Still a rule, but not everyone follows it. Some (elders/pioneers) feel "more important" than the others and allow themselves to break these rules.
At our recent conventions what would happen is this: 6am doors would open for workers. There would be a queue of representatives of each family (elders) who would rush in and claim the good seats with their song books and stuff. They would then return to their hotels and have breakfast with their families before returning to the convention to claim their "prize". Pathetic.