Arisia welcomes coverage from press including both traditional and new media. Press members who are covering the convention are encouraged to get and wear a Press ribbon with their badge. The Press ribbon grants access to some non-public areas of the convention, at the discretion of the area organizer. Identified members of the press will be given priority in meeting requests for interviews with attendees and guests of honor, and our Press Liaison will assist you in setting up interviews.
Arisia will also make available spokespeople for statements, appearances on shows, and participation in pre-Convention publicity. All such requests should go to the Liaison at Click here to show mail address.
Convention Membership
All members of the Press are considered attendees and must abide by the rules of the convention, such as the Code of Conduct. All members of the press must have convention memberships. Arisia recognizes three distinct groups of press members, and grants a limited number of complimentary convention memberships based on those groups:
- Professionals: Work done for a pay for a publication agreed in advance, in any form, is considered professional press. This includes traditional media such as the Boston Globe and online media such as Nerdist. Attendees who are paid staff of a known publication may be considered professional press even without specific assignment.
Professional press should apply for a complimentary membership for themselves and any accompanying professionals (e.g. a photographer/videographer).
- Amateur: Work done as a volunteer or for non-monetary compensation is considered amateur press. This applies for any publication, even if the publication does pay for some other work.
Amateur press complimentary memberships are not available at this time.
- Freelancer: Work done in anticipation of pay on delivery, regardless of the publication for which the work is done, is considered freelance. This category includes self-publishing such as blogs and online radio shows, as well as ad-supported publications.
Freelancers who have covered Arisia in the past may apply for a complimentary membership for the current year by submitting URLs of their past coverage. If an advance complimentary membership is not available, freelancers may submit a request for reimbursement of registration cost after the convention by sending their receipt for payment along with a URL of published coverage.
All requests for complimentary membership and reimbursement should be sent to Click here to show mail address.
Rules for Press
Press attendees are required to follow the convention’s Code of Conduct. We also ask Press to follow these additional rules:
- Remember that Arisia takes place in a private space, a hotel. Follow the hotel's rules, including not blocking walkways, limiting where smoking takes place, parking only in hotel-permitted areas or city-approved parking, not using areas such as hallways or elevators that are restricted to hotel staff only, and not bringing in items the hotel does not permit.
- Follow the direction of Arisia staff while in non-public spaces accessed with the Press ribbon. These include backstage areas, quiet rooms, rehearsal spaces, and so on.
- Display your Press ribbon clearly while engaged in any sort of visual or audio recording.
Once Press members have gone through the Registration line and picked up their badges, they should proceed to the Info Desk in the lobby to check in and get their Press ribbons.