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tygerchickchibi
Joined: 29 Sep 2006
Posts: 1473
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Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 10:16 pm
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Yoda117 wrote: |
W-General wrote: |
Otakon was run smooth as butter. |
Apparently you go to a different Otakon than I do. The last few years I've noticed that the organization has been going downhill, and don't get me started on their security. |
On a badge pick-up note, the lines actually weren't that bad at all, I only waited for 20 minutes and I managed to pick up my badge without any problems at all. I say it was a big improvement from the last 2 years of going to the con. ^^;
And you can't say I go to a different Otakon, after all I've already seen you there twice. =P
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Sir Hamilton
Joined: 31 May 2007
Posts: 63
Location: Massachusetts
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Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 10:52 pm
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BellosTheMighty wrote: | What I want to know is why is everybody talking about the huge wait, rather then the idiot cosplayer who got himself arrested? That's a so much more interesting story.
Eh, whatever. 10 hours IS extreme, but obviously you people have never been to Otakon. Seriously, add up the Registration, the Dealer's Room, the MAT3K, the Masquerade, and the "big" premieres, and old-school Otakon is WAAAAY more then 10 hours waiting in line. Bring your DS next time, seriously. It's right next to bottled water on the con survival list. |
Everybody was in a [expletive] line that didn't allow for them to find out about the occurance in case you haven't infered by now.
The masquerade line started the second the pillows concert line was inside the room and the pillows line had started much much ealier in the day. I don't have a nintendo DS either and my laptop's batery life sucks and would have survived 1/9th of the time I was waiting.
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GATSU
Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15455
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 12:33 am
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Insert old otaku rant about how that wait was nothing, because they had to walk ten miles in snow to go to their con.
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Horitsuba
Joined: 11 Jul 2006
Posts: 35
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 1:29 am
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Wow. I'm kind of glad that I backed out last minute and decided to catch the 10:30 PM bus back home the night before. o_O;;
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consys
Joined: 25 Mar 2008
Posts: 1
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 2:41 am
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I was there to pick up on Thursday and while I hate to say this and sound like a jerk many of those that were in the line to pick up pre-registered tickets should have tried going on Thursday. I was there no more than an hour, max, and they were even kind enough to let me pick up my badge as well as my cousins badge, granted I paid for all of them.
I understand that lines were long but I heard that from last years experience that it seems people that last year had pre-registered didn't do it this year. So the line got longer due to that fact, which could be true or false.
SO boo to the line and maybe a bit more planning should have gone into consideration. (More accessible computers would have been a good idea.)
As for the pillows concert, it was fun but what I found amusing was that out of all the people that went to it only a short few went to get their autograph and stuff, that line even though it was aster Sunday was short, way short, so I am not entirely sure what some of the fuss is about.
Another thing the lines were long for most of the major events, keyword major, everything else was normal and at least from the amount of people they had going bearable.
Any comments or questions ... I might be asleep. LOL
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Sydney2K
Joined: 01 Mar 2004
Posts: 219
Location: Australia
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 3:27 am
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BellosTheMighty wrote: | What I want to know is why is everybody talking about the huge wait, rather then the idiot cosplayer who got himself arrested? That's a so much more interesting story. |
I'm interested in that story- what happened?
Widya Santoso
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Boonmaster
Joined: 29 Jul 2005
Posts: 9
Location: Gloucester, MA
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 8:58 am
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Sydney2K wrote: |
BellosTheMighty wrote: | What I want to know is why is everybody talking about the huge wait, rather then the idiot cosplayer who got himself arrested? That's a so much more interesting story. |
I'm interested in that story- what happened?
Widya Santoso |
I heard about that. Some moron was carrying a realistic weapon outside the con, not knowing Boston police don't care about your limited edition replica of Vash's revolver. He was arrested, but even worse was that he RAN from them before getting taken in.
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Leebo
Joined: 14 Nov 2005
Posts: 660
Location: Somerville, MA
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:37 am
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consys wrote: | As for the pillows concert, it was fun but what I found amusing was that out of all the people that went to it only a short few went to get their autograph and stuff, that line even though it was aster Sunday was short, way short, so I am not entirely sure what some of the fuss is about. |
As someone who only went Saturday to see the Pillows, I can tell you that I wasn't about to come all the way back to Boston and do that all over again to see them on Sunday. Plus, I don't remember them mentioning that autograph session during the concert. They mentioned Luv & Response having one, but I didn't hear anything about the Pillows doing one. Maybe that's why most people didn't come back for it.
Besides... as much fun as the convention was, missing two days of March Madness would have been unbearable for me.
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LydiaDianne
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
Posts: 5634
Location: Southern California
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:51 am
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BellosTheMighty
Joined: 27 Nov 2007
Posts: 767
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 10:31 am
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<removed at source's request>
Last edited by BellosTheMighty on Tue Mar 25, 2008 10:27 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Yoda117
Joined: 11 Sep 2005
Posts: 406
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 11:32 am
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tygerchickchibi wrote: |
And you can't say I go to a different Otakon, after all I've already seen you there twice. =P |
Unfortunately it's not looking like you'll see me there this year, but the powers that be have spoken and, by the looks of things, I'm heading to LA that weekend.
It'll be worth it
Seriously though, I was referring to the whole "smooth as butter" comment. While their registration setup is definitely nicer, the rest of their organizational skills leaves me a bit wanting.
I know that you've been there when I've had to dive into the wiring with the union guys to set up a PA system because the con staff forgot to do it, or set aside the equipment necessary to do so.
Plenty of rocks to toss at everyone, but that's the nature of a con... you're going to have weaknesses. It's how you address them that makes your con stand out from the rest, and both Otakon and AB are good cons which I've attended multiple times (for a good reason).
I have to confess though that AUSA is still my favorite of all the cons I hit each year.
Quote: | Now, the proper way to do this is to take it out, hand it to the officer handle-first and do it roughly at waist level. The cosplayer, however, actually drew it on the cop. And pointed what would appear to be the business end of it at said cop.
I'm not sure whether the cop knew all about AB, was quick enough to see it was fake, or just is ice cold under pressure. But the cop thankfully did *NOT* respond in kind, or God forbid actually shoot the cosplayer. No, instead the cop just sensibly saw it was fake and arrested the moron for assault on an officer. The police saw the AB badge, contacted us, and we handled the situation as you'd expect (badge confiscation, lifetime ban, apology to the police, etc.). |
Okay, just a little "howto" if you're ever asked to present a replica weapon for inspection. Slowly take out the replica from it's holster, grip the replica from the top of the barrel, near where the chamber would be, and present it towards the intended recipient grip first with barrel facing downward (if you can rack the slide to show that there's nothing in the chamber, do so and THEN present it to the intended recipient in the manner previously described). This is standard faire in firearm safety, and allows you to present the replica in a safe fashion to someone wishing to see it and does so in a manner than is non-threatening.
Pointing a replica at someone who does not know it is a replica is stupid. Doing so at an armed LEO (i.e., the police) is suicidal. Remember folks, despite it being a con, if you're dealing with people who aren't specifically anime fans / con staff, do not assume that they know what this is about or that the very large knife or realistic looking firearm is a prop and not the real deal. Common sense folks.
On the one hand, thank God that the police (and yeah, they were well aware of AB, I was chatting with one while walking in with some stuff on Thursday night) responded appropriately to the situation; while I wasn't there, if ANY of the many versions of this story are correct, the con-goer deserved being arrested. On the other hand, I think we've got a Darwin Award winner in the making here.
PS: I think that the announcements made in the dealers' room on Saturday relating to the incident were hillarious ("we love you... don't get shot by the police.")
Last edited by Yoda117 on Tue Mar 25, 2008 7:57 pm; edited 1 time in total
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stardust462
Joined: 23 Jun 2007
Posts: 8
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 4:17 pm
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Hon'ya-chan wrote: |
samuelp wrote: |
Hon'ya-chan wrote: | Why haven't they thought of the idea of mailing con badges and the like to pre-registered folks months in advance? Add a security measure (Barcodes, Unique ID numbers, etc) to thwart counterfeiting, and it's all golden. |
It's too expensive. |
Bullshit. You can't tell me that AB can't acquire a Bulk Mail permit for a cheaper price and stuff envelopes? By how this account is going in the article, simple pen and paper registration sound much faster. |
I think he meant the added security measures would be too expensive, not the mailing itself.
BellosTheMighty wrote: |
Sad stuff. If Anime Boston isn't held next year, I'd bet this would be one big reason. |
Boston and State Police deal with much, much worse during the riots after Red Sox and Patriots games with multiple idiots getting arrested. This was just one moron, so I doubt it would be a factor in no more AB.
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Furudanuki
Joined: 29 Jul 2006
Posts: 1874
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 4:40 pm
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Yoda117 wrote: | Okay, just a little "howto" if you're ever asked to present a replica weapon for inspection. Slowly take out the replica from it's holster, grip the replica from the top of the barrel, near where the chamber would be, and present it towards the intended recipient grip first with barrel facing downward (if you can rack the slide to show that there's nothing in the chamber, do so and THEN present it to the intended recipient in the manner previously described). This is standard faire in firearm safety, and allows you to present the replica in a safe fashion to someone wishing to see it and does so in a manner than is non-threatening. |
Good advice! Allow me to add that it is also a very good practice to explain to the officer in a calm and polite manner exactly what you are going to do before performing each step, and ask him/her if they would rather you do something differently. A lone officer without backup will often prefer that you place the weapon on the ground and then back away rather than handing it to them directly, thus reducing the possibility of a close quarter physical assault. Behaving in a composed and rational manner usually goes a long way towards defusing what is a very tense situation for a law enforcement officer.
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Yoda117
Joined: 11 Sep 2005
Posts: 406
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 8:08 pm
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yeah, pretty much any time you're dealing with someone who IS carrying a firearm, anything you can to do present yourself as the smallest threat possible is the way to go.
Anything you can do to not upset the nice officer with his hand placed on his weapon is my philosphy... it's worked pretty good so far
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