Last year, Rusty and I went to Dragon*Con for the first time for either of us, and we had a blast. Derek and Swoopy of Skepticality fame had worked tirelessly to put together a podcasting track, in addition to the first Parsec Awards. We participated in three panels, recorded four podcasts, and blogged about it. Here we are looking Very Serious Indeed:
This year, the podcasting track and the Parsec Awards are back, bigger than last year and with a lot of good energy that’s getting more palpable as D*C gets closer. We’re on the schedule for four panels, but unfortunately, it now looks like we might not be attending at all.
Last year we were able to acquire media passes, thanks to our friend (and D*C veteran) Thomas knowing who to contact and what info to supply. You can see the evidence here. Naturally, we figured we would be on the list for media passes again this year. However, when Thomas contacted The People In Charge to make sure, he was told:
As I explained last year, Podcasting is not considered Media. They are really tightening the belt about free badges and keeping very close tabs. I did you a personal favor last year and unfortunately I just can’t do it again this year. I’m so sorry.
You will have to get your badges thru the Podcasting Track or purchase them. However if you get badges elsewhere, I can give you Press Ribbons to allow you Media access.
A few things here.
First of all, if the badges were a personal favor last year, how is it that we didn’t know that at the time? That little bit of information was news to us.
Second, this person says “as I explained last year,” but I don’t recall any such explaining.
Third, I find it odd that this person would be able to give us press ribbons to attach to our badges as long as we get the badges somewhere else. What does that do for (here comes the C-word) credibility? Either podcasting is media or it isn’t. This makes it sound like podcasting can be media, as long as it’s someone else who dirties their hands with the issue of actual badges.
Thomas has sent a follow-up email, making the case that embracing podcasters as media is very good for Dragon*Con - much moreso than just relying on local radio stations and print publications. Radio coverage will likely be limited to 5-10 minutes of “Let’s make fun of the furries,” courtesy of the Wacky Morning Team, and print either won’t cover it at all or will run a sarcastic blurb alongside a photo of a furry in full costume.
Or, as Thomas put it in an email (emphasis mine):
With any luck, the Podcasting track will be able to get more participant recognition next year. Because the truth of the matter is that Dragon*Con stands a much better chance of being covered fairly and accurately by people in the podcasting community, right down to the individual track-by-track level.
I’m sure you’ve gotten the yearly media requests from the local television and radio stations, but if history is any indicator, I’m pretty sure I know what they’ll do. Local television will show up at 7am on Friday to catch early risers in costume, then come back over the weekend to get footage of the big parade on Peachtree. Local radio will (at best) do some kind of remote broadcast for half-a-day or (at worst) send some morning show personality to interrupt players in the gaming hall and record their reactions, like WNNX did a few years back.
I’m disappointed, but what do you do? In fairness, it seems as though the person with whom Thomas was corresponding was not the decision maker here. I don’t know who ultimately makes the call on stuff like this.
In all likelihood, we’ll still try to go to the podcasting track. We might be able to attend the panels without a badge and just not go to any other part of the con. Or maybe we could get temporary or one-day badges at a discount. So, currently our attendee status is up in the air, with a hopeful outlook.
This situation also raises an interesting issue that D*C will have to grapple with soon: if everyone is the media - and certainly, a large percentage of D*C participants produce some form of web-based media - then how do they go about doling out media passes? They’re either going to have to stop giving them out altogether, or let everyone in for free (and the latter, of course, is not realistic).
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