No TidBITS Membership Signups in Person at Moscone
We said in “TidBITS Events at Macworld | iWorld 2012” (17 January 2012) that we’d be doing in-person TidBITS membership signups at Moscone West on Friday at 3:00 PM. That had been a last-minute decision, and it was ill-considered. Our friends at IDG World Expo have asked that we don’t do this, since we’re not paying for booth space, which is what’s necessary to conduct business at the show, and that’s entirely reasonable. So we’ll still show up near the escalators in the lobby to chat, but we won’t be taking memberships in person at Moscone.
If you see me somewhere else outside of Moscone, that’s fine, but we won’t be trying to set up any other particular meeting spots this year (though it would be fun to try the Square, it really is easier all around if you sign up online, where we’re still gunning for our goal of 2,000 members in January). Sorry if this change has caused any confusion, and our apologies to the IDG World Expo folks.
But these are free signups, right?
No money is passing between people, correct?
What's wrong with just a table? Oh, I see it doesn't fit into their model. Well there model is dying anyway.
I'm personally fed up with IDG's greed and won't be attending anyway.
It's not as nefarious as you might think. A TidBITS Membership is a way for someone to pay us money to support us. (You can read more about it elsewhere on the site.) So money IS passing between people. And when IDG sets up its event, one of the things exhibitors are paying for is the ability to sell goods or services at the show. I'm sure this is common at all such events; otherwise you'd have competitors standing outside the door selling similar wares without having to pay to exhibit at the show.
The Macworld|iWorld folks were very nice and professional about the whole thing, explained the situation and asked politely if we could not do it as originally planned.
Jeff's spot on. The mistake was entirely mine - I just completely failed to think about what I was suggesting when I wrote the previous bit at the last minute - and Paul Kent was extremely nice about it.