I have already submitted my complaints on this particular topic to Giza(Who didn't warrant having to listen to my rantings) via the form, but from several other voices I feel it warrants some public viewing.
My convention was fantastic this year, as always, however, I was stopped on several occasions by convention security, seemingly for nothing. The first issue was a styrofoam sword which was tied to my belt, and I was told it needed to be returned to my room- now, had I not just watched four other people with rubber/plastic weapons go by, I wouldn't have had so much of an issue, but it was irremovable(At least by me, anyways- hard to manipulate anything with paws on) and as far as I am aware, could not be picked up and swung around, seeing as how it was fastened to my belt. I didn't much think about it, although I had already asked two people on staff if it were acceptable, and con ops told me to put it in my room- no problem.
The second incident was going into the artist alley. I have a very small pouch(which is decorative, I can't actually open it) on my belt(Worn over the fursuit), and my friend(also in suit, and also with a pouch- which is functional and much larger and more visible) had just gone in, however *I* was stopped and told I would have to go back up to my room and return it. I told him there wasn't anything in the pouch, and he told me it was because I might walk off with some art(To give you a size reference, this pouch is about 4" deep, I don't think I could fit anything besides a 12 ounce can of coke in there). My friend turned around and asked him why he hadn't stopped her, and he looked at me and then it was magically alright for me to go inside. Alright we'll call this one a fluke.
The third incident was during the tornado warning. My friends and I were going to steel city(in a large group), and one of the con security stopped ME(Out of this large group) and told me "If you're stupid enough to be going out in this, I want your next of kin's badge number". I'm 24, and I definately DON'T look like I'm underage. Why, then, am I picked out of this group of people?
What?!? There are LOADS of people going out and coming back in- why do *I* seem to get perpetually harassed for no reason? I can understand the sword -kindof- except that everyone else was walking around with unsecured weapons that WOULDNT break if you breathed on them, and I guess I can understand if the guy didn't see my friends pouch, but this last one is totally unacceptable. I know that con security is a thankless job, and they're human beings like everyone else- but come on. It really seems a little overbearing to me. There was another incident with them, as well, but I don't remember what it was. This last one just kind of washed everything else to the pale.
Did anyone else have any weird issues with them this year? Other than the usual elevator-related stuff?
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This is more about the DLCC itself than con security, but during the tornado warning on Sunday, I was out on the balcony with some other people. We ended up going inside right when the warning was announced because it was time for closing ceremonies, but I was curious as to why it was up to the DI to have to come out on the balcony to shoo people inside - couldn't the DLCC staff turn on those loudspeakers (unless they're just sirens) that I noticed on the balcony and announce it that way?
Likewise, are there speakers throughout the con center that could be used for this instead of again relying on the DI to walk around telling people to stay away from the windows?
I assume the ballroom is the safest place to be during a tornado, but I suspect there's no place in the DLCC (or the hotel for that matter) that would survive a direct hit
Ron
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permalinkI'm pretty sure that businesses actually aren't required to warn you to weather conditions. Not positive, but pretty sure.
Also, what we witnessed that day was a VERY unusual weather event for the area. I come from the Ohio River valley area myself originally (though we moved west and into a more tornado prone area) and storms there were pleasant things to watch and listen to, not the beasts we had this weekend.
Weather patterns are changing, though, and from the bit of reading I just did it looks like Pittsburgh is just now thinking of getting sirens, so it's really not a surprise that hotel/DLCC staff didn't react.
And by the by, the safest spot for everyone to have gone would have been the stair wells
I just about died when they told us to go into the ball room.
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permalinkLocation: Youngstown, OH
Actually they are, at least they aren't supposed to let you leave in case of a tornado. I know this from personal experience (having worked retail for five years). I think that if road conditions are so bad that it is likely you'll die or be severely injured if you traveled then a business must issue a warning. I'm not sure, though, since the only time I've ever seen a business retain customers was during a tornado warning.
"Furry is a state of mind."
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permalinkLearn something new every day
I still wonder if the staff ever knew though, since there wasn't a warning system. You're not SUPPOSED to get tornadoes there, yanno. They're supposed to stay in the area on the map that we roped off for them. Stupid things keep ducking under and ditching in line.
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Revoke their membership
I saw the sign to that effect on the rope between the art show and the Dealer's room, and wondered why it applied to both ways - what's the problem with ducking out of the AS line to get into the DR?
Ron
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permalinkLocation: Fredericksburg, VA
Dog gone it. You need to secure those lines more. We keep getting them here in Virginia.
-Rover T. Mutt
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permalinkBlog: [Link]
We do not have access to the loudspeakers. Whether the DLCC received any official warning from the National Weather Service is unknown. The decision to move Anthrocon attendees inside was made by me based solely on my own experiences as a storm spotter in Arkansas. Upon noticing that the clouds above were rotating I decided it was preferable to piss off a few people by ordering them inside than to have to pick up any messy bodies afterward, so I put out the radio call to enact our newly-developed Severe Weather Contingency Plan.
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permalinkLocation: Nokesville, VA
I remember the one and only time I saw the entire sky rotate. I was in Jackson, MS, and it was the first time I had ever heard a Tornado Warning on the radio followed by prayer.
So I went outside, and saw.. well, the sky was rotating in seperate rings. One ring would go clock-wise while the ring inside was spinning counter-clockwise. 7 funnel clouds were reported that day, but luckily none touched down.
I was informed that one or two touched down to the north of the Convention Center, but I couldn't confirm it save for my friends who said they saw it.
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permalinkLocation: Montreal , Quebec , Canada
Yeah , I would say that as much as I understand them having to do their jobs (and I respect them for that)
I sometimes felt like they were trying to be my mother.
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I love you all ..
except for the people I don't like..
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What are the odds of a tornado being able to make contact with the ground in that area anyway? There seems to be alot of hills around there...
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permalinkTornadoes can touch down anywhere, it's just that the weather conditions usually aren't right for them in that area.
Unfortunately, they were right Sunday.
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permalinkLocation: Roseville, CA, USA
A tornado is essentially a sucking tube; it starts as a rotating low-pressure zone aloft, and draws air in from below. Th part that "Touches Down" is simply moist, warm air drawn into this vacuum, where it expands; as it expands, it gives up heat (it chills very suddenly) and the suddenly-chilled air is driven past the "dew-point", where water-vapor becomes a visible cloud. The air-mass below this "Funnel Cloud" is in fact rotating and being sucked up, even if the dew-point hasn't yet been crossed.
As the Tornadic action starts aloft, the local topography at ground level doesn't really have an effect. This was learned to the horror of the Boy Scouts at that camp two weeks ago; everyone believed that the hilly bluffs there were "tornado-safe".
Saturday, after the close of the Dealer's Den and Artshow, I looked through the giant windows at first the Ball Park, and then up at the sky - and saw the turbulent "Mammary Cloud" formation often seen before a tornado. I have never actually SEEN a tornado, but I had studied enough to recognise the clouds. They passed over the convention center, and were replaced by - a VOID, a dull, undistinguished patch of sky behind which the northern bluffs, and then the town below and across the river simply - vanished into. The Sky darkened in a handful of seconds, the stadium lights were Surrounded by a white sheath of either heavy rain or hail. The wind raced across the surface of the river, at first 30 mph, then 40, then much faster; I noticed that the wind rows on the river by the suspension bridge were going in the OPPOSITE Direction; "Wind Shear," I thought, "Or a Micro-Burst". It was at this point that a Dorsai Shouted, "Rotational Motion Observed and Reported! GET AWAY FROM THE GLASS!" And I was deciding between sheltering in the bathroom, or running across the bridge over halls A and B.
If a tornado had actually hit us, that hesitation could have been fatal. Running over the bridge, instead of sheltering in the bathroom only 20 feet away, behind the solid wall, could have been fatal. As it was - we were spared a tornado...but it COULD have been VERY messy.
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permalinkLocation: NJ
But picking up bodies is part of the fun of a con. :/
I think I got some good pics of the wall cloud. I'll have to see how they look after I download them from the camera. :>
I'm a weather geek too. A buddy from Six Flags and I used to be out in the park with our windmeters and whatnot watching the storms. The neatest one had an updraft so powerful it sucked the fountain by the main gate sideways. It produced a tornado a little ways away in Freehold, NJ. That must be, oh, about from 1997-8; not sure which exactly.
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permalinkLocation: Montreal , Quebec , Canada
And it gives you cheap meat!
(preferably eaten with a nice Chianti *tsstsstsstssts*)
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except for the people I don't like..
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permalinkMost of the time it's a thankless job, people get tired, and I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt. There's one incident that really stuck in my craw though: we finished the Friday dance and I had to get my gear. When I tried to get back up on stage one of the Dorsai stopped me. I told him I was AV staff and showed him my badge and staff ribbon but he said, "no you're not. You need to leave now," then grabbed my arm and pushed me towards the exit. Called me a liar right to my face, and not even politely.
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permalinkLocation: Norfolk Virginia
I had a similar experience when I went to another con last time.
Cosplay Weapons, be it foam, wood, plastic or carboard can be brought it, but have to be point-face down on a holster or something related.
Some security staff can be anal when it comes to bags. I understand that if it wasn't mentioned in the Con-rules about bags then it should be perectly okay to bring it in. If it was something small like your leather pouch I saw, I cannot see why the Security had an issue with it.
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permalinkLocation: Laredo, TX
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I was not told of any tornado warning that day. I didn't even know there was one until I saw this thread a minute ago. In fact I was even able to go in and out of the convention center or the Westin several times without being stopped. The clouds did look ominous however like a bad storm brewing, but no tornado was on my mind. I was thinking "meh. probably more rain."
Except for the fact the security did not seem to know where or what was going on, which makes someone very VERY unfamiliar with the Pittsburgh area, let alone the big convention center dismayed, I had no huge resentment with them. I actually thought they were a lil on the lenient side.
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permalinkLocation: Ardmore, PA
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Just so I can better understand your expectations, are you saying that security wasn't familiar with the programming on the schedule, or something else entirely?
If it's the former, we could look into issuing them extra copies of the pocket program each year, or instructing them to call into Ops if they are unsure. I'll have run this by our Security Chief.
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permalinkLocation: Laredo, TX
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They were not familiar with the programming on the schedule, nor the locations. I suggest for next year that better detailed maps be given out, showing exact locations, what events are to be held there, and even a picture or two to get a visual idea of the convention. Even with the map provided, I still got lost. X_X And EVERYONE should be provided a copy, knowing that at least one con-goer is going to forgot his or her map and will rely a lot on the staff members.
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permalinkLocation: 12 scenic miles from Hell
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I've got to agree with ShotKing here, Giza. We (the security crew) did not have our normal level of knowledge about the schedule. There are various reasons for this, and K.P. and I are already discussing how to do this better next year.
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permalinkLocation: Quaker Hill, CT
My personal issue with the convention security this year, and more often with the non-Dorsai or new Dorsai, is conduct. From some of the above examples, and from some of my personal observations of their mannerisms, it became apparent that some of those attending the convention were being offended. I can recall one example I personally witnessed is when the Dorsai were telling people to put their shirts back on during the dance. This has never been done before, and not only was it acceptable in previous years, the individual issuing the directive was noticeably rude about it.
As a security professional at a facility that sees more insanity/people on a good day than Anthrocon sees on a bad day, perhaps my expectations are a lot higher than most. I understand that you're all volunteers, I understand that some of you are unaccustomed to that level of crowd control, and I certainly understand the fact that most of you would like to relax and enjoy the convention as much as anyone else...BUT! It wouldn't hurt to at least try to remain careful, cordial, and in control of your selves, your tempers, and your surroundings. Please remember that you not only contribute to the convention's image and integrity as much as Kage or any other staff/board member, but since you're often more visible than they, more so.
Few understand more than I, so understand my sympathy as well as my warning: Don't make us dislike you, for if you do, it will hurt Anthrocon.
Just brush up on your PR a bit, and you'll be fine.
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permalinkPutting their shirts back on? If this was allowed during previous years, it *would seem* to have been an oversight, not a previously-allowed thing.
In general, conventions prefer to keep their attendees fully clothed.
-There is no truth
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permalinkLocation: Hainesville, IL
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Additionally, I would point out that not every member of the Dorsai works the same position every year, new Dorsai are added to the team each year, and (contrary to popular opinion) there is actually no Dorsai Hive Mind. Very simply, what the Dorsai on duty last year may have thought was allowable under the Code of Conduct may not have been what the Dorsai on duty this year thought was allowable.
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Tom Brady/Duncan da Husky
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permalinkLocation: Quaker Hill, CT
The real point, that I think my example has distracted you gentlemen from, is the matter of conduct.
Quite frankly, I'm not as perturbed about the demand to put the shirts back on as I am the way it was handled, like so many other issues.
Conduct, not policy.
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