PlannerCon 2019

I attended PlannerCon again this year! It has been going on for 3 years and I have attended every year. What is this event you ask? It’s like ComicCon but for people who like using paper planners. I know that in this very digital world, paper planning seems like an anomaly but believe me, there are lots of us out there. In fact, about 1200 attendees were present for this Friday-Sunday event.

Will I attend for a 4th year in 2020?  Read on and find out!

IMPRESSIONS

WHAT I LIKE:

• Being around like minded, creative people
• Fun and interesting workshops and presenters
• Lots of resources, free stuff (swag) and shopping opportunities
• A way to be creative and productive
• Location, location, location
• De-stash table-you can bring products that you are done with for someone else to take home

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:

A VIP vs. general admission experience
This year for the first time they offered a VIP ticket which guaranteed attendees a table in the front, a lunch with some of the big name presenters and a couple of extra swag gifts. The VIP ticket was priced at $100 more than the general admission ticket. I had a general admission ticket and my friend had the VIP ticket. She attended the lunch but didn’t have much good to say about it. They ran out of food and there were no special presentations. They even apparently sold an extra 200 VIP tickets making the experience less intimate and less special.
There was a bit of extra swag but again nothing that would make someone want to pay the VIP price. The only thing that was consistently available was having a seat at a table in the front. Though I was general admission, I was able to get a seat at a non-VIP table every time I wanted one. At other times, I sat in a chair not associated with a table. All attendees received the special PlannerCon pen gem and washi tape set. VIP’s received an extra pen gem.
I believe that having this VIP vs. general admission experience sets up unnecessary divisiveness. Additionally, the VIP experience didn’t even seem very VIP. The VIP lunch was on Friday afternoon. I could not have attended even if I was a VIP. The extra swag items did not seem to have a value of even $100 let alone over $100 which I would expect. Other than the table, the VIP’s didn’t get anything very VIP. My friend and I picked up our swag bags at the same time. They didn’t get theirs early!!

An organizer who is not very organized
The organizer sometimes would not follow the schedule and there were several typo’s in the program. She also has a “hold them hostage” type of approach. She likes to be Oprah-like and give away swag during the breaks but if you are not in the room when she does it you are out of luck.

A hotel location that doesn’t offer many options for food choices
The hotel is located in Burlingame, California which is only about 20 minutes away from my home which is great. However, there are no restaurants in walking distance and the hotel has only one restaurant and a small to-go place with really limited options.

Ever increasing prices
While I am not surprised that prices go up every year, a $50 increase is a lot. I need to see what will justify this increase. The first year, early bird was $59, year 2 it was $89 and this year was $99. I consider these to be reasonable prices for this event. I think $99 is about right. Next year in 2020, general admission is $149 at the early bird price and $249 for VIP. There was no announcement that there would be anything new in 2020 for the VIP’s.

WHAT I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY:
Create opportunities to just play with our planners and products
There was no time to just sit with other attendees and play in our planners, try new products, see how other folks plan and just share our love of stickers and washi tape with one another. This is something that folks at these events like to do. We like to sit around, talk about what we use, how we plan, who we watch on YouTube, etc….
Better process for checking registration at workshops
People try to attend uber popular workshops that they are not signed up for which then leads to not having enough products that are specifically used for the workshops because there is only enough for the number that registered. They put us through a clunky and laborious process to register for workshops and then don’t bother checking the registration if the workshop is in the main ballroom.
Remove the focus on the “charity” that the organizer supports.
The man who runs the charity is weird, doesn’t believe in paper planning and is a terrible speaker! He loses focus easily and speaks about paper planning in a condescending tone. The charity itself focuses on foster youth which is a noble cause but having these children tell their stories about life with their drug addicted prostitute mothers does not fit in at this conference. I’m happy to purchase raffle tickets as a donation to this charity but that’s enough.

SPEAKERS

PRESENTERS
The presentations were really good this year. This is something that has been consistent year after year. This year we heard from Amy Tangerine, Nicole Rixon from Sweet Stamp Shop, Teresa Collins, Stephanie Fleming from Happy Planner and Maureen (Mo) Vasquez from Pipsticks. We also had a panel of business owners which included owners or staff from Pen Gems, Polka Dot Whimsy, Carpe Diem, and Paper House.
All of their presentations were thoughtful and fun but also encouraging and inspiring.

WORKSHOPS
You were allowed to sign up for 3 workshops over the course of 2 days. I attended the Franklin Covey workshop, one about bullet journaling, and another about celebrating yourself as you are and not comparing yourself to the internet! I was very happy with all of my workshops. The workshop about “finding your planner peace” was really about productivity and was very helpful. The other two tapped more into the creative nature of planning and some memory keeping as well. In fact, I got some new ideas about making my gratitude journal more meaningful to me.

WILL I OR WON’T I?

As in years past, there was announcement made about PlannerCon 2020. It was announced that it will remain in the same location but will be the second weekend in March instead of the first weekend. And as always, there is a early bird pricing if you sign up at PlannerCon and before the end of March.
I have always been excited enough to sign up early but this year I’m pushing pause. There have been frustrations every year and generally I give them a pass for some of them. However with the inclusion of the VIP pricing and the continuing to push their charity, I am becoming less interested in participating. There is no reason for a VIP experience especially when there is nothing significant received for the extra fee. And I am completely over them pushing their charity on me.

While I enjoy being in a space with creatives and planner creatives specifically, the rose has lost its bloom for me with this conference. I may still go in 2020 but I’m going to wait and follow the Facebook group and see if I feel any differently.

That’s a wrap on PlannerCon 2019. What’s say you? Have you ever been to a conference and then fell out of love with it?
Share in the comments.