Conferences at €2,400 per minute; Nobel Prize for 300 thousand

The event, which was held between Wednesday and Thursday this week, included a series of keynote conferences, roundtables and inspiring talks by dozens of speakers from various fields. Although in reality everything was intensified in the afternoon of the 12th and the morning of the 13th. In total, approx Seven and a half hours of interventions, for which the Free Zone initially allocated €609,477As stated in the contract signed last July with Freebox SL, the company was awarded the tender for “advice and technical assistance for the design, organization, management and implementation” of the global summit. It is the same company that has already organized the 2023 edition.

If we add to this almost 500 thousand euros for advertising the event, the calculation estimates this Each minute of the conference costs 2,460 euros of public money for a hall that was never full and whose “stellar” shows never reached even half its capacity, with the real impact on the city more than debatable. Added to the items for speakers and advertisements are 24,200 euros for holding the closing ceremony and another 84,700 euros for other expenses. The total amount amounts to 1.2 million euros.

However, not all speakers are paid the same amounts. The FTA itself has predicted, in its specifications, that there will be A, B, C and D speakers. The first, which was tendered at an estimated cost of just over €300,000 Total (250,000 + VAT), he had to be a “key lecturer” who had demonstrated “international recognition at the highest level in his specialty or field of study”. “He will be the most important personality of the conference and should receive the highest honors for his contribution to humanity in economic matters,” defines the technical specifications of the competition. Obviously this number was Darun Acemoglu, Nobel Prize laureate in economics In 2024. In Vigo he gave a 55-minute conference, followed by a short discussion with journalist Mammen Mendizabal, which lasted another 20 minutes.

The organizing company stipulated in the contract officially concluded with the free zone that 249,500 euros net (301,895 gross) would be allocated for this hour and a quarter. Within this amount – and this is what is stated in the document – not only fees, but also fees are included Transfers to Vigo from any continent, with the right to do so with an escort. However, Acemoglu charged €4,025 for each of the 75 minutes he spoke in Vigo. For winning the Nobel Prize in 2024, the economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Massachusetts received about €334,000, just €23,000 more than what the free zone plans to pay Freebox for its brief presence in Vigo.

Wobbly caches

How are these items adjusted to cover fees? According to the specifications, it was implemented By surveying the market”, Consultation with “two international speaker recruitment agencies, one based in Madrid and the other based in London.” Sector sources consulted by the ABC explain that bringing in a Nobel Prize winner “could cost between €50,000 and €200,000”. “It depends on everything,” they point out. “In the United States everything is more expensive; in the rest of the world it can be less than 100,000 euros.”

In addition, the organizers do not communicate with the speakers directly, but rather have to go through representation agencies, which in turn include commissions in the final prices. “And in the value chain “There may be many intermediaries.” The same sources abound, and each adds its own “fee” to the hiring process.

Subject to the wording of the specifications and subsequent contract, Freebox has no obligation to include in its invoice details of the actual costs of bringing Acemoglu or any of the other speakers to Vigo. You will only have to issue an invoice for the amounts included in your economic offer and approved in the free zone contract schedule. He imposed 50% in advance when he completed “the final formation of the participants” and “confirmed his appointment,” and he will settle the remaining amount “at the end of the contract.” but We have no obligation to disclose actual fees From any of the speakers.

The debate is therefore not about whether the total €300,000 that will be paid for Darun Acemoglu’s presence in Vigo is on the market or not, but rather about whether a public body, managing money from general state budgets, should make this investment, and whether it is justified in terms of return.

Less than 300 participants

The presence of Acemoglu – like the presence of Paul Krugman in the 2023 edition – andShe was destined to be the most attractive at the world summit, Which aroused the most interest. The level of the lecturer is beyond doubt. But although the organization reported in previous days that it had more than a thousand registrants for the conference series – with tickets ranging from €85 for a full subscription (including the closing ceremony) to €50 for daily sessions -, The main Nobel conference was attended by no more than 300 participants, As this newspaper can attest. The hall stalls were never full.

But even among Nobel Prize-winning speakers there are classes. The Swedish academy that awarded Acemoglu in 2024 is the same academy that three years ago awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, co-founder of the newspaper Novaya Gazeta and one of the voices critical of Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian drift. butMuratov did not consider the speaker “A” but “B”, Therefore, a net amount of just €90,145 (74,500 + VAT) has been allocated for his participation in the World Summit, including transportation costs (from anywhere in the EU or UK) and accommodation, with the option of incorporating facilities as well. Muratov gave a 45-minute lecture on “The Geopolitics of Truth,” followed by another 15 minutes of “reflections” with Mendizabal. One hour.

The free zone plans to pay the same cost to the other Category B speaker, the former president of the European Commission José Manuel Durao Barroso, who gave a 20-minute lecture And a subsequent dialogue 25 with the representative of the free zone, David Regades. Another 90,000 euros were allocated for less than an hour of intervention in the event.

The contract includes two other types of speakers. C describes “professionals” who have “proven knowledge in their profession” or are recognized “for leading successful projects or initiatives and whose participation will add significant value to the impact of the event.” “He should be among them as an inspiring conference speaker.” The role that fell to the athlete Carolina Marin. For each of these eleven participants, the winning bidder had just under €9,500. Most of the speakers fell into this category, from Anton Costas to Alicia García Herrero, Brian Wong, Inés Bermejo, Angel Talavera, Amparo Alonso, or María Lorca-Soceno.

Finally, D-profiles, a maximum of eight – according to the administrative conditions of the competition – can “participate at tables or simply be present as guests at the event”, and with them Zona Franca wants to receive “addressable treatment for their ability to contribute to the success of the event by enhancing attendance or enhancing its dissemination and influence”. This is not a paid fee however Transfers to Vigo cost 1,450 euros per person.

In total, Freebox expects in the award the above-mentioned total of €609,477 for the recruitment of speakers, which is added to a further €118,000 (including VAT) for the closing ceremony in which Bayocca starred (€24,200 total) and ancillary activities (€84,700 total) that included speakers’ accommodation – at €210 per night – a recording stand or catering service. In this section The formal dinner is priced at 130 euros per cover, Planned – always according to specifications – for 150 people.