Comped scribblers the bane of conferences

[Tim May]

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