1.
Get Ready to
Accept Bitcoin
Payments
for your Events
Article by Michelle Bruno
EventTechBrief.com

2.
Alan Meckler believes that by 2016, one hundred
percent of trade shows and conferences will
accept bitcoins as payment for attendee
registrations, booth space rentals, and other
services. As an Internet media pioneer and the
current Chairman and CEO of MecklerMedia (the
organizer of the Inside Bitcoins global series of
conferences and expos), he is either very biased
in his opinion or on the cusp of something big.

3.
Bitcoin is an open-source, peer-to-peer software platform that
facilitates the exchange of digital currency (known as bitcoins).
There is no bank or other intermediary required to transact
payments in bitcoins.
The transactions are low cost, highly secure, irreversible,
globally accessible, and extremely transparent.
The value of a bitcoin fluctuates daily and prices are reported
by a number of sources including Google, Yahoo, Bing, and
Bloomberg.

4.
Meckler is no stranger to Internet-based businesses
and events.
In the 1990s, he developed the Internet World and Virtual Reality
World conferences bolstered by the print publications of the same
name.
In the same decade, as CEO of Mecklermedia, he created
MecklerWeb, an “Internet-based corporate communication and
marketing system” and acquired a number of websites focused on
technology content.

5.
The mechanics for event organizers to accept bitcoin are simple,
Meckler explains. Third-party merchant services companies—similar
to those that accept credit card payments—can be utilized to set up
bitcoin payments. “It doesn’t take much to set it up and there is very
little risk. If you don’t want to hold on to [the bitcoin],
you can sell it,” he adds.

6.
The potential for bitcoin payments for events (and all businesses) is
enormous, Meckler believes. “I think it’s going to be huge in a number
of ways not just as a currency, but as a peer-to-peer software. It’s safer
than any other transaction method because the buyer and the seller
have no middleman. You can also plot through the block chain and it’s
almost impossible to have fraud,” he explains.
BUYER SELLER
No middleman

7.
For Inside Bitcoins, ten to fifteen percent of registrants have paid in
the online currency, as well as some exhibitors. Because bitcoins
can be traded, i.e. bought and sold just like stocks, Meckler’s
company can sell any portion of the bitcoins they receive at any
time.
Whatever amount it retains can be
used to pay for show services from
companies that accept
such payments—and more and more
companies are doing do every day,
Meckler says.

8.
While there is a downside to accepting bitcoin—the value
fluctuates, there is a chance that governments will legislate
against them, and the concept is still in the experimental
stages—there are signs that the “cryptocurrency” is gaining
traction.
While there is a downside to accepting bitcoin—the value
fluctuates, there is a chance that governments will legislate
against them, and the concept is still in the experimental
stages—there are signs that the “cryptocurrency” is gaining
traction.

9.
Accepting bitcoins as payment
requires a different mindset
than a typical event organizer
has. For example,
MecklerMedia is currently
holding about 300 bitcoins.
With the average price paid at
around $200 each, one bitcoin
is worth approximately $400 in
today’s market.
“It’s like buying a stock. You
have to say to yourself, ‘am I
a long-term holder or do I
cash in now.’ In five years,
bitcoin will either be
worthless or worth about
$100,000 per bitcoin. I’m not
betting the ranch."
- Alan Meckler

10.
As in the past, Meckler believes he is in the
early stages of a huge business opportunity
for event organizers and businesses. “I was
early in the Internet space and I can
remember in 1995 that the last thing
someone would do is give out their Social
Security Number or send money over
Internet. I don’t have to tell you where we
are today. History doesn’t necessarily
repeat itself, but it rhymes. This is the closest
thing to the beginnings of the Internet that
I’ve ever seen.”

11.
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