When is "An extra hour in the ball pit" going to stop being funny?

[lizbee]

Not soon, I hope.

Context: here and here, and I took a break from re-enacting popcorn.gif to talk serious business. (TW for sexual assault, child abuse, Marion Zimmer Bradley, etc.)

Apparently one of the decision-makers was 17, and another was 13, and I feel really bad for those kids, but I'm also really mad at the actual adults involved, who should be stepping up and ... you know, being adults and taking responsibility.

Comments

[recessional]

. . .the latter one doesn't seem to have anything about MZB? Not that I'm hurting for hearing about her, I'm just wondering if that's the right link.

[lizbee]

Sorry, it's really just speaking in the context of the recent business about Bradley, Breen and child safety in fandom and at conventions.

[recessional]

Ah, okay, gotcha.

[purple_smurf]

The feedback panel for this one would have to have been very well attended, at least?

(I have access to a ball pool, but I don't think Toddler Gym would let me borrow it...)
(There may be snarky photos on Tuesday)

[nineveh_uk]

It will never stop being funny. The irony that struck me watching this whole thing happen this weekend, is that they got 1000 people in their first year. That's massive. With proper organisation, and a business plan based on hard figures rather than "build it, they will come (and don't actually bother building it)", they might have had a roaring success on their hands. But that would have required understanding that these sorts of things don't in fact spring fully-formed from the brow of someone with an idea.

[lizbee]

Yes! Continuum got, I think, 125 in our first year, and we generally expect 180-250 depending on guests. A thousand for a first time is EXTRAORDINARY. And really, this just makes it harder for the next people, no matter how competent their planning.

[neadods]

Did they really get as many as 1000? I'm seeing blog posts guesstimating the headcount around 500.

[owl]

It's percolated to a couple of people I know IRL from the Chicago area, I'm guessing via internet-savvy sports fandom.

[lavinia]

I don't know better than anyone else the truth of what went down at Dashcon, but I found this post an insightful balance. (Not defending the admins, but the attendees, and some exaggeration of the clusterfuck.)