What is it about technology companies and press centres? Wherever I go to, whatever conference it is, the facilities for journalists are always so sub-standard compared to the other conference attendees’.
Here’s some of the main problems: network connectivity is always bad; the computers are always sub-standard and never work; wireless access never works; and the food is always rubbish. You end up scavenging the same food as everyone else to avoid starvation (or, of course, paying for your own food).
I’ve ended up forking out $11.99 to use Mandalay Bay’s in-room wireless access. That’s actually good enough that I can use Skype to avoid having to pay for extortionate phone call prices from my mobile and – heaven forbid – the room’s phone.
Anyway, it doesn’t actually send a good message to tech journalists that your tech is so bad, guys, particularly if you’ve decided to equip the press room with thin clients from Wyse: you can shout till you’re blue in the mouth that network connectivity is never really an issue for thin clients, but when everyone’s sitting there, waiting for minutes at a time for Internet Explorer to launch, we’re really not very inclined to believe you.
Freelance editor and proofreader