On Saturday, August 25, 2001, at 07:59 AM, Declan McCullagh wrote:
As for "comped scribblers," I am one. But look at it from a journalist's perspective: We may attend two conferences a week, say at $1,500/per. Rough estimates, then, would be over $150,000 a year, more than most journalists make.
Paying that much in conference fees is not feasible, and conference organizers generally understand this and let us in free (we may pay for meals) in exchange for publicity.
A couple of more words on this issue: Granted, the conference gets publicity. But, presumably, the magazine or other outlet gets readers and viewers. A two-way street, right? "Wired" and "Wired News" are businesses. If covering CFP is good business, paying their costs to attend sounds like a sound business decision. Honestly speaking, I see a lot more economic justification for Terra-Lycos to pay $600 (or whatever) for Declan's registration fees, and then count these as business costs, than I see economic justification for Tim May, say, to pay $600 to attend (and not be able to deduct it in any way). Which is why conferences like CFP mostly end up with a predictable mix of lawyers, government officials (probably comped to attend, though I don't know this), and journalists. And which is why the panels end up with a lot of journalists pontificating to each other. (Based on the two CFPs I attended...) Frankly, I don't understand why CFP doesn't just accept the inevitable and move the conference to Washington, D.C. permanently. --Tim May