper Suite - so perhaps the JAMF Sales Team should sponsor this event. JNUC committee should revisit this and take into consideration of those organizations that simply don't have the budget for the JNUC and AT THE VERY LEAST offer a discount or $0 the fees. I am standing along side with those organizations and companies that are not able to go. Solidarity is sometimes the best answer to resolve.

[mm2270]

Wow, @Gocobachi your statement is a bit ridiculous. I get that for some folks/orgs, the requested fee is too high for their budget, or comes too late in the year to get it approved. I think there's been plenty of valid discussion points on that front. But to say its "absurb" for them to ask for fees is just.. crazy! Did you even bother to read @deanhager's original post to understand the reasoning behind this? They are looking to more heavily invest in the product to bring us all the features and functionality we've been asking for now for years. Development and R&D costs money! Isn't that worth something?
Look, you're entitled to your opinion, but I think unless you have some kind of inside knowledge that JAMF can continue to do this for free without any impact to their bottom line for the foreseeable future, or you're some kind of conference expert that knows of ways to do this on the super cheap and still make it a great event, your statement is very disrespectful to them and what they are bringing to the community. And that is my opinion.

I suppose JAMF could have just chosen not to do JNUC anymore. That would have solved things! :P

[Taylor_Armstron]

Agreed with mm2270's comments. JNUC costs $$. We get that. But insisting it should be free just because "it was free before" is not logical.

That being said - JAMF... googling "JAMF JNUC" gives me http://www.jamfsoftware.com/events/jamf-nation-user-conference/2015/ as the top hit.... which specifically still refers to the free conference. I know that you have the 2016 page up, but if you could archive the old one it might help eliminate some hurt feelings if someone relies on Google to get them there.

[Kevin]

I have not read ALL of the previous comments, but enough of a sampling that I wanted to chime in.

I work for a non-profit, so I am not some Fortune 500 IT guy with a budget to burn.
I have been to every single JNUC, including the first one at Spill the Wine that was only 70 people. JAMF had 30 employees. I have watched it grow–grow to the point it was becoming unmanageable. Just walking through the event to get to a session in a different part of the building was becoming difficult. I was considering NOT going because it was getting so crowded.
Charging something for the JNUC is two years overdue…
The price JAMF is charging for the JNUC will the the lowest of ANY event I attend this year, by over half. I don't go to a lot of events, but have them pitched to me weekly by various vendors and organizations. The average event price I am seeing is well over $1,000.
My hotel and my flight will BOTH will cost more than the JNUC fee. Do I get more value out of a 2-hour plane ride or a three day conference?
I learn something every year that saves my organization real money–more than $500. That should be sales pitch enough to "convince your boss".

[Michael_Meyers]

I am in K-12 EDU like others and can see a justification to the cost. In many FREE events, it is very easy for people to sign up, then not attend...thinking, "well, it IS free...they won't miss me if I don't come." That is the society we live in, and I have seen it for many events where individuals or companies put a lot of money and effort into something to end up with minimal attendance. When something is free, there is no commitment to attend. A 40% no show from last year is terrible. Paying a registration fee commits you to attending, or if you don't, then at least the company is compensated for the waste of materials (food, shirts, programs). It would be unfortunate to have less people there because of price, but it was really crowded last year. I shudder to think how uncomfortable it would have been if even 80% of those registrants showed up!
It would be nice for JAMF to offer 1-2 complimentary passes based on whether you purchase Training Pass, how many licenses you have, or if you are an Encompass customer. Maybe something like that is in the works, but I cannot afford to wait too long and miss the $499 price, especially if I have to sweet talk my boss into letting me attend. I hope I get to go this year. Now, let the butt kissing commence...

[donmontalvo]

@mm2270 wrote:

I suppose JAMF could have just chosen not to do JNUC anymore. That would have solved things! :P

I've been resisting posting something like that, but you know, it's true. They are JAMF Software, a business. It costs money to build a solid product, and to hire/retain talented people at a successful/expanding company. They are not JAMF Software The Benevolent Association.

I think everyone gets it, EDU and small companies are faced with challenges. Large companies are faced with long approval/PO processes. Or if you made a sound career choice, you'd email your boss to ask for approval, get the email approval, whip out the AMEX, and book your hotel/flight.

JAMF Software is more deserving of praise for making Apple a viable enterprise platform and legitimizing "Casper Administrator" as a career...and less deserving of criticism that really should be directed to your company/EDU, or to the person who made your career choice that landed you at your gig. ;)

Sorry for the rant.

Don

[Chris_Hafner]

Now if we only had that +1 feature request approved ;-)

JAMF Software is more deserving of praise for making Apple a viable enterprise platform and legitimized "Casper Administrator" as a career

So, this post is blowing up but there are a few of you who are leaving some really important bits in here. The good news is that next year this won't matter at all.

P.S> Edu's get casper licensing for FREE!~ We only pay for support so far as I know. Last time I checked, that was WAY less than half off.

[CasperSally]

They're charging, it is what it is. Given Dean's last post, don't think anything is going to change for edus or otherwise.

I vote we all move on and look forward to them showing off their promised patching product assuming it's not released prior :)

[blackholemac]

For K-12 folks in this boat who are trying to figure out how to convince the boss and ultimately get there, I write this post. As I've stated before, my problem wasn't value for money. JNUC is totally worth it...simple problem was K-12 not being able to afford it.

For what it's worth, I have good news...I convinced the boss and have received written approval to go today. My boss was always skeptical that the conference was truly free but has clearly seen the value it brought to us. He agreed to let me go, BUT I had to give some concessions since he already paid for my CJA (and associated flights and lodging) this year. I had to agree to burn 2 days of my vacation/comp time so he could be fair to everyone else in our department. I also had to agree to not charge mileage for my drive up there. Our savings on mileage and my use of two vacation days for the drive up to Minneapolis mitigate the $499 considerably. It only costs me about $100 to get there and back for me. Boss agreed to pay for hotel (like he traditionally does) and the new $499 registration.

I know everyone won't be able to get it this way and not everyone can self pay for part of things financially, but I post this to dangle some hope in front of possible K-12 attendees who may feel like it won't happen. If you have any wiggle room and can make concessions in other ways to make it more palatable to the boss, it might work. I will be registering for the JNUC tomorrow with his approval.

[jhbush]

@bentoms hopefully you continue your use of classic hip hop in your presentations.

[Gocobachi]

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 :)

[bradtchapman]

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

[blackholemac]

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.

[bradtchapman]

@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.

[Gocobachi]

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

[blackholemac]

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.

[jarednichols]

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

[rtrouton]

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

[Chubs]

@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.

[Chris_Hafner]

@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.

[georgecm12]

@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.

[kenergy]

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!

[Chubs]

@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).

[howie_isaacks]

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.

[tcandela]

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.

[mahughe]

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..

[Eigger]

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.

[marcusransom]

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!

[Eigger]

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?