http://chicago2011.drupal.org/speaker-faq states:
If you are submitting a session, you should wait to purchase a ticket to DrupalCon until all sessions have been finalized at the end of December.
but also states:
Only registered attendees will be able to vote for sessions.
What gives? Is that to stop gaming? Or an oversight in the procedure?
That's a great question - let
That's a great question - let me check with the speaker chairs and see if we can clarify that. We'll post the answer here later in the week.
Some Details
Sorry for the slight delay in responding. This covers a few different organizational areas that needed to coordinate to solve this.
First, we are still encouraging sessions submitters to wait for the accepted sessions to be announced before purchasing their ticket.
Second, we are working on a way session speakers will be able to vote along with people who have purchased tickets. The technical details are still being worked out.
Third, if you still want to get a hotel room before your tickets you can do it through http://www.starwoodmeeting.com/Book/DrupalCon2011.
Again, thanks for bringing this to our attention. It's a great catch.