As everyone knows we are covering an event as press we usually get the occasional perks with the job as a gesture of a thank you. However this year at EuroGamer not only have certain things been left to last minute such as interviews two days before the event kicked off and replying to these only to find their already fully booked we've also come across members of the event who are around the age of twelve considered as press!
So for major gaming events those who run YouTube channels or various blogs will know that there are certain requirements for getting in as press. For EuroGamer which is the UK's biggest gaming event the requirements for getting in as press is to have at least posted one article or having a YouTube channel. Seeing some of these make shift channels and blogs which can take not even ten minutes to setup, asking a member of the PR Department at EuroGamer they dubbed this as "The Rise Of The Blogs".
My recommendation to the organizers of EuroGamer is to look at the press requirements for Tokyo Game Show or PAX as this will eliminate the issues caused by "The Rise Of The Blogs". Currently Press passes allow us free access to the event with no perks or exclusivities. For example when trying to access the press areas we were turned away as we had no interviews booked.
When talking to a member of the Indigo Pearl team regarding the late email about Interview opportunities, they quickly turned us away and told us to email our enquiry to someone who deals with complaints.
Luckily for us being talent as we are we've managed to get a few interviews done on camera in the Rezzed area and some Indie Developers. However have yet to strike any luck with any Industry interviews due to the lack of organization put into this years event.
Of course as many have said over twitter allowing so many bloggers in as "press" will negatively impact the expos coverage and overall appeal. So far we have begun to see that take effect with once again the press Wi-Fi details being handed out and slowing the Wi-Fi down majorly and often at times not being available. We first begin to see this at last years event however it appears this year their was just no procedure in place to make sure who where legit press and those just create a quick YouTube channel or blog website to be given press access (Free Entry) and not even bothering to cover the event its self.