[...]Openness and Event Amplification « Ramblings of a Remote Worker[...]…

Regarding business models and open content, this can be tricky for organisers to ‘police’. A conference I have followed a couple of times offers slides to delegates only, in a password protected area. However, presenters are increasingly posting their slides to Slideshare or a personal blog, and tweeting the link. Tut tut!

One of the trends I’ve observed more recently is that event organisers (in the academic sector) are moving towards tools that are free to access, but that require users to login in order to view the content. This gives the organiser a bit more information about who is accessing their content, usually including their name, email address and sometimes their location.

Whilst this is being done with all the best of intentions, and is extremely helpful in improving the metrics we have available to reflect on the success of an amplified event, I wonder where this trend fits in with the open access theme? Are users paying for access with their identity? What happens to the people who want to access the content but do not want to hand over their email address? Is the content really open to them?