Here is the rate sheet for public speaking. I am not currently considering any speaking for less than the amounts quoted below.
| Venue | Cost |
|---|---|
| San Francisco Bay area | 2000 US Dollars. |
| North America and Hawaii | 5000 US Dollars plus expenses. |
| Europe | 5000 Euros plus expenses. |
| Africa, South America | 7,500 US Dollars plus expenses. |
Expenses, which are billed on top of the above fees, will include flights, hotel including both destination and en-route hotel stays if these are necessary due to flight connections, cab, train or rental car as appropriate, meals, travel snacks for the flight, sundries such as travel-sized shampoo, etc.
Flights are booked coach unless you agree otherwise, and coach flights must be on my preferred air carrier, route, and schedule. This applies to both paid and unpaid talks. The carrier will generally be United Airlines for international flights. I will fly discount airlines in the U.S. if there are direct routes available at the right time. My preferred air carriers give me a seating upgrade, which makes long flights more tolerable, and I generally prefer routes shorter in duration to those that cost less at the expense of my time and energy.
Send email to bruce at perens dot com if you'd like to invite me to speak. If you don't get an answer, try again, I might have missed your message or you might have gotten stuck in the spam blocker. You can also reach me by phone: Contact Information.
People who book speakers don't always understand what a speaker's life is like. I fly coach, and the San Francisco to London flight means 11 hours each way in that seat, plus jet-lag, and I might do that twice in a month. If I'm going to Europe, that's two travel days, two jet-lag days, and one speaking day. Thus, one talk can easily use up a whole work week. I will not, in general, be visiting your country to be a tourist, just to be as effective as possible in promoting Open Source and then to get home to my 9-year-old and my wife. They have school and work, and except for a few weeks per year they can't travel with me even if you are willing to pay for that. So, I will appreciate it when you help me to use my time effectively.
I may not know my way around, and appreciate it when my hosts arrange for someone local to pick me up and drop me off at the airport, and to take me to my speaking locations and back to my hotel. The rest of the time I am comfortable being alone, and might even want some down-time away from other people to rest or take a walk. If you want to invite me to anything, please do - as long as you will be OK with it if I decline. I am comfortable in a business suit and will always be neat when that's called for, but will wear jeans and hiking boots the rest of the time. I don't have any dietary restrictions. A fancy restaurant is fine, if it'll be special for you. I like them, but I live half a mile from Chez Panisse and it's hard to impress me with a restaurant these days. If I am picking the venue and am not dressed to the nines, I'd as likely go for good but unpretentious food and a beer in a comfortable place.
Loud, smoky parties are best scheduled after my speech, so that my voice doesn't get used up before the speech. A place where one can talk with a normal voice for the pre-show dinner will be appreciated. I tend to raise my voice too much anyway. It's because my wife is hearing-impaired, and my hearing's not perfect either.
I will probably have tight air connections coming in, and leaving, and must be on schedule. I will appreciate having the mobile numbers of my escorts and the conference organizers.
Thanks
Bruce