agree with Bart Knijnenburg

Grace Hopper is an academic conference/mentoring place. So they come from that tradition.

From that tradition, that you were invited to be a speaker is the value/honour proposition. This honour plainly does not fit / sit well with your experience of money as value, or at least free as pro bono

Traditionally - again - most speakers at such events will also be hanging around to present other work at the conference, so registration for the conference - not making you pay to speak - is just part of a normal package.

I’m not sure how many speakers Grace Hopper has now - maybe a dozen or more? - it would be grand - agreed - if they said we’re so glad you’re coming, and donating your time, we’ll give you free registration and hope you stay for the rest of the event. But perhaps given the various amenities or counts or whatever, they cannot afford to in their model for survival.

At least they’re starting to comp one day when you’re speaking.

I’m also wondering though, if you think this is such a great idea - the conference that is - rather than dissing it, could you report on what happened when you had a discussion with the organizers about how you think this looks - to pay for registration when being an invited speaker? What they said as a rationale for the practice? That you’d proposed something like - if the conference is struggling to keep serving this critical community such that it needs all registrations - at least have the option to contribute the equivalent of a registration fee for a couple of students to be able to attend. But also have the option to come for free - again as acknowledgement of your pro bono contribution already.

I would be very interested to hear what GHC thinks of such proposals coming from industry reps.

As you say, it’s not the money - so that seems like a great way not only to present to women thinking IT / CS thoughts, but also to ensure even more women can hear your stories/experiences/ideas?