Marketing events with secret speakers priced as low as AUD 1

Australia's Real Big Things is a series of 2-hour events for digital marketers that charges customers by their ticket number.

Regardless of the industry, week-long conferences can be expensive and — worst of all — tend to drag on a bit. Forgoing the name tags and endless lectures on similar topics, Australia’s Real Big Things is a series of 2-hour events for digital marketers that charges customers by their ticket number.

Much like entertainment events such as Secret Cinema — which have become wildly popular for keeping details under wraps until a few hours before the event — Real Big Things doesn’t divulge the speakers for each event, although it promises “charismatic, passionate” and “awesome” presenters. Attendees are only given the date and general location, but are guaranteed three 30 minute lectures about up-to-the-minute digital marketing topics each month. As much as the lineup is a lottery, the series’ pricing system rewards those who book their tickets early — the first customer pays AUD 1 and the second pays AUD 2, while the 100th will pay AUD 100, and so on.

Real Big Things aims to shake up the traditional format of marketing conferences through intriguing programming and the opportunity for guests to pay pennies for top names. Could this model inject some excitement into other typically dry events?