A Perth-based marketing expert is raising concerns over a social media conference charging $2500 a ticket, while advertising a number of speakers who had no idea they were involved.
Promoting a line up of social media gurus from big name companies like Twitter, Foxtel and Microsoft, the 8th annual Web 3.0 conference was to be held at Perth's Novotel Hotel on the 8th and 9th of August, and was organised by IBR Conferences, a Sydney-based company.
Meg Coffey from the Perth media consultancy coffey & tea contacted WAtoday on Wednesday to raise concerns about the event, which she had been asked to speak at.
She reached out to other listed participants and found many had been advertised to present, despite having no knowledge of the event.
WAtoday confirmed with a number of "speakers" that this was the case. We contacted eleven speakers originally listed to attend, with just five confirming they were aware of it and had intended to appear at the conference in Perth.
A number of sources said at least 160 tickets had been sold, roughly yielding at least $400,000.
But, in new developments, IBR has now called off the event, with a statement on the conference's web page saying "We have cancelled this event & delegates have offered full refund.
"All the speaker(s) listed below were confirmed to speak but we have cancelled this event due to various reasons."
Earlier correspondence from IBR seen by WAtoday said the event was cancelled "due to the unavailability of some of the speakers advertised on the program and we are not able to get the same calibre replacement speakers in this short time."
IBR's promise of a refund to delegates comes despite its cancellation policy stating credit will be issued in the event of a postponement.
"If the rescheduled date is not suitable for the delegate to attend the conference IBR will provide the delegate with 100% credit to attend a future IBR event," the policy reads. "The credit will be valued for one year. IBR will not provide refunds for cancellations or postponements."
IBR has been contacted for comment. The event's web page has now been taken down.
"I was approached by them in February to take part, and told I wouldn't be paid for it, but would get great exposure," Ms Coffey said.
"I don't usually do that, unpaid events, but the line up they had assembled was so strong I thought why not? It's a great chance to get some exposure and meet new people and share my expertise with my industry."
Earlier this month, Ms Coffey reached out through Linkedin to connect professionally to all of the speakers listed in promotional material at the time of her signing to the event.
Some communicated that they would be in Perth for the conference, but she said many others said either they had no idea they were scheduled to appear, or said that they had spoken at other IBR events but had not agreed to come to Perth.
Ms Coffey said she also spoke to another person who had discovered their name, image and biography had been used to promote the event before they'd signed on to appear.
"The more I looked into it the more red flags I saw, and I raised my concerns with them and asked to be taken off the speakers list," Ms Coffey said.
"I'm worried that this is a bait and switch, that people are signing up for this event thinking they'll see these speakers and when they rock up on the day it will be something else.
"I understand that like all events line ups change, but when the advertised speakers don't even know they're involved then something's not right."
Ms Coffey was also skeptical of the Web 3.0 conference's ticket price - a full price of $2495 plus GST for a two day event - which she believes is very high for an event of its kind.
"A well recognised tech conference is Rise in Hong Kong and that's something like $600 a ticket for three days and they have their big name speakers locked in well in advance so you know what you're signed up for.
"$2500 could be like half of someone's training budget for the year in Perth. They needed to have it locked in before they started advertising."
Under the Terms and Conditions listed on IBR's website, the company states that speaker line ups for its events may be subject to change.
"IBR reserves the right to alter or modify the advertised speakers and/or topics if necessary. Any substitutions or alterations will be updated on our web page as soon as possible."
On the morning of July 19, IBR's website advertised twelve speakers for the Web 3.0 conference, but later that day a number of speakers were removed, and then several others added, with the line up then changing repeatedly in the following days.
WAtoday reached out to the advertised speakers originally listed, with many confirming they will be attending the Perth event.
But one person who appeared at a Web 3.0 conference in Canberra organised by IBR said they would not be appearing in Perth, despite their name, image and biography being used in promotional material tied to the WA edition.
Another told WAtoday they did not know they were listed as a speaker and were being used to promote the event.
A third, US-based social media expert Douglas Karr, said while he had written an article several years ago on the concept of Web 3.0, he had never agreed to come to the conference of the same name, and was being promoted without his knowledge.
Speaking about the wider conference industry and not IBR specifically, Mr Karr said consumers need to be careful when they sign up for marketing events.
"There's a ton of money to be made in selling marketing books, marketing speeches, marketing conferences, and marketing products that don't actually work… it's a multi-billion dollar industry," he said.
"Too many companies spend hard-earned money with organisations who couldn't care less about the actual results their clients get. They just shift gears and move on to selling the next silver bullet."
Several of the speakers that were recently added to the list have since pulled out, and all speakers who said they would not be attending have also been removed from marketing material.
WAtoday confirmed with the Novotel that the event was booked in at that venue on the dates advertised.
IBR has been contacted for comment.