Let’s send Ausdroid to cover MWC 2015!

Ausdroid is entering its fifth year in 2015, and we’d like to make it our biggest yet. From humble beginnings, we’ve grown to a reasonably sustainable model, but there’s some things we haven’t yet been able to achieve. Tech media in Australia is a small industry, and many sites (including ours) operate on a shoestring budget.

Because of this, we’ve covered the major international events from here, home in Australia. Ausdroid doesn’t have the capacity to send our guys around the world for things like this, but at the same time, we want to provide that live, first-person coverage to see what a difference it makes to how we cover an event like this. More importantly, we want to give you guys the best coverage we can muster.

What we’re asking

We’ve done a few sums, and we reckon we could fly Dan to Barcelona for around the $2,000 mark. If we ask him to stay there for five or six days, we’re probably looking at around another $1,000 or so for accommodation. He’ll need to drink and eat as well. Here’s roughly what we’re looking at:

If just 100 readers donated $30 each, that’s $3,000 raised. Would they get value for their $30? For sure! We’d have first person, live (and a lot more detailed) coverage than you’ll see from other outlets. You’d have one of the most enthusiastic Android experts from Australia covering the likely launch of Sony’s Xperia Z4, Samsung’s Galaxy S6, HTC’s One M9, and much more.

Let’s break that down a little, just so it’s a bit more visual:

• 100 donors of $30 each? Target reached.
• 200 donors of $15? We’re there.
• 300 donors of just $8? Dan packs his bags.
• A couple of angel donors throw in a couple of hundred bucks? Far fewer people are needed.

You get the idea. Of course, every contribution towards the goal is going to help.

This is achievable, and we think that with your help, we can make it happen. CES wasn’t worth much coverage for Ausdroid… but MWC? It’s almost guaranteed. Just once we’d like to cover it in person, and see what a difference first hand coverage makes, instead of regurgitating other people’s news.

Of course, Ausdroid may be in a position to cover part of the cost ourselves, so we may not necessarily need sponsorship for the full cost. We’ll chip in what we can.

Would you help us?

So, what do you guys think? Can we get Dan to Barcelona for a few days? It’ll be no holiday for him — he’ll be working his arse off, and so will we back here in Ausdroid HQ — but this is something we want to do for you (the same reason we write everything else on here, because you guys keep reading it).

We’ve put in a little poll so you can give us an idea of your thoughts, and what you might contribute if asked. Please answer seriously — we’re trying to gauge interest here, and bogus answers won’t help.

If you can’t help, we’d rather know than have no idea. We don’t expect you to chip in. This isn’t an exercise in causing any guilt. It’s just an idea we’ve had and we’d like to know what you think.

Depending on the feedback, we may set up an IndieGoGo campaign to get everything happening. If you’re able to help in another way, get in touch and let us know.

We are, of course, on the lookout for potential sponsors as well. If you’re reading this and thinking you’d like Ausdroid to get to MWC, then get in touch with Chris. If you’d like to use some of our coverage for YOUR publication, let us know, and we can come to an arrangement.