21.11.11
20.11.11
14.11.11
4.11.11
Clampdown on communications at cyber conference
The London Cyber
conference hosted by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office was a disaster for
journalists.
It was set up so that
delegates and journalists could not mingle. Delegates could not go to the media
room and media could not go to the areas where delegates were giving
presentations.
The only people able
to interact and report on proceedings were non-journalists.
This seemed ironic given that we had to provide passport details, pictures, letters from employers to prove our identities.
This seemed ironic given that we had to provide passport details, pictures, letters from employers to prove our identities.
It was somewhat of a
shock to find upon arrival at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in
Westminster that not only were bags to be checked and a walk through a metal
detector required, but that two security men with guns (big ones, not sure what
kind) were overseeing proceedings.
The second shock was
that the only refreshments available to news hounds were instant coffee, tea
and milk. No food whatsoever. The
significance of this being that it meant journalists had to leave the premises
in order to eat and go through the security search procedure again upon
return. This meant they were
unable to watch all the proceedings.
The third shock was
that the proceedings were only available to journalists via TV screen. Some events were live streamed and
others were screened on a 20 minute time lag, which made it very confusing to
know what was happening and when.
There had been no
effort put into trying to figure out how journalists could listen to
side-by-side screens with different information broadcasting from them at the
same time.
Panic ensued as the
technology failed and limitations became apparent.
I immediately got a
headache.
Interview rooms were
available, but a list of delegates was not. The only people obviously in
attendance were the speakers.
I was able to reach
one person I wanted to interview through a contact in New York City who put me
in touch. The other two people I interviewed got in touch via Twitter. I had
sent tweets asking people if they wanted to talk to get in touch.
This is not an ideal
way to do reporting. There were 900 delegates from 60 countries.
When I asked to book a
room to do an interview, I was asked who I wanted to interview by the staffers.
This was an inappropriate question. I should not have to say who I am
interviewing, I should be allowed to book the interview room without any kind
of explanation. I had to be escorted and so did the person I was interviewing.
It seemed like there
were about 20 people involved in making this interview happen.
On On Day Two,
@documentally told me I could get into the delegates area. I did manage to get
into the area. The main benefit was free lunch.
Anyone of interest had left by the time I got inside.
Anyone of interest had left by the time I got inside.
The irony of all this
being that the meeting was supposed to promote the idea of Internet freedom and
collaboration.
I managed to do a
story, a factbox and a video, so I did achieve something, but I feel I could
have done much better and found some really interesting people to speak with
had I known who was there.
I went for ½ pints
with @documentally, @radiokate and @naeema afterwards.
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