Tony,
thanks for your point of view but I disagree with you. And, in fact, this morning the Show Chair contacted me to let me know they've reverted to prior policy and no photographers would be charged or asked to produce liability coverage.

In my view, if you aren't willing to protect your rights, you soon won't have any. This wasn't about whether it's OK to charge photographers "vendor fees" to photograph at shows but why photographers were being singled out and other "vendors", such as professional handlers, were being ignored. The simple fact is, no show chair in the world would take on the Professional Handlers. They wouldn't have a show. So we -- the photographers -- were an easy target.

I'm all for policies that treat everyone fairly. I'm sure there must be one out there somewhere . But to discriminate against a group of professionals simply because you can is not something I tolerate easily. Especially when I'm in that group.

Jim