Monday, February 6, 2012

Book Bloggers Convention at BEA

This is an open letter to all Book Bloggers planning for BEA and the Book Bloggers Convention.  

We have managed to create some confusion and want clear up the issues we have seen popping up in the blogosphere so Book Bloggers know exactly what to expect and can plan appropriately.    

We are going to slightly re-brand the name of the Book Bloggers Convention (BBC) because of the growing confusion with the BlogWorld & New Media Expo event that is co-located with BEA and the BBC.  Allow me to unveil the new nameBEA Bloggers Conference. This allows us to retain the identity without drifting from the short & rich history of the Book Bloggers Convention.  

The other issue that we have seen chatter on in the blogosphere is the price for attending.  Please know BEA does vet bloggers to insure that they are active book bloggers.  It is a bit subjective as it is hard to define in black and what what constitutes a true book blogger, but that is one thing we do check on and are cautious who we allow without being militant.  Bloggers pay a flat early bird rate of $135.00 that includes their pass for BEA - end of story for our blogging friends (stop reading now if you are blogger).  Here is where the confusion is running amok - there are non-book blogger attendees or exhibitors that want to attend the BEA Bloggers Conference, (formerly known as the Book Bloggers Convention) they will need to buy their normal BEA badge and for an additional fee can include attending the BEA Bloggers Conference.   I hope this makes sense.  The vast majority of those that attend will be bloggers and we want to maintain the lowest price point possible for book bloggers.  HOWEVER - there is a real risk that people that are not book bloggers that would have to pay a much higher fee to attend BEA as an industry professional will use this as a means of skirting the rates they should pay vs. the much lower rate of a book blogger.  This is a bit complicated but we hope it protects the book bloggers from paying too high a rate and allows BEA to maintain its pricing for other constituents. 

24 comments:

  1. thanks for clearing that up. i was beginning to think my ticket was worthless.

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  2. Thanks. Does the BEA Bloggers rate include BlogWorld & New Media Expo?

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    1. It gets you access to the BlogWorld show floor, there is a discounted rate to upgrade to their conference. You can e-mail me and I will connect you with the BW reg manager (we are on different systems so it has to be done manually)and if you register before 2/21, you can upgrade to include a BW conference pass for $12.00 That is not a typo. Their have a lot of tiers that increase as it draws closer.

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  3. I am quite confused now because it charged me less than that. I checked my registration. I have selected "Non-editorial media - bloggers - all access pass" and "concurrant events - Book Blogger convention."

    However, it's only showing a charge of $65 to my credit card for some reason.

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    1. Rebecca: We have fixed everything and educated our Client Services team on all the nuances. This was our mistake and we will honor the $65.00 price for you. Contact BEA's Client Services and you can point them to this post if need be, but you should be all set. Thanks for your patience. The direct # is 203-840-5614.

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  4. What about people that registered before this change?

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    1. It was a mistake at our end - we will honor the lower price.

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  5. Hmm. I registered as Non-Editorial Media - bloggers and selected the Book Bloggers Conference as my concurrent event. I was charged $135, but was also told my registration may not be approved. Has that changed? (I haven't heard back from BEA yet).

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    1. You should be all set - as I said previously, we have to make sure we are getting true book bloggers, we will not be militant about this. It takes as long as 2 weeks for us to confirm press or blogger status, but very few people are taking advantage of this that should not. Of over 2,000 press & bloggers that registered in 2011, less than 50 did not qualify.

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  6. I haven't finished my registrations because I was confused by the registration fee. There was an option for BBC plus BEA pass for $70 or something. I just looked now and that option isn't listed and there is no $139 option.

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    1. Go back and register through the media link, as long as you are a blogger, this will get you to the right price point.

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  7. what happens if I've already have my BEA tickets and want to add BBC? Do I end of paying double the BEA cost?

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    1. If you are a qualified as a book blogger or media, contact our Client Services dept at 203.840.5614 and they will get you registered properly. If you are not a book blogger or media, the proper way to register is get your regular BEA badge under the right category and adding on the BEA Blogger Conference = $72.00 for Early Bird.

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  8. Do book bloggers register through the non editorial media link or through the editorial media link?
    Last year, I registered as non-editorial media. When I try to do that this time, it says I will be charged $72 for the BEA Bloggers Conference and $159 for BEA.

    If I should be registering as editorial media, then how should I fill in the box that asks:
    (please provide impressions per week/month)

    My impression is that book blogging is fun but a lot of work. But I am guessing that is not what is being asked.
    Are you asking for stats?

    I spoke with one of the BEA live chat people who was unable to answer this question (and in fact was unable to even locate the page I was talking about), and gave me a number to call. I called the number and was told that they would need to call me back but since I wasn't asked for a phone number, I am not sure I will receive a return call.
    So I thought I'd give a try here in hopes of finding an answer.
    Thanks.
    k

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    1. We have since met with the whole Client Service department to clarify all these scenarios. If you are press or a legitimate blogger, you need to register through the media registration, that will get you the flat $135.00 rate that includes your BEA badge. You can call out Client Services directly at 203-840-5614. There is not a clear cut definition of a 'legitimate' book blogger, we use impressions as barometer as that is the value for the publishers so they know their is a audience that reviewing and recommending (or not) the books they are discussing. We won't be militant but a blog that is covering very few books and only being seen by a few hundred people would not qualify. I hope this makes sense.

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  9. I am having the same issue as K reads. It is charging me $72 for the BEA Bloggers Con and $159 for BEA.

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    1. Hi MR: As a book blogger, you should get the $135.00 flat rate, contact BEA's Client Service at 203.840.5614 and they will credit you. Thanks for you patience. We will look forward to seeing you in NYC.

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  10. I began registering last week, it told me my total was $72 for BEA access and BBC, and I just put my cc info, and found on my receipt that I was charged an extra $159. I contacted customer service and they don't seem to be aware of this: "Bloggers pay a flat early bird rate of $135.00 that includes their pass for BEA - end of story for our blogging friends," or of your policy of honoring the earlier rate. They are telling me I have to pay $231 for everything.

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    1. Hi Alice:

      I am copying my reply to Midnyte Reader as the answer is the same for you: As a book blogger, you should get the $135.00 flat rate, contact BEA's Client Service at 203.840.5614 and they will credit you. Thanks for you patience. We will look forward to seeing you in NYC.

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  11. I ended up speaking to two different people today on the phone and neither had heard about the $135 book blogger rate. They also had not heard of The BEAN and I had to explain that it is the BEA blog.

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    1. Hi K Reads:

      We apologize for the our internal miscommunications. that has been rectifier. Please contact BEA's Client Services at 203.840.5614 if you need any assistance in getting that rate.

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  12. When I registered as non-editorial media over a week ago it charged me only for my author breakfast and Blogger convention, a $110 total, and told me my bea pass was free. DO I have to re-register now?

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  13. Great appreciation for opening the doors for clarification. Many interested BEA applicants will be happy for this. We may suggest if you have that FAQs tab wherein all queries will be answered. Thanks a lot!

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  14. BEA interested applicants were surely be happy if the writer of this blog will have its FAQs. I am pretty sure there will be a lot of queries.

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