The payoff of doing a seminar like this is different for everyone. I was never offered a pass to the show, I happened to be exhibiting but I was never asked or offered anything. I didn't do it for compesation. I did it for recognition and to share knowledge...for me it was putting myself up on the ultimate chopping block and testing my know how against the masses school of thought. What made it all worthwhile was a guy coming up after the seminar to me, shaking my hand and saying "everything you said was right on" - and hands me his card. He was from Yahoo/Inktomi. That was a high
So the question is, GreenGuy, what makes sharing that knowlege worth it to you? Is it money or passes? Ask and you may receive. Should they cover your hotel room? If it's not about money is it about recognition? Will doing the seminar bring more people to this site as dedicated participants or bring more advertisers or traffic to your site?
I guess that's what you need to ask yourself. AVN is just providing the platform - build what you will.