Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!iuvax!watmath!watcgl!anewton
From: anewton@watcgl.waterloo.edu (Adele Newton)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: SIGGRAPH '88 badges
Keywords: mag stripes, frustration, long lines, etc
Message-ID: <10697@watcgl.waterloo.edu>
Date: 18 Jul 89 13:44:51 GMT
Distribution: comp
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 44

I have responded by e-mail to a couple of people who have posted questions to
this news group about the mag stripes on SIGGRAPH badges.  Since this
has become such a hot topic and since I was co-chair of the SIGGRAPH '88
conference, I have decided to put in my two cents worth here.

Here are a few facts to start out with:

Everyone who registers for any portion of the SIGGRAPH conference gets
exactly the same badge.  That means whether you pay $0 (because you had a
complimentary exhibits pass) or $945 for technical program and courses as
a late non-member, you get exactly the same basic badge.  What has been your
pass into courses, papers and panels have been inserts.  Since inserts are
easily (a)lost (b) traded or (c) lent out, we decided we would try the
mag stripe/badge readers in '88. 

This was not a decision that we made without checking things out first.
The company that printed our badges had used these readers for other big
conferences.  Our registration chair and conference management people went
to one of those conferences to make sure that the readers didn't back up
lines.  The conference they went to was a very large on in San Francisco
at Moscone and things seemed to work out well. After much thought, we decided
to try them in Atlanta.

Nobody was more frustrated with the problems encountered than the '88
committee and staff.

I think that it has been pointed out that biggest problem we had was that
the information typed on the badges was often incorrect.  As has been
pointed out, SIGGRAPH '88 staff did their best to make sure that people
who had paid for conference events did get in.  

Did we treat SIGGRAPH '88 attendees as thieves?  Of course that was not
the intention.  Do some people cheat or try to cheat at SIGGRAPH.  You bet.
I was registration chair in '85 and '86.  Whenever we stopped someone from
getting into a event they hadn't paid for, the response was usually a grin
and a remark like "Well, you can't blame me for trying"!  

I can't comment about future conferences' use of mag stripes and badge readers
because I just don't know what their plans are.  But I would like to set
the record straight for SIGGRAPH '88.  Our goal was to host a professional
conference that was enjoyed by all.  The badge readers were a disappointment,
but we hope that the rest of the conference was not.

Adele Newton