I think two big reasons photo shoot times change up until the last minute are:
1. If there's no print deadline, the people organizing them CAN change the day/time at the last minute, so they do. If they had a deadline, they'd be less fickle. And...
2. Since Programming doesn't consider photo shoot times when scheduling its other events, photo shoot organizers end up wanting to work their photo shoot around the official schedule once they find out what's going on.
Yeah, there's not much that can be done about either of these problems. I just wanted to point it out for the record.
The whiteboard's the most important thing in my opinion. As long as there's a fail-safe option for obtaining accurate information, I'm happy.
Jamiche:
Okay, I will try to figure out a better location than Pioneer Square for ours. I don't think I've been there, but everybody had touted it as THE place to go for photo shoots. Guess it isn't, at least not this year.
Nyahaha:
You could also meet somewhere near the hotel and walk to somewhere else. Sounds like people might get lost in the shuffle if they have to find Pioneer Square and then migrate to yet another location.