A friend of mine who works for a prominent media company told me something off-putting some time ago. During a recent event that she had organized, a couple of unsavory characters approached the registration area. They waved their cameras smugly and said “Bloggers kami!” (“We are bloggers!”). Then they proceeded to ask for admittance and freebies. But there was a guest list… and these people weren’t on it. Still, for the sake of good PR, they were let in. They proceeded to continue their obnoxious behavior, which consisted of pocketing various items at the event they deemed as freebies… right down to the pens at the registration table. FYI, having a camera on hand does not automatically make someone a blogger. Well, even if they were actually bloggers, so what? No self-respecting person, blogger or not, would show up at an event if he or she isn’t invited because that would just be gatecrashing. Trust me, if they want you there, they will let you know one way or another. It just amazes me how some people are so willing to trade in their dignity for free consumer items like soap or shampoo, or maybe a few GCs.
Incidents like this make me want to hide under a rock because I get invited to events as a blogger most of the time. Sometimes I would rather attend under the protective umbrella of one of the magazines I write for. This is not to say that there are no posers and gatecrashers in traditional media. There are too, but it’s so much easier to claim to be a blogger because so long as you have a URL to give, you’re already one… on the registration form, at least.
This is precisely why I prefer not to participate in free-for-all open registration events. I admit that I am turned off by PRs who would post “Who wants to attend such and such?” on social networking accounts like Plurk, Twitter or Facebook. The allure of getting into an event and bagging some swag is so strong for many that even if whatever it is isn’t their niche they’d sign up for it anyway. I’ve actually seen “guests” write down URLs to their empty websites just so they can gain access to an event. It’s such a crying shame. My personal stand is, if the PR, brand or company can’t be bothered to do their research, then I can’t be bothered to attend their event. But that’s just me.
Events are so plentiful these days that it’s getting harder and harder to keep up. While it’s my practice to select the one I’m interested in the most, some bloggers send representatives or “correspondents” who would attend in their place so they can cover more ground. Sending a proxy is fine as long as it’s okay with the organizer. However, sending a group of people to take the place of one single blogger? That’s just a new low… but it happens too!
Blogger is a term that is just too easy to overuse, misuse and abuse. A lot of people still don’t really quite understand what a blogger is. A lot of people go around claiming to be a blogger because they think it makes them special and entitled to a lot of things that others are not. The truth of the matter is, one blogger is just one voice among millions of other voices in the Internet. The moment that credibility is lost, that single voice just becomes part of the noise that people don't want to hear... in short, insignificant.