problogger

Is EliteRetreat Dead?

A little more than a month ago, Aaron Wall, Lee Dodd, Jeremy Schoemaker, and Dave Taylor announced Elite Retreat. There was a lot of buzz, a lot of linking from bloggers, and even I pondered whether I should go. All of these guys rock. What held me up was the price:

$4850, not including airfare or hotel.

That's steep. Now I'm not one to say that Aaron, Lee, Jeremy, and Dave don't know their stuff. They very well may know many things that I don't; but I do believe they've committed a cardinal sin:

Thou shalt not price people out of your product. All of us know what revenue maximization is.

Here's my theory. They don't carry the institutional weight that SES does — even if people in the know realize that it's a much better deal than SES. It's a hard sell to an employer for that when SES is a third of the price.

They started with a limit of 35 slots. According to this page, they are down to only 22. 35-22 = 13. Yes, only 13 people are going. You can argue that the lack of the other 22 people may get you more personal attention. But the fact remains that they didn't do as well as they could have. Sorry guys, I think you've priced yourself out of the market.