dash-con 2014

[davemerrill]

Edited to add your Daily Dot roundup: http://www.dailydot.com/geek/dash-con-controversy-tumblr/

For those wondering what happened at Dashcon, there's a good roundup here with links to main points. Crowdfunded, failed to deliver on crowdfund rewards, tickets were $65, more to see Night Vale, more to see musical act they never signed, claimed they couldn't pay the hotel on Friday and raised $17,000 through donations that night, couldn't pay Night Vale so they ditched, and as a consolation prize to Night Vale ticket purchasers, offered an hour in a kiddy pool filled with balls. Now, I've been to bad conventions that were shut-down mid con, and the con chair didn't beg for donations or wave excuses or post funny pictures on tumblr while the con collapsed, they put on their big boy pants and took responsibility for the disaster. I don't see that happening here.



Nope, I see a big empty hall with a bouncy house and a ball pit and not a lot of people in either. Certainly not the 5000-7000 they claimed they were going to get.

Comments

[warpig1979.livejournal.com]

...raised $17,000 through donations that night...

Every time I hear about this happening at yet another doomed con, I wonder what the people giving up more money in mid-fiasco are thinking. I guess they never heard the one about fooling me twice.

[tochiro998.livejournal.com]

Maybe, but I think there's a little...wow, do I fumble for words lately, maybe 'entitlement' mixed with 'special snowflake hopes and dreams' going on.

They want it SO BAD, because it's THEIR THING, see, that throwing good money after bad makes more sense than folding up the tent and calling it a day.

Had a friend who wanted a specific costume prop really really bad. I kludged one together out of some stuff I had and it turned out pretty nice. It wasn't 'screen accurate' but it had the 'look' and 'feel' and photographed like a dream. Didn't charge him a penny, did it because I could.

(OK, fine, it was a Sandman pistol from Logan's Run)

We had a mutual friend, a fellow club member, who promised him a screen accurate working prop replica, with full practical effects. He just needed a couple hundred bucks for parts and materials.

I know you can see where this is going. Upshot, the gun of course never got made. Years, and hundreds of Dollars down the drain. But my friend believed. BELIEVED. Because the scammer was that good at making promises. Because my friend WANTED to believe it would happen. He was going to get that flame shooting sound making Sandman pistol REAL SOON NOW, he was POSITIVE.

Willing to believe seems to be a core component in being a fan. I can see how a frantic plea from a (charismatic?) con staff member could get fans to pry open their wallets and chuff out more cash to help save an event.

[davemerrill.livejournal.com]

that's what I love about fan scammers. Well, not "love". But it's the way they throw away friendships and credibility for, what, a couple hundred bucks? Or in the case of Dashcon, $17K? Which is a lot of money on a day to day basis, but is that enough money to face lawsuits and the collapse of any future you may ever have in the fandom world? What I'm saying is, if you're stealing, STEAL BIG.

That is not a ball pit

[lolotehe]

That is a ball depression.

A holler maybe.

A baller holler.

Re: That is not a ball pit

[tochiro998.livejournal.com]

BLASPHEMY! Your extra hour in the Ball Pit has been REVOKED! :)

[cmndr-x.livejournal.com]

All reports on this con was that it was an unmitigated disaster. It's a bit depressing, however, that there are plenty of people who attended Dash-con saying this debacle was the greatest, most amazing con, they can't wait for the next one, and Dash-con already has a page up for 2015. How low is the bar on expectations for some attendees that they thought this con was the best thing ever while many reports from vendors, guests, staff members, volunteers, etc. were that this thing was a painful mess.

[tochiro998.livejournal.com]

Because we're tired old pharts who don't understand those kids today. :)

I've always felt, since the '70s, a convention is what YOU, the attendee, make of it. It appears, from what you're saying, that a goodly number of the attendees found this thing to be exactly what they wanted.

I sure don't understand it. But I'm not an under-20 living on Twitter and Facebook and Tumblr and whatnot.

Dash-con could actually become 'Burning Man' for this crowd. God help us all.

[jasonrmerrill.livejournal.com]

Apparently they were offered help multiple times from various other con chairs. Their attitude was that they were going to be bigger than the other cons and did not need any help.

Apparently the hubris in Schaumberg was spotted by the ISS and the EPA has been sent in to evaluate the site.

[tochiro998.livejournal.com]

Get Roger Corman's company and SyFy channel on the phone, I think I've got their next mega hit movie...