Skift Take
FREE author Chris Anderson practices what he preaches.
This post is by Jeff Hurt he is Jeff is Director of Education & Events for a U.S. trade association and has more than 20 years experience in meetings, events and nonprofits. He is @JeffHurt on twitter.
FREE (full book) by Chris Anderson (Read in Fullscreen)
In case you’ve missed it, there is a debate happening about free online content, products and services.
The debate started with Chris Anderson’s book Free, was released July 7, 2009. Anderson, WIRED Editor-in-chief, has been discussing the concept of free that seems to be setting the online blogging community afire. Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business, Anderson’s February 2008 article in WIRED Magazine that jumpstart this debate.
Powerful thought leaders like Chris Brogan, Mark Cuban, Seth Godin, Malcolm Gladwell, Mitch Joel, Valeria Maltoni, and David Meerman Scott along with others have weighed in on this debate. The debate has even spilled over into the meetings and events industry regarding free versus fee-based live streaming of Meeting Professionals International’s (MPI) content from its annual WEC 2009 conference.
Few weeks ago, MPI’s staff members claimed that Chris Anderson was only selling books about Free. Alas, that is not true. Chris Anderson is giving away FREE, for free, with the release of the first eBook and audio book version. You can either download the whole audio book as zipped MP3 files, or play them on the Wired.com microsite.
So what are your thoughts on Free? Do you think Unconferences and BarCamps, normally free or low-cost type conferences, will have any impact on the meetings and events industry? What do you think about offering free live streaming from your events? Or offering free online recordings after your event? How do you see FREE impacting the meetings and events industry?
