daeggman wrote ...
I'm recording a conference tomorrow that will involve a main speaker
at
a podium and several others gathered around a table. I will be
recording this setup to 2-track DAT and one other format as backup.
This is mainly being recorded for archival and transcription purposes,
so quality is only important for the purposes of being able to
understand what is being said at any given time. I plan on using a
cardiod mic for the main speaker, but I am floundering between several
options as to how to mic the rest of it, as well as what other format
I
should record to.

For the micing option, here's the situation - there will be 2-4 people
on either side of a large table (possibly two tables with a gap in the
middle). Both sides will need to be heard equally as well. Would an
omni-directional mic, a bi-directional mic, or one of those flat table
mics be best for this? Or would it be in my best interest to use TWO
other mics, one for each side of the table?

If the table is that wide (and PARTICULARLY if there
are two tables with a gap between), two microphones,
one on each side would appear to be the only practical
choice, IME.

As for the recording process, I plan on panning the main speaker left
and the rest to the right, so that when I load the audio into the
computer, I can seperate them out and edit them seperately if
necessary. (One portion of the conference is requiring me to record
two individual groups simultaneously, so this setup will be necessary
to make each group's discussion able to be edited). My only concern
is
that if I do this that there could be potential editing hardships
later
on. Thoughts?

Illogical to speculate without knowing more about
the event and the expectations from the recording.

One other option I'm kicking around is hooking up my laptop with a
FireWire audio interface and going ahead and recording each mic on its
own channel, but the extra equipment required to make that work gives
me reason to balk. Is it worth it to carry the extra equipment simply
for backup purposes, or would a simple analog cassette deck suffice
(again, quality is not an issue with the recording)?

Only you can make those kinds of judgement call tradeoff
decisions.