October 2024

Here we come!

In just a few days, registration for Agile Open Northwest 2025 will open.   It has been 5 long years since AONW has been in the Seattle area, and so much has happened since February 2020.

In the first week of March 2020, we took my Father-in-law out to a nice seafood restaurant for his 85th birthday.  My Mother, who joined us for this celebration, told us how much she enjoyed the food.  So, I promised her that I would take her to the same restaurant for her birthday in June.  Little did I know, I wouldn't fulfill my promise for another couple of years.  When we finally went back for her birthday two years late, I noted that the menu prices had gone up about 100%.  Yes, we got sticker shock but given that restaurants were still recovering from the lean pandemic years, we understood why the prices were so high.

When Elise and I started looking at food and venue costs for 2025, we soon realized that we would not be able to keep the registration cost as low as before.  We have worked hard to reduce costs, while still providing the same high-quality Open Space event that we have produced in the past. 
As Elise mentioned in her July blog post, we found a venue that we believe will meet all of our needs - but we regret not being able to return to Seattle Center, as it has become cost prohibitive.

So what does this mean?

Given the rise in costs over the past five years, it should come as no surprise that to balance our budget the cost of registration will be higher.  In fact, registration will be 100% higher than the cost of AONW registration in 2020.   However, we also realize that the job market in Tech is very tight.  Therefore, in consideration of people who aren't able to afford the regular priced registration, we will offer a lower priced registration.  We don't want to prevent somebody from attending AONW, because of the cost of registration. 

Blue Ribbon Sponsorship

Also, for the first time, we are offering an individual sponsorship opportunity.  For individual consultants, or other small business owners, which for whom regular corporate sponsorships are out of reach, we have a new micro-sponsorship opportunity.    We are calling it a Blue Ribbon sponsorship.  For an additional $75 dollars, we will add a blue ribbon to your conference badge.
In addition, we will put your information on the AONW 2025 website and provide you space on a table to distribute contact information or other giveaways. 

As a reminder, the Lynnwood Event Center is smaller than the Exhibition Hall at Seattle Center, so we won't be able to sell as many registrations.  We encourage you to sign up as soon as you can when registration opens. The link below will ensure you are one of the first to be notified.

Be one of the first to be notified when AONW 2025 Registration is open.  Join our mailing list