In case you didn’t hear about this last week (I didn’t because I’ve been so focused on getting CES content up), Gizmodo pulled off several pranks at least week’s CES 2008 convention in Las Vegas. Specifically, they used devices called “TV-B-Gone” which would shut off television sets being used for demonstrations. You can see a compilation video here at Gizmodo. In response to this, CEA has barred the Gizmodo staffer from attending any further CES events. According to this News.com blog posting, “additional sanctions against Gizmodo and Gawker Media are under discussion.”

While I can appreciate a good gag here and there, I am concerned about what something like this will do for “bloggers” out there who are trying to get into and cover conferences and conventions. I for one had a “blogger” pass this year instead of a “press” pass (which did initially annoy me quite a bit) and that actually caused some problems for me at some booths. In fact, the very last booth I visited at CES before calling it a night was Samsung and I had a very tough time getting the right to take pictures at their booth. Why? Because I had a “blogger” pass instead of a “press” pass and Samsung had yet to determine whether bloggers were considered press. Um – hello? Did you not see the rest of the booths allowing “bloggers” take pictures of their products?

Thus as some “bloggers” (such as myself) are struggling to make a name for themselves in the business, a prank such as this can actually hurt the overall cause and further the “distinction” between a press analyst and a blogger for a website. I doubt that CEA would deny folks from online blogs at future conferences but CEA could certainly further the distinction between what a Blogger could do/access and what a Press analyst could do at these conferences. (I would think that a ban would definitely incur some major wrath from the blogosphere community out there).

So yes.. it was a funny prank but I do think it was taken a bit too far. Turning off sets at the booths is one thing. Turning off sets during actual presentations is another. Let’s keep in mind that the people manning and presenting the demonstrations are employees of their respective companies and they’re trying to do their jobs. I might get flamed a bit for this but I do think there needs to be a certain amount of professionalism from us “bloggers” out there..

Or else, I’ll need to make sure I get a “press” pass next year..

[Check it out via News.com]

Technorati Tags: Gizmodo, prank, CES, TV-B-Gone, CEA, News.com