Al Gore's CTIA Keynote Now Open To The Media

imageA big stink was made late last week after PCMag.com reported that Al Gore’s keynote at next week’s CTIA Wireless 2009 was prohibiting the press from attending his speech. But today, CTIA lifted the ban. Now, the press can file into the 4,000-seat auditorium, like all the other attendees. In a statement issued by CTIA today, it said: “Due to a high degree of interest, Al Gore, Nobel Peace Prize winner and 45th Vice President of the United States, has opened his CTIA keynote to the press.”

It’s a bit curious why there was a ban in the first place. As PCMag noted, nearly everyone in the crowd will have phones with cameras and the ability to use Twitter to report what Gore is saying. But perhaps it was a routine request since Gore has tried to bar the press from speeches before? Still, it’s unusual, especially since two years ago, former presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush Sr. spoke on the final day at CTIA and their presentation, which was open to all, summoned one of the most packed crowds in recent history for what otherwise can a day of no-shows.

I wonder how many trade press were going to attend the speech anyway? On the surface, Gore, who most recently has been advocating on behalf of the environment, doesn’t sound relevant. CTIA VP Rob Mesirow told PCMag that his message will be “very much targeted towards the wireless Internet and mobile computing industries…It’s going to be dead-on and relevant.” What does that mean? Would have anything to do with Gore being a member of Apple’s board or a senior advisor to Google?

Photo Credit: CTIA.

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