Frequently Asked Questions

Yep, but we have a lot of information. If you still don't see what you're looking for, email us.

Of course! This is a blog conference! Expect everything to be blogged, podcasted and videoblogged! The only thing we ask is to check with parents before photographing or videoblogging their children.

Unfortunately we don't know of any good cheap hotels near the UBC campus (if you do, please add them to the wiki), but we do have a deal with the Hampton Inn, which is in the city.
This and some other city hotels are listed on the where to stay page. The Price is $129 / night. Please quote the Northern Voice conference when booking.

The conference rate is only available by calling the Hampton. Here’s their website: http://www.hamptoninnvancouver.com/

Availability
We have a hold on 10 rooms for the nights of Feb. 21, 22 and 23. Cutoff for this guaranteed inventory is Jan. 21. After that, conference goers can still get the special conference rate of $129 but the inventory is not guaranteed.

We love sponsors! We welcome your participation. Email us at info AT northernvoice.ca for adoration and more information.

If you register in advance (which we heartily encourage as we usually sell out), it's a mere CAN $40 for either day, or CAN $60 for both days. This includes lunch.

Northern Voice is a community-based, non-profit event that can't cover speaker expenses or offer speakers an honorarium, but we will have coffee available whenever you need it.

No, only a small portion of our program is technical, with much of the focus on social and cultural aspects of blogging. Also, the attendance at most geek conferences is predominantly male. At Northern Voice 2005, 2006 and 2007 over 40% of attendees were women and 20% were new to blogging. Moose Camp 2006 and 2007 had a larger technical element but there were plenty of sessions suitable for non technical people.

Absolutely. We sold out in advance in 2006, 2007, and 2008 and nearly sold out in advance in 2005 so advance registration is recommended!

Refund Policy: Let us know more than one full week before Northern Voice (i.e., before end of day February 12) and you will get a full refund. From February 13th until February 16th, you will get a full refund if we can find someone else to take your spot. From February 17th on, no refunds will be possible as we’ll be flat-out with last-minute organising. You can transfer your registration to someone else at any time, just send us an email at registration@northernvoice.ca to let us know to put the ticket in another name.

It's up to you. Moose Camp is, to use the cliché, for the people, by the people. We've booked some rooms at the UBC main campus, you register for Friday and anyone participating in Moose Camp can post to our wiki to collaborate with other attendees. You can give a presentation, lead a discussion, or just attend. The agenda, and ultimately the success, of Friday's event is up to you (no pressure, though). Mommy blogging, running a great group blog, bickering over microformats – whatever you want goes. Unlike Foo and Bar Camp, there's no actual camping at Moose Camp. If you're looking for a sleepover, we suggest you self-organize that too.

Northern Voice 2009 takes place February 20th (Moose Camp) and 21st (the conference) 2009 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. It is being held at the UBC Forestry Sciences Centre (UBC Map, Google Map), and you can even see some pictures that Cyprien took of this beautiful space.

Bloggers (including text bloggers, videobloggers, podcasters, and photobloggers and of course people on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.) people interested in becoming bloggers and those keen to learn more about personal publishing, social media, the read/write web and Web 2.0.

We're not out to make money, and we're community-minded. The feedback from previous years is that attendees got far more value out of Northern Voice than the price reflects.

It's a community-based and non-profit event, and, in an ideal world, the conference would be free. However, there are some basic costs that we need to cover. These include venue rental, audio/video, refreshments, printing of schedules and signs, etc. We made a budget and set the price as low as we could while still covering our anticipated costs.

Is the Pope German :-) ? Yes! UBC has a very high quality campus wide WiFi network that you will be able to use for no charge during the conference.