Large Events Scale Better

A breakdown of why large events (1000+ attendees) are more economically viable than smaller events, based on insights from Blockworks' event business experience.

Key Economics of Large Events

• Bigger events = better business model for conferences
• Small events provide good experience but poor business model
• Need to plan venues 4-5 years in advance for large events
• Events are essentially 3-day marketplaces that get shut down

Revenue Dynamics

• Large sponsors like Coinbase pay ~$1M for major conference sponsorship
• Multiple smaller events split sponsor budgets
  • Example: $1M budget becomes $500k per event if hosting two events
  • Creates twice the work for less total revenue
• Permissionless conference did over $10M in revenue with 4,000+ attendees

City/Venue Economics

• Large events bring significant GDP to host cities
  • Example: Brought $3-6M GDP to Palm Beach in 3 days
• Cities court major conferences due to economic impact
  • Mayors attend events
  • Cities offer incentives to attract conferences
• Some conferences receive multi-million dollar upfront payments from cities
  • Web Summit potentially received $5M+ and tax credits

Operational Considerations

• 50% of tickets sell in final 4 weeks before event
• Crypto market cycles make long-term venue planning challenging
• Risk of market downturns affecting attendance
  • Example: Coindesk went from 10,000+ to 2,000 attendees (80% drop)
• Need to consolidate events rather than run multiple smaller ones
  • Blockworks runs just 2 major conferences: Digital Asset Summit and Permissionless

Revenue Sources

• Ticket sales
• Sponsorships
• Exhibition/booth space
• Creating temporary marketplace for industry
• Host city incentives/support