[games_access] RE: games_access Digest, Vol 20, Issue 17

[K]

>i know that each session is staffed pretty heavily 
>(for instance at last year's roundtables there were TWO people 
>assigned to our room just to assist that!) so they are probably VERY 
>serious about kicking people out.

Hi, I have worked as a Conference Associate (helpers in the orange t-shirts)
the past two years and will be back again this year. There are usually at
least two CAs assigned to the more popular roundtables and sessions whenever
possible in case there is a problem so one of us can go get help without
leaving a room unattended. Everyone doesn't have radio connectivity and A/V
and badging issues etc. frequently require leaving the room but I wanted to
assure everyone we're not just there to police and boot people out- we're
there to help the speaker if need be and hand out/collect the surveys about
how the attendees liked the session (and answer your questions/help out in
general). :)

I do know why you can't record sessions though- CMP (the company that runs
the con for a profit- it's their business to run it) records their own
sessions and then sells the Audio Proceedings (and they keep video on some
of the high-profile keynote types too). These sell for like $400/year and
cover all the tracks offered for the thousands of people over the world who
likely wanted to attend but could not. So, it's not as pointlessly
restrictive as it sounds- they just know that other people would then be
there recording and selling the proceedings cheaper (making the whole con
less profitable for them). ;p

You could try requesting recording privs for your specific cause then
promise to only edit out a 5 minute snippet per any session (which when you
collect the cream of each talk really would give a good amount of time to
cover the speaker's major points). Considering it would help the games
access community (which I imagine ought to be bigger and more actively
supported by now), they might make an exception knowing you won't be
commercially competing/denting their audio proceedings sales. I'd point that
out directly in the request since I imagine the "commercial" use is really
the sticking point.

-Kelly

www.isergames.com
www.blackloveinteractive.com