'Media pass' moochers

If your association 1) deals with consumer products and 2) has a large trade show, I can bet that there's a headache over media registrations -- not the legitimate media, but the sketchy hangers-on who are more than likely just moochers after a free pass to the floor and all the goodies. I've dealt with it in the past, and TradeShowStartup has a good post on dealing with this issue:

On one we turned down, the guy CC’d me on an email to his assistant to “cancel all my plans to attend the Expo - it’s obvious I’m not wanted.” Guess we made the right decision on that one.

Specifically, this post is talking about how to decide which bloggers and podcasters are legit. His policy: "Bloggers & podcasters with an exclusive focus on media with regular postings for at least six months and significant readership…" He notes that "significant readership" is purposefully vague, and that's an excellent approach.

Without being too specific, in my experience working association trade shows we've had "reporters" show up at the Media Room trying to get a free registration and showing us home-printed business cards for their alleged publication. This tended to happen in the bigger convention cities -- these people know what's on the trade show calendar and they know which shows have exhibit booths full of schwag to collect. However, I can remember staff letting through more than a few so-called "media" whose credentials were more than suspect, just to avoid a confrontation. At least those ones remembered to carry a notepad and pen instead of just a shopping bag. I'd encourage those in the communications area, which usually has jurisdiction over who does or does not get a comp media registration, to shore up their policies regarding bloggers and podcasters.

Tagged: Associations, Meetings, Conventions, News Media, Credentials.