You can now ask for a Lift09 press pass if you are a journalist or blogger, and try to win one of the twenty free students ticket if you are lucky enough to still be at the university (i.e. away from the gloomy economical situation ;)

We are again working with our friends at Amiando to handle registrations, and the process is now simpler than ever as opening a LIFT account is not mandatory (only highly recommended).

You can pay by credit card or bank transfer, and will receive an electronic ticket seconds after the payment. If you registered before we put the new system in place you will receive an email explaining the procedure (which, in most cases, consists in doing nothing ;)

Register for LIFT Asia 08.

Here’s some news: registration is now open for the event Going Solo which will take place in Lausanne on May 16th.

(I gave an open stage speech Thursday morning telling the story of how I came to organize such an event.)

I initially wanted to give LIFT attendees a special discount, but ended up doing more than that: why limit this to our community, when it is possible to spread the LIFT spirit to everyone?

Therefore, during this first week of registration (until Sunday), Going Solo will be 100 CHF less for everybody: 300CHF instead of the 400CHF early bird price. Don’t miss it, and register right away!

Students are a very important part of our audience, and we work hard to keep the conference accessible for them in a number of ways, working out deals with academic institutions which pay part of the fee of their students (we are discussing with the University of Lausanne, University of Geneva, and the EPFL, contact us if your school wants to do this).

This year I am proud to announce a new initiative in partnership with the Gebert Rüf Stiftung. The foundation, who has been a key partner of LIFT through the years, will offer 20 free LIFT08 tickets to students from around the world.

To qualify for a free ticket, open a LIFT account (or login if you have one) and tell us why we should give you a free pass via the Student Pass form. The most motivated people will get a free entry to LIFT (and will contribute to the conference by covering it on the blog).

Submissions close on November 30, and the lucky winners will be informed by email the week after that date.