The way I figure it, there are three ways to cover WWDC:
- Re-blog whatever live blog you follow
- Get invited as press by Apple
- Buy a ticket and cover it from the inside, as much as the NDA allows
The first way is the way I’ve always done it. I’ve never been to WWDC, let alone as invited press.
There are reporters whose publications pay for their ticket to the conference itself, so they can blog the keynote live.
(Of course, many of these reporters also attend sessions to learn more about Apple’s plans to be better informed, but just going to the keynote seems terrible.)
Part of me finds this concept sort of icky. Not that most Mac bloggers are what I consider to be unbiased journalists, but paying to cover something certainly doesn’t send a message of being balanced.
From a business perspective, these sites are betting that the income generated from the ad views covers the cost of a WWDC ticket, and I’m sure it does in most cases. However, tickets purchased by reporters are tickets that are unavailable to iOS and Mac developers. Given the explosion of the two platforms over the last few years, and WWDC’s capped attendance, this makes getting in even harder.
On the other hand, I think its great they there are lots of independent options when it comes to coverage of such events. I don’t think any of the bloggers who pay to get in to WWDC are doing so with malice. Hell, if John Siracusa didn’t get to get in to the keynotes, his OS X reviews wouldn’t be as good.
Of course, hearing and seeing the keynote can be done via QuickTime just hours later, with the training sessions available to registered mac developers online available within a few weeks.
Most companies don’t have press paying to cover them. Most companies, in fact, have the opposite problem — no matter what they do, they can’t seem to get the coverage they want, no matter how many press releases they send out to reporters and bloggers.
Apple is unique in many ways, and every one wanting to cover them is no different. But paying to play seems like it crosses a line that might not be crossed.
I’m planning on being at WWDC next year. Whether or not I buy a ticket is debatable.
I think Apple could solve this (partially) by having some keynote-only tickets reserved for press. This would ease the burden on developers, while making the whole thing less shady for reporters.