The Knowledge Society: open to all?

An announcement goes to the MLANews Jiscmail list about a fringe meeting they're holding at the Labour party conference in Brighton under the title The Knowledge Society: open to all?. They want to "broaden[...] access to the wealth of
knowledge held in museums, libraries and archives across the country".

As I live and work nearby and have both a personal and a professional interest in this subject, I think of going. But it says in the message that the meeting, in the Metropole Hotel, is inside the secure area. I e-mail back to find out what this means. and get a helpful answer from MLA. But it tells me that only delegates can get into the secure zone, that to register as a delegate costs over £100 and security clearance takes over 24 hours. Open to all? Perhaps I should join the Countryside Alliance: they seem to be able to get in.