Negative piece from CCO tonight

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year of the gopher

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Looks like CCO (Darcy) is doing a piece tonight on some people who had problems getting cameras into the stadium for the scrimmage (something about lenses over 6" long?). She was interviewing people at Goldy's Locker Room at the stadium today about the topic. I hope it doesn't come off as overly negative.
 

Is this really news? Don't they have something better to report on?
 

No offense, but how do you know it is going to be negative?

Could it be an opportunity to discuss what isn't allowed in the stadium? Wouldn't letting people know that before the first game keep people from being annoyed on Saturday.

As someone who works as a communications consultant, it is almost never as clean and dirty as positive or negative. This could also give the U a chance to tell their story about why they aren't letting things in.
 

If indeed the cutoff was the lenses over 6 inches long then this strikes me as another "Well Duh" moment. Cameras used by casual photo takers don't come with that type of lense. That type of lense is connected to a professional type camera (typically). And its pretty understandable that the U wouldn't want folks taking professional photos without putting those people through the accreditation process that news folks go through.
 

This specfiic type of camera was on the "not allowed in the stadium" list that someone posted here before the scrimmage.
 


GoAUpher said:
If indeed the cutoff was the lenses over 6 inches long then this strikes me as another "Well Duh" moment. Cameras used by casual photo takers don't come with that type of lense. That type of lense is connected to a professional type camera (typically). And its pretty understandable that the U wouldn't want folks taking professional photos without putting those people through the accreditation process that news folks go through.
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I read the 6" lens rule before, and not just for TCF. I think its pretty standard at all major venues. One thing I never really seen spelled out is, is that 6" when retracted or 6" at full extension (zoom)?
 

There goes my faux camera lens liquor container.

Dam.
 

WannaCMyGophers said:
I read the 6" lens rule before, and not just for TCF. I think its pretty standard at all major venues. One thing I never really seen spelled out is, is that 6" when retracted or 6" at full extension (zoom)?
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I don't know and its a pretty important distinction. My dad a Nikon camera that isn't a professional model but that is definitely top of the line for the more casual photog. It has a 24x optical zoom and as such, has a pretty big lens when fully zoomed in (not sure if it's longer than 6 inches). When in the case it just looks like a big amateur camera though. He was able to bring it into the preview without issue and he got some great shots (not pro grade, but way better then I could get with my point and shoot model).
 

GoAUpher said:
I don't know and its a pretty important distinction. My dad a Nikon camera that isn't a professional model but that is definitely top of the line for the more casual photog. It has a 24x optical zoom and as such, has a pretty big lens when fully zoomed in (not sure if it's longer than 6 inches). When in the case it just looks like a big amateur camera though. He was able to bring it into the preview without issue and he got some great shots (not pro grade, but way better then I could get with my point and shoot model).
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I have no inside information on this, but I can't imagine a scenario where security at the gate asks patrons to turn on their cameras and show how far the lens comes up out when zoomed in. I imagine this is meant for cameras that have large external lenses like those used by professionals.
 



parkinglotgopher said:
I have no inside information on this, but I can't imagine a scenario where security at the gate asks patrons to turn on their cameras and show how far the lens comes up out when zoomed in. I imagine this is meant for cameras that have large external lenses like those used by professionals.
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That's what I assumed the standard would be too (as its how things went at the preview). My dad had the camera in a case and it was clear he did not have a large external lens with him. They had him open the case and then they waved him on in.
 

Ok so how about everyone get some facts before they start ripping everyone. The issue was that someone tried to get an SLR camera into the stadium at the scrimmage and they were told they couldn't bring it in. Keep in mind this exact same camera had been allowed in to Williams arena and the Metrodome many times, so logic would assume that the rules would apply across all U of M venues. Also the lenses were not longer than 6", which is the cut-off for all other U of M venues, but they can be detached and a different lense attached. The person who complained tried talking to several customer service people at the scrimmage and they said no SLRs allowed. They then tried to call the ticket office the week after to get some clarification and they were rather rude about the whole thing and repeated no SLR even though there were other people with them in the stadium that didn't get harrassed. They were directed to call someone in facilities and that person never called back. So had they called back and explained the reasons why and the criteria for cameras this never would have made the news. But because the customer service was bad and there were inconsistancies between TCF and other U of M venues WCCO was contacted to try and get an answer since they weren't able to get one the civilized way. But the end results is that the policy at TCF is the same at all other U of M venues, the security and ticket office people were just plain confused.
 

year of the gopher said:
Looks like CCO (Darcy) is doing a piece tonight on some people who had problems getting cameras into the stadium for the scrimmage (something about lenses over 6" long?). She was interviewing people at Goldy's Locker Room at the stadium today about the topic. I hope it doesn't come off as overly negative.
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Keep in mind, too, Darcy could not be a bigger Gopher fan and supporter of our program. I doubt she's trying to do a big smear campaign 3 days before the game.
 

Camera

I had no problem getting my camera in with approximately 4" lense.
 



I deleted my email about what was or wasn't allowed in the stadium, but I don't recall reading anything about a 6 inch limit on lenses. I thought it said something like no cameras with detachable lenses. Now I just read on the information booklet that came with the season tix that prohibited items include "video and flash cameras"
 

Saw the story. Wasn't "negative." It was simply a what you can and can't bring in, an attempt to make sure people have a good game day experience.

They talked about cameras because many people will want to record the first game.
 

Camera

I had no problem getting my Canon DSLR in with an attached 6+" zoom lens.

I won't take it to the games, but it wasn't even checked or looked at twice while walking around the stadium for the scrimmage.
 

Not as negative as I thought, thankfully. It just seems like every time CCO does a story on the stadium, there's a "look what the U isn't going to let you do" angle to it.

I do know that Darcy is a huge Gopher fan and I appreciate that she's covering things related to the stadium.
 

Most cameras these days are digital, hence not much chance to write or talk about negatives.
 


Why?

Why is there any such limit? If I want to bring a professional camera to a game what possible reason could there be to disallow it?

Is it some ridiculous competition with 'real' journalists thing? Media doesn't pay the U to cover the game, so why do they care? Are they worried about space in the seats?

Just not sure why this is a restriction.
 

Haven't seen the TCF guidelines. Will I get turned away for bringing in a 9-incher?


Edit (spelling).
 

The problem I have noticed is that there is inconsistancy with the ticket takers at the U. I was concerned about not being able to bring my Canon SLR camera with a detachable 6 inch zoom lense. I called the U ticket office and the young girl answering the phone didn't have one clue what the limitations were in regards to what type of cameras that we could bring in only to say that there was no flash camers allowed. I asked since all camers have a flash does that mean that we couldn't bring in cameras, she said that isnt the case but if we use the flash we would be asked to leave.

I did go to the scrimmage with my camera and zoom lense and was told by the ticket taker that I could not bring in the camera. My dad walked up to a supervisor and had him come over to me. I explained my situation and he said that my camera wasn't an issue and that I could come in with my camera.

The U needs to do a better job in explaining to the football fans and the ticket takers what cameras are allow to be brought in.

When I went to the FL At. game at Dolphin stadium, I went to the Dolphin website and they had on its list of prohibited items: cameras with greater than a 6 inch zoom lense. That is all the U would have to do to clear up this issue.
 

borninthebarn said:
Why is there any such limit? If I want to bring a professional camera to a game what possible reason could there be to disallow it?

Is it some ridiculous competition with 'real' journalists thing? Media doesn't pay the U to cover the game, so why do they care? Are they worried about space in the seats?

Just not sure why this is a restriction.
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Control of content/trademark.
 


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