Convention Attention- Staff Griefers and Bad Staff

[dragonacid16]

Maruul

I was like "WTF were people beating each other with them last year?!" ... and I told the staff who was telling me to get it bound or it would get taken away that if they touched it I would spank their face. ... but then I wanted to hurt people...

Sakuracon actually Banned paddles for that exact reason. One year they were fine, next peacebound, next banned because some people got overly aggressive and really hurt some people from what I understand.

As staff it makes it really hard to enforce certain rules and me and a lot of others get a lot of crap for it... Yea some staffers are asshats about some rules... but rules are there for a reason. Because the venue requires it, the city requires it, or to prevent another bad incident from happening over and over. From no bare feet to no projectile weapons they aren't there so people won't have fun... it's so people don't get hurt or arrested. I think if all staff and attendees were required to read con rules from top to bottom there would be less issues over all.  

[Maruul]

Well the rules on paddles apparently weren't really decided until right up to the time of the con. On the website forums I was told we wouldn't be allowed to use them, which I normally didn't anyway, it was just a prop. It wasn't until we were actually there that I was told it had to be peace bound.
I hate that dumbasses ruin things for everyone else. Like guns. My friend cosplays a character who uses a gun. Now, she uses a fake gun, a prop, one that doesn't fire anything. The trigger doesn't even move. But it looks real, because she takes her cosplay very seriously. She's perfectly willing to get it peace bound, but it's still not allowed just because of how real it looks. The people at OMG were nice enough to let us run back to the hotel to get it for the cosplay contest though. At this point I'm surprised any props at all are allowed. -.-  

[Osiris Wolf]

The thing about rules is that the higher ups (department directors and assistant directors, con founders, the convention/hotel/school, etc) have the right to change it at any given time. To be honest, it's not really surprising from my POV that that sort of thing would happen.

With that said, it would be nice if there was a warning of some sort ahead of time, even if it's 5 minutes. "Sorry, but there's been a change in rules. These are the changes. We apologize for any inconvenience." Something like that. Even senior staff don't always know about the changes right away, sadly. neutral  

[dragonacid16]

Maruul

My friend cosplays a character who uses a gun. Now, she uses a fake gun, a prop, one that doesn't fire anything. The trigger doesn't even move. But it looks real, because she takes her cosplay very seriously. She's perfectly willing to get it peace bound, but it's still not allowed just because of how real it looks. The people at OMG were nice enough to let us run back to the hotel to get it for the cosplay contest though. At this point I'm surprised any props at all are allowed. -.-

That goes under the category of not getting hurt or arrested... A police officer can't tell a fake gun that looks real and might think it's real. That would cause multiple problems... like someone could REALLY get shot. I found most conventions don't mind real looking props (and occasionally unsheathed swords) in cosplay contests... or the ones with the bright orange tips (to indicate its a replica) or ones obviously not real (like majorly over sized or bazaar) every where else.  

[Doom27]

Stop Touching My Fetus

La Ahna

Doom27

If a fire alarm goes off, you better ******** tell me why. If an ambulence takes someone away, i have the right to know.

While I agree with the fire alarm, since that could have been a serious issue, you do not have the right to know why someone has been taken away in an ambulance unless you are personally connected to that person. As long as they're just a stranger, they have the right to privacy and to keep others from knowing what happened to them. As the relative to someone who has had medical problems in the midst of a con, it's very uncomfortable for the person injured and anyone with them to have the entire con staring them down and asking questions. I applaud the staffers who take the right to privacy seriously and will deny curious rubberneckers information.

Also, medical staff at cons are great. When my family member had a bad low blood sugar (he's diabetic), the staff at Momocon was wonderful, helping take care of him till he was good again and having to listen to my mom talk and talk about what they should do. They also helped get him safely to my car so he could get back to our hotel room to rest.

I think that what he means is that since he's been "raised as staff" at the con, the staff should have a right to know "Hey, an ambulance left the building. Nothing big, just keep the con goers calm and prevent them from freaking out."

Now while I know that staff don't usually know things like that, its only courteous that they at least keep their staff on the same page. Nothing is worse than having a couple thousand people freaking out because something big happened.

I.E. Comicon 2010 someone supposedly got stabbed in the eye "like the Joker did to that one guy". It ended up not happening like that, but rumours spread and people were freaking the hell out.

Its only a courteous thing to do.

Both of you kinda got it, but to make it sound a bit better, I mean just like the previous poster stated, the staff should know at all times what is happening. And like the first poster, the right to privacy is a biggie, i don't mean i should know who and what, i mean more of a were and just let us know. Like if someone got hurt, say someone got hurt here, and we are going to close off that area, or if someone ODed on a drug, Someone ODed on a drug and its been taken care of. I just don't like to be lied to. Someone Fell off a terrace at a con i went to, i got stuck with 4 other people in this stairwell and they locked us in. The staff guy then proceeded to lie to us and tell us that the reason we couldn't leave was because "VIPs" Were coming through... Next thing you know here comes the stretcher and the rescue squad running in, and another staffer kicked the otherguy out of the area and told us what really happened, I'd much rather know, you can't go there because someone is hurt, then you can't go there because i'm not going to tell you why.  

[Doom27]

I was reading the rest of the thread and i came across the paddles...

I find it really sad paddles are banned everywhere. Yes i understand people got wacked, but do people ever complain? Just curious. Anyway back to the point, i feel like generally when people got yaoi or yuri smacked, it was usually the will of the person getting smacked, i know i used to always ask hawt chicks to slap my a**, just being the dirty man i am. But all in all its a rule that makes sense, but it takes away from old con fun, i miss seeing people get paddled hard as s**t on the streets.

There is one other rule that has spread that makes me sad. No signs. I understand this aswell, all the perves like me having signs like "free hugs" or "free kisses" or even worse "show me your tits!" But besides that there were good signs. Like "LFM Friends" or "Pool's Closed" (to all those damn marco polo kids). Makes me sad that we can't just have regulations on what signs are appropriate and what is not, because a con without signs is very sad ):  

[TigerLilyChick]

Maruul

Wow. That's... really unprofessional.

Oh jeez... I just remembered, I had my own moment of giving the staff a hard time. Last year I bought a paddle at OMGcon. It's very pretty. Anyway, I had no problem with it that year, and no problem at other cons I brought it to. But then this year suddenly paddles have to be peace bound, and there's no spanking allowed, even if it's requested. I was like "WTF were people beating each other with them last year?!" I refused to get it peace bound, because I didn't want some tacky piece of yarn screwing up the beauty of my paddle (it's very decorative), and I told the staff who was telling me to get it bound or it would get taken away that if they touched it I would spank their face. I ended up putting it in the car for the rest of the con. *sigh* Normally I'm very understanding of the staff and rules, but this really pissed me off. It's a freaking paddle. "Well, it's technically a weapon..." "Well my shoe is technically a weapon if I beat your head with it, do they need to be peace bound, too?!" I'm embarrassed now, but then I wanted to hurt people...

I am very sorry, but what does it mean for something to be peace bound? I have never heard of that term. When I went to Otakon 2008, it was the first year the paddles weren't allowed in the convention.  

[Stop Touching My Fetus]

TigerLilyChick

Maruul

Wow. That's... really unprofessional.

Oh jeez... I just remembered, I had my own moment of giving the staff a hard time. Last year I bought a paddle at OMGcon. It's very pretty. Anyway, I had no problem with it that year, and no problem at other cons I brought it to. But then this year suddenly paddles have to be peace bound, and there's no spanking allowed, even if it's requested. I was like "WTF were people beating each other with them last year?!" I refused to get it peace bound, because I didn't want some tacky piece of yarn screwing up the beauty of my paddle (it's very decorative), and I told the staff who was telling me to get it bound or it would get taken away that if they touched it I would spank their face. I ended up putting it in the car for the rest of the con. *sigh* Normally I'm very understanding of the staff and rules, but this really pissed me off. It's a freaking paddle. "Well, it's technically a weapon..." "Well my shoe is technically a weapon if I beat your head with it, do they need to be peace bound, too?!" I'm embarrassed now, but then I wanted to hurt people...

I am very sorry, but what does it mean for something to be peace bound? I have never heard of that term. When I went to Otakon 2008, it was the first year the paddles weren't allowed in the convention.

Peace bound means that the item won't disturb the peace. As in hurting someone. xD

Just means that the person holding it is aware that it cannot be used as a weapon.  

[Osiris Wolf]

Yes, it does seem amusing when people are practically swinging the paddle like a baseball bat, aiming for a home run instead of someone's butt. BUT!!! It is not fun when someone gets hurt.
As I explained, paddles at KK are only required to be peace bound and NEVER be used. However, the more we find people disobeying those rules, the closer KK is to banning the paddles. We're not trying to take away from the fun people want to experience at anime conventions. Heck, even us staffers would love to have a bit more fun at the con than we usually do. But it's not fun for everyone if someone gets hurt, which is mainly the point to this post. neutral
But there is a loophole, which applies to pretty much all cons. Some of us staffers try to tell people that if they really want to use their paddles, wait till they are OFF the con's premises. Once they leave the kon, what they do with it is not in our jurisdiction. Most of them are usually content with knowing that.  

[dragonacid16]

Doom27

but do people ever complain? Anyway back to the point, i feel like generally when people got yaoi or yuri smacked, it was usually the will of the person getting smacked

No signs. I understand this aswell, all the perves like me having signs like "free hugs" or "free kisses" or even worse "show me your tits!" But besides that there were good signs. Like "LFM Friends" or "Pool's Closed" (to all those damn marco polo kids)

Well i know a couple places paddles were banned was because of paddling people who DIDN'T consent and actually injuring people.

And there are still cons that allow signs. Sakuracon doesn't allow signs that offer or ask for services (hugs, money, etc) but does allow all other sorts as long as they are pg13 (no cookies for you). The staff uses it's judgment on some requesting services too like "will dance for cookies" or the like. For some reason I see a lot about cookies LOL  

[Maruul]

Yeah, at OMG anyway things that were peace bound had brightly colored yarn tied to them, which can easily kill a look.

*sigh* Again, people ruining it for everyone. I remember my first con, Ikasucon... can't remember the year. My friends made "glomp me" signs, but were told that "girls under whatever age we were under aren't allowed to wear those signs, cause of perverts." Yes, you read that right. Only GIRLS UNDER A CERTAIN AGE. Boys of any age were fine, and girls over that age were fine. Talk about bullshit rules.
I'm waiting for a "no randomly offering/accepting free food" rule, cause that's a common thing at OMG. They're taking everything I love about cons away. Soon it's just gonna be a bunch of sweaty kids in costumes standing around complaining about the heat and that year's cosplague.  

[SakuraRico]

At a mini con here I got shot by a loaded air soft gun a resident evil cosplayer lent some random guy. At least I got hit on my belly, so no serious harm. Since it was my first time there, I didn't know who was the organizer, so I didn't know who to report to.

Over here we haven't had paddle problems, and I haven't seen them for sale either, so if anyone brings it, it must have been from overseas. Although since I volunteer as staff at the entrance, if I see someone with a paddle, I'll stop them and ask an organizer about such.

We have already have peace bound Katanas, as someone pulled one out for posing and swung it to behind him, without looking beforehand, and ended up cutting someone's forehead. We just use duct tape to make sure they don't pull it out.

We also try to peace-bind other weapons, such as last time someone brought a custom three pronged spear, and we just improvised, cutting a cardboard box and binding it.

Guns, we double check that they are either fake or unloaded air soft, but we don't really have a check for pellets...

We have also banned signs, pretty much for the same reason you have. People who will stalk and annoy you until they get what they want. And perverts...

We have made a camera code of conduct as well, to try to prevent unwanted and unrequested pictures from being taken. We have had situations of people taking inappropriate pictures, especially minors.

And more... but I can't remember them right now ^^;  

[Tsuki Nushi]

Doom27

I was reading the rest of the thread and i came across the paddles...

I find it really sad paddles are banned everywhere. Yes i understand people got wacked, but do people ever complain? Just curious. Anyway back to the point, i feel like generally when people got yaoi or yuri smacked, it was usually the will of the person getting smacked, i know i used to always ask hawt chicks to slap my a**, just being the dirty man i am. But all in all its a rule that makes sense, but it takes away from old con fun, i miss seeing people get paddled hard as s**t on the streets.

There is one other rule that has spread that makes me sad. No signs. I understand this aswell, all the perves like me having signs like "free hugs" or "free kisses" or even worse "show me your tits!" But besides that there were good signs. Like "LFM Friends" or "Pool's Closed" (to all those damn marco polo kids). Makes me sad that we can't just have regulations on what signs are appropriate and what is not, because a con without signs is very sad ):

Yeah, I miss them too. Though, those rules, and most of the other sort of retarded sounding ones, really aren't even for the attendees, they're more lawsuit/illegal activities prevention.

With paddles, it only takes one person to get over zealous and smack a stranger to get us in trouble. I mean, most otaku probably wouldn't sue over something that stupid, but they/their parents might, and one lawsuit can destroy a con.

And the signs, the main problem besides pervs, at least at my con, is that having a sign that says something like free hugs or will yaoi for pocky do technically count as prostitution, which is illegal. And again, while none of the attendee would probably ever report it, someone might.

So while a bunch of rules may seem asinine or unnecessary, we have to enforce them for the sake of the con/attendees. Besides, it only takes one lawsuit or arrest to start a chain reaction. Remeber when that lady spilled coffee on herself, got burned, sued the restaurant, and won? After that went public there were a bunch of people attempting to sue restaurants to get money.

Same thing with cons. Someone sues/gets arrested and it gets on the news, suddenly all the greedy anime fans are suing to make a quick buck, and anime hating parents/religious officials know how to ruin a con.  

[tokkitoria]

Last I checked the rule on paddles for Anime North was they couldn't leave Yaoi North. Last year Yaoi North was at the con center instead of the hotel this year, so that year the paddle portion had to be covered and you had to take it ASAP to a hotel. It was almost like it wasn't for smaking purposes, but they didn't want people to see 'yaoi' o.o

A rule I can understand is no glomping, especially if I'm in cosplay that could ruin it.  

[Maruul]

How is "Free Hugs" prostitution? It's free. Having sex for free isn't illegal, so I seriously doubt hugging is. I think at OMG the rule was no offering services for anything.