It looks like those who got in the habit of rubbing elbows with the big names at the annual White House Correspondents Association dinner even without a formal invitation will have to change their plans.

It was a big open secret in D.C. that you could roam the pre-dinner parties at the Washingotn Hilton even without a ticket. Just dress the part and walk around as though you belonged.

When I went to the dinner in 2006 and 2007, I also noticed I could work the pre-dinner groups without showing my ticket until reaching the ballroom. That is where I met and interviewed the likes of George Clooney, Sheryl Crowe and Maureen Dowd.

“Awww! Why spoil the fun?” asks The Washington Post. “Because the growing number of crashers, apparently, was spoiling everyone else's. In recent years, 'you could hardly move around,' said this year's WHCA president, Edwin Chen of Bloomberg, what with the sheer volume of arrivistes trying to get their photo taken with George Clooney or Colin Powell. 'It's a general crowd-control issue.'”