[Lightstalkers] Question: Democratic Convention credentials

Question: Democratic Convention credentials

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 01:40:21 +0000

Dear all, The April 15, deadline for credential requests for the Democratic Convention in Denver is approaching. I just looked at the accreditation form on the website of the photographers press gallery and have a question. The deadline for workspace requests has passed. My question is: Does "workspace" in conjunction to the Democratic convention mean something like a desk to work at? I am not going to need this, I simply want to get access to the convention center and be able to photograph inside the center. I am researching this to forward all information to my photo editor of a large weekly newspaper from Germany who will try to get my accredidated. I'd also appreciate any additional information on covering a convention in the US. Are photographers able to walk around and photograph in the center's area or are they assigned to certain spots they may not leave? Thanks a lot, Martin

Re: Question: Democratic Convention credentials

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:51:16 +0000

Not sure he'd answer my stupid email, but if I were you, I'd drop a line to "David Burnett":http://www.davidburnett.com/mailer.html.

Re: Question: Democratic Convention credentials

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:49:12 +0000

Martin, I think your interpretation is correct; you can be credentialed without space allocated to work at. I don't know about how much you will be able to move around. You can try calling the press photographers' gallery and talking to either Mark or Tricia, they will probably have more info.

Re: Question: Democratic Convention credentials

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 21:33:58 +0000

Thanks for your suggestions! Stupid, how smart you are... Anybody else?

Re: Question: Democratic Convention credentials

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 23:43:44 +0000

Martin, Workspace does indeed mean a desk. If you don't need a desk, you don't need a workspace. In the past, your credentials got you into the building, the media workrooms and some of the meeting rooms in the periphery of the actual convention but not onto the convention floor. Permanent floor credentials were issued to photographers from large publications (and large really meant mid sized - I got a permanent credential when I was at a 90,000 circ paper). Photographers from smaller publications had to sign up for rotating credentials. They could hit the convention floor for set periods of time (which varied night to night) and then they had to return the credential and get back in line for another chance to go out on the floor. If there was no line, you could go straight back out, but you always had to return to the desk in case someone else was waiting. Sound confusing? The first time it was, but once you've done it, it all makes sense. jack

Re: Question: Democratic Convention credentials

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:36:19 +0000

Thanks for your clarification Jack. The paper that I should photograph for during the convention has a circulation of about 450.000, but it's German and it's a weekly paper, not a daily... Well I will have to see. I'd really like to get permanent floor credentials to do what I would want to do.

Re: Question: Democratic Convention credentials

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:59:45 +0000

Jack is right, but there is even more to it than that. A permanent floor pass will allow you to roam the convention floor, however, there are also a whole slew of other "photographer" passes for different camera positions and for different events. As I recall from 2004 if you had a floor pass you could walk around and shoot in between many of the speakers, and then for each speaker you could find yourself a spot on the floor, but you couldn't for example go up to camera position A with a 400 and do that shot unless you had that specific pass. Those special camera positions were fairly limited, some of them were pooled by the wire services and some were shared amongst the photographers of the larger papers/news services. Even between the 5 or 6 photographers I was working with on my team, we had to negotiate who would be able to use the various passes had been alloted. As an independent photog you wont have the ability to share passes with other colleagues unless you really do some shmoozing. One idea that comes to mind might be trying to get your paper in Germany to partner with a news organization here that already has a workspace and allotment of passes. You could offer them images and gofer work in return for the access. Either way, covering the DNC or RNC is a pretty exciting experience, so good luck and have lots of fun. There is a whole other aspect of the conventions that takes place outside the convention hall. The protests in the streets, and of course the parties. If you have a general convention pass you will probably be able to get into many of the parties or other events happening during the week. good luck...