[sisterdiscord]

Normally I'm not a gripey kind of girl, but I need you guys to check me on this. What's the deal with throwing things off the balconies? Why is it funny? How do I stop it?

Here's the deal. Someone on the "Fishbowl" side of the Hyatt threw a big glass vodka bottle off the balconies Saturday night. It hit the dome and broke out a small piece of glass. Know how much that costs, guys? It's five figures. So I'm sitting here looking at this wondering

a ) How much good stuff I could do with that money that would be awesome for attendees
b ) How I keep it from happening again
c ) Why can't we have nice things?

I recognize that it's a tiny minority of attendees who do this crap, and I'm not trying to come down on all of you. I'm also not trying to spoil your ability to have room parties - it's part of the con experience, but how do I keep this kind of damage from happening?

[Zerox20]

This is just something I am curious about. Is it possible to have everybody who is in a room from the hotel have something specific signed? I take it they kinda do with incidental damage on the room right, its hotels ask for credit cards.

[sisterdiscord]

Zerox20, on 25 May 2011 - 05:57 PM, said:

This is just something I am curious about. Is it possible to have everybody who is in a room from the hotel have something specific signed? I take it they kinda do with incidental damage on the room right, its hotels ask for credit cards.

Sadly, only the person booking the room is responsible for damages. It does put that person sometimes in an awkward situation.

[ranefea]

I really wish I could help you here. I'm getting sick and tired of inconsiderate morons doing crap like this. It makes EVERYONE look bad and in the end affects the entire convention. When ACen has to pay for damages, that's less money for awesome things the next year. =(

[Lina]

Was this on Thursday? I remember someone threw something onto the dome Thursday. I heard a big thud and everyone was looking up to see what happened and Riker was on it right away.

[kenkendazo]

If you ever find the person persecute them to the fullest extent fully visable to everyone so they know what not to do.

[sisterdiscord]

Suigetsu, on 25 May 2011 - 06:12 PM, said:

If you ever find the person persecute them to the fullest extent fully visable to everyone so they know what not to do.

If I ever find the person, I'm adding it to their hotel bill. And if my boss will let me, putting their picture in the program guide so everyone can thank them.

[bucktick]

Hopefully someone saw/knows something about exactly who threw that and will come forward in PM. What a senseless and immature act. Didn't some urinals get ripped off the wall last year at Acen?

[kenkendazo]

bucktick, on 25 May 2011 - 06:20 PM, said:

Hopefully someone saw/knows something about exactly who threw that and will come forward in PM. What a senseless and immature act. Didn't some urinals get ripped off the wall last year at Acen?

A reward would help here. Someone may step forward then.

[The Fujoshi]

......

*facepalm*

I hope you do get them and post them in the program book along with the guy who ripped out the urinals.

Quote for them "I AM ABOVE THE LAW!"

[Vinja Ryou]

Lina, on 25 May 2011 - 06:05 PM, said:

Was this on Thursday? I remember someone threw something onto the dome Thursday. I heard a big thud and everyone was looking up to see what happened and Riker was on it right away.

It was Saturday evening. I remember it 'cause my friends and I were playing Apples to Apples during some downtime and heard a crash outside. We had a balcony room on the fifth floor and went outside to see what had happened, but it was too dark, and I heard about the bottle throwing the next morning.

[evaunit01berserk]

Discord, send me a message on pm or aim, I would like to discuss something with ya regarding why you may be having these problems

[redx1]

evaunit01berserk, on 25 May 2011 - 06:58 PM, said:

Discord, send me a message on pm or aim, I would like to discuss something with ya regarding why you may be having these problems

Why don't you post here so everyone can be in the loop?

[evaunit01berserk]

redx1, on 25 May 2011 - 07:06 PM, said:

Why don't you post here so everyone can be in the loop?

Because I wish to speak in private.

[Krystal]

If it's just about con behavior in general and not about who did it, I'm sure we all could handle it. Heck, if you know why people do what we do, we could probably brainstorm better ideas for next year as a group!

[Krystal]

Suigetsu, on 25 May 2011 - 06:12 PM, said:

If you ever find the person persecute them to the fullest extent fully visable to everyone so they know what not to do.

While I'm sure we would ALL like to persecute the person, we may just have to make due with prosecuting them. XD


Which is sad, because I haven't used my pitchfork for a long time.

[kenkendazo]

Krystal, on 25 May 2011 - 07:57 PM, said:

While I'm sure we would ALL like to persecute the person, we may just have to make due with prosecuting them. XD


Which is sad, because I haven't used my pitchfork for a long time.

lol, I did not catch my slip-up. Nice find cause now I get to laugh ^^

This post has been edited by Suigetsu: 25 May 2011 - 07:59 PM

[gadgets]

holy hell what idiots

[ldychaos]

This may not be feasible for next year, but it may need to be taken into consideration; raise the ticket prices by a little maybe 5 dollars or less; and use that additional money into a fund for repairs. Unfortunately the few ruin it for the many. At least if you have an Emergency Cash Fund for things that get ruined, it can be repaired from the fund. And maybe in the future if everyone is good and doesn't break things we can get a surprise!!!

This may also sound mean, but I vaguely remember it mentioned on the forums before. There were a lot of people posting about the lack of guests they wanted, maybe fliers and announcements could be posted to the effect of "This guest, (insert name) was willing to come, but we spent the money fixing this because someone decided to do (insert destructive behavior)". It may deter some from being destructive but not all of them. Unfortunately there are some that destroy because they have never faced the consequences or do not care about the consequences of their actions.

[Yukinari]

sisterdiscord, on 25 May 2011 - 05:54 PM, said:

Normally I'm not a gripey kind of girl, but I need you guys to check me on this. What's the deal with throwing things off the balconies? Why is it funny? How do I stop it?

Here's the deal. Someone on the "Fishbowl" side of the Hyatt threw a big glass vodka bottle off the balconies Saturday night. It hit the dome and broke out a small piece of glass. Know how much that costs, guys? It's five figures. So I'm sitting here looking at this wondering

a) How much good stuff I could do with that money that would be awesome for attendees
How I keep it from happening again
c) Why can't we have nice things?

I recognize that it's a tiny minority of attendees who do this crap, and I'm not trying to come down on all of you. I'm also not trying to spoil your ability to have room parties - it's part of the con experience, but how do I keep this kind of damage from happening?

allow me to add to this, there was also some someone in the soap bubble who decided that i would be a good idea to take one of 5 gallon water jugs still filled with tons of water and throw it in the middle of the floor. to this individual id like to simply ask, and nothing more, Why did you do that?? now we all need water, especially in the soap bubble, so why waste the one thing we need to keep us from falling out from dehydration??

on the plus side of this, being staff of a neighboring con, i am aware of how these damages can cause big issues so, i picked up the water jug before it spilled all 5 gallons and handed it to a guy trying to refill the water cooler.

This post has been edited by Yukinari: 25 May 2011 - 08:53 PM

[R1KKu]

Friday morning I was at the check in desk asking about my room when someone threw what sounded like coins off one of the balconies inside....almost hit a hotel employee.

[Bella]

I was on that side of the hotel. Sat. morning, there was a pillow down there, vodka bottles, a pack of cigs, and a HEAD OF LETTUCE.

Like, what the hell? Lettuce? Apparently there were carrots in the stair well too.. -.-

And my friends told me some idiot JUMPED OFF the balcony and onto the dome..? wtf? :/

This post has been edited by Bella: 25 May 2011 - 10:02 PM

[manga1]

Lettuce? lol I guess just spitting over the rail ain't good enough for them anymore.

but seriously Why people why would you bust out a convex window of a stairwell what point does that prove. I am in favor of public display of humilliation during the masquarade like public harikari, or they get stuffed into a garbage can and each one of the people gets to take turns wacking them with a yaoi paddle, hardcore side. seriously when will people just stop and think, throwing coins or writting on the wall is one thing but doing structural damage is unlawful, dangerous, and a good way to make the hotel people mad enough to raise our rates for the weekend, and or tell us we are not welcome there.

what is with the people that do this stuff, what will it take banning alcohol from the convention?

I dont know what are you going to do search people as they come into the hotel?

signed Jeremy manga1

[LADY SAKURA]

its a darn shame IRT told us about some of that stuff going on while i was outside of my room people watching.. but really people act like they have never been out in a public setting before

[Miyuka]

I was in the dome area when this happened on Sat. Holy hell did that loud THUD give me a heart attack. EVERYONE stopped what they were doing and looked up. Idiots. >_>

[okaonos]

ldychaos, on 25 May 2011 - 08:22 PM, said:

This may also sound mean, but I vaguely remember it mentioned on the forums before. There were a lot of people posting about the lack of guests they wanted, maybe fliers and announcements could be posted to the effect of "This guest, (insert name) was willing to come, but we spent the money fixing this because someone decided to do (insert destructive behavior)". It may deter some from being destructive but not all of them. Unfortunately there are some that destroy because they have never faced the consequences or do not care about the consequences of their actions.

Harsh as it may seem, I think it's a good idea. It also may help con-goers encourage their fellow con-goers to be more responsible.

It seems those public balconies have been consistently a problem. It's an area that's just asking to have people act stupid. Is there no way we can have them closed off? I know people use those areas for socializing and smoking, but if it helps prevent damage... might be worth it.

[Stormy-chan]

I wonder why the hotel doesnt put cameras in the trouble areas,,,, that way you can see and then find the person responsible and make them pay for the damage directly.

Of course maybe we need to have spies in these areas with cameras or video cameras so we can catch the idiots ourselves and turn them in to the police with the evidence. That would most certainly curtail some congoers if not all.

Also I was staying at the Embassy this year and noticed a broken banister one morning. Was that a drunken issue to from one of our con goers ?

[davebb]

evaunit01berserk, on 25 May 2011 - 07:12 PM, said:

Because I wish to speak in private.

And every congoer/staff member has that right.

__EDIT__ added

Another thing, if you or any one of your friends spot something out of the ordinary happening, like destruction of property or someone acting dangerously like this, PLEASE CALL THE IRT HOTLINE. It was listed in the program this year. Put it into your cell's speed dial for the con. Not only is this for calling like a medical emergency but if you see stuff like this happening. Then we can get someone on it right away and resolve an issue before it gets out of hand.

On the safety side of things, stuff like this can get people hurt!!! Role reversal time: Now if you were the victim how would you feel if you had a bunch of glass fall on your or a penny dropped from a high point hit you? Guess who is going to the hospital and who pays the medical bill. Have some courtesy for fellow congoers.

[Shark]

'Nother thing. What was up with the rumors about someone jumping off a balcony Saturday night?

[Christy]

Bella, on 25 May 2011 - 10:00 PM, said:

I was on that side of the hotel. Sat. morning, there was a pillow down there, vodka bottles, a pack of cigs, and a HEAD OF LETTUCE.

Like, what the hell? Lettuce? Apparently there were carrots in the stair well too.. -.-

And my friends told me some idiot JUMPED OFF the balcony and onto the dome..? wtf? :/

That sounds like it was an... interesting... party.

Seriously though. For those of you who like to bring alchol to the con, behavior like this gives the con reason to restrict drinking at Anime Central and turn this into a dry con. At some point somebody's going to do something so spectarically stupid, they're going to say "No more." I suspect that's probably why the con suite went the way of the Dodo - I'd poked my head in there towards the end of con once while they still had it and it was disgusting. The whole place was trashed - like sombody decided to have the world's biggest food fight and follow it up with a rave just to grind everything into the carpet.

To prevent future balcony incidents, perhaps the hotel can find a way to lock down the balconies to the outside during the con so that the occupents can't go out there anymore. I'm also in favor of restricting room parties to a single tower or set of floors judged to be best likely to take damage and least likely to cause problems to others.

For the con-goers - you guys are right in that this sort of behaivor ruins things for everybody. But making sure incidents get reported so that the idiots responsble can be dealt with directly instead of the convention having to be made responsible helps mitigate stupid behavior. If this person had been caught right after, they would be paying for the window, not Acen. Even if it was an accident, not reporting it to hotel staff and taking responsability was an ignorant thing to do. So if you see incidents of somebody preparing to cause damage to the hotel, staff or attendees, try to step in and warn them off. If you see somebody who is already in progress or just caused said damage, flag down any staff member right away and point them in the right direction so the con can deal with it quickly.

ldychaos is right. The money the convention now has to spend on replacing that window could have gone into any number of the departments. So question to both reinforce the idea and give staff ideas for what you'd like to see next year. Let's assume that the window was $10,000 - what would you have spent that on for next year?