Gizmodo staffers attending International Consumer Electronics Show 2008 (CES) decided to play little pranks on various vendors exhibiting their products. They used "TV B Gone" device on flat panel displays and television screens to shut it down.
Well, that should have been enough fun right? But they didn’t stop, and went on to interrupt a presentation by Motorola. Gizmodo bloggers could have gotten away safely, but they decided to publish the video on their website in which they showed us everything they did.
Obviously, the organizers of the conference (the Consumer Electronics Association) didn’t like this prank. In a statement to Webware they said:
"We have been informed of inappropriate behavior on the show floor by a credentialed media attendee from the Web site Gizmodo, owned by Gawker Media. Specifically, the Gizmodo staffer interfered with the exhibitor booth operations of numerous companies, including disrupting at least one press event. The Gizmodo staffer violated the terms of CES media credentials and caused harm to CES exhibitors. This Gizmodo staffer has been identified and will be barred from attending any future CES events. Additional sanctions against Gizmodo and Gawker Media are under discussion."
As a response, Gizmodo’s Brain Lam left a comment on Valleywag which said:
"Why is this so emotionally disturbing to you both? Motorola, well that was a mistake, as my explicit orders to my video person were to not interrupt press conferences. But that is for me and Moto to sort out tomorrow."
In my opinion, the prank was absolutely cool, unless they didn’t interrupt the presentation by Motorola. Nobody minds seeing some dead flat panel screens, but interrupting the presentation creates a whole lot of trouble to people from both sides.
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