[JujuFox]

To the person who decided playing with a Fire Extinguisher was a good idea,

You deserve a lifetime ban from ACen.

-------------

To the staff,

You handled it as best you could, and we all got out in 15 minutes! One tiny criticism I had was a few staffers didn't listen to the cops when they gave the okay to let us back in, but it is hard trying to communicate and organize a mass exodus and re-entrance. You did your best given the circumstances and the chaos.

[redx1]

I'll even admit that it was handled VERY well.

Kudos to the staff for handling that situation as best as they did.

And yes, there are laws against discharging fire extinguishers when there is no emergency. Just.. why?!

[char99char]

Did anything happen (or not happen) with the masquerade? That would've sucked to wait in line for it then get kicked out. Ugh.

The whole fire drill thing was kind of a drag...

[Isamu]

char99char, on 29 April 2012 - 07:25 PM, said:

Did anything happen (or not happen) with the masquerade? That would've sucked to wait in line for it then get kicked out. Ugh.

The whole fire drill thing was kind of a drag...

It got cut in half. No skits this year. I felt bad for all those people.

[Teebs]

DavenEvanXaviour, on 29 April 2012 - 06:12 PM, said:

One tiny criticism I had was a few staffers didn't listen to the cops when they gave the okay to let us back in, but it is hard trying to communicate and organize a mass exodus and re-entrance. You did your best given the circumstances and the chaos.

The reason we did not let anyone back into the hotel was because we did not get the all clear from our higher ups and dispatchers in the hotel. Until we are given the all clear from our management, then we gotta hold you guys. Yeah Saturday night is the craziest and most fun night at any con, but your safety is important to us. It's just part of our job on IRT. Things are established to keep you guys safe, even though sometimes they are thought as stupid and unnecessary. I can tell you guys that we appreciated everyone's patience even though it started to run thin with a good number of you and we also appreciate your compliment.

[KnitChick]

DavenEvanXaviour, on 29 April 2012 - 06:12 PM, said:

To the staff,

You handled it as best you could, and we all got out in 15 minutes! One tiny criticism I had was a few staffers didn't listen to the cops when they gave the okay to let us back in, but it is hard trying to communicate and organize a mass exodus and re-entrance. You did your best given the circumstances and the chaos.

If you are referring to the group of staff by the main programming entrance, I apologize if it seemed that way but we were waiting for an official all clear. I saw some people heading in a rush for the front doors BEFORE IRT Dispatch said we were clear to allow people back inside. I was one of the few people over in my area with a radio, and I was waiting until I heard the official "Let people back inside" order. I would rather keep everyone outside a few extra minutes to confirm that yes it is definitely safe to return than have anyone get hurt. We got you out in one piece, I wanted you all back IN in one piece! My group was worried about preventing a rush to the doors that could have resulted in someone getting hurt.

I do thank all of you for your cooperation. I am blown away by how quickly we were able to get that hotel safely cleared, and that we were also able to get everyone back inside safely as well. We couldn't have done that without working together.

Now, I'm gonna go pass out. Except for a few hours in bed each night I've been going pretty much non-stop since Wednesday. I will get back to reading all of your posts once I surface from my nice soft warm bed. (go get some rest, all of you! )

[Jeff]

Ah, this was a fun event. I had a mild panic attack from the alarm and the crowds. There should've been some way to keep the doors open. It would've gotten everyone out faster. I held a door open for everyone to help out.

[TheRabbi]

DavenEvanXaviour, on 29 April 2012 - 06:12 PM, said:

One tiny criticism I had was a few staffers didn't listen to the cops when they gave the okay to let us back in, but it is hard trying to communicate and organize a mass exodus and re-entrance. You did your best given the circumstances and the chaos.

Hey there. I'm not going to post a whole lot on the fire alarm thing, but I'm going to post this one little thing here.

I was the one inside the hotel dispatching the evacuation and subsequent re-entry. It was my call whether and when to let you guys back in. At one point, it came over the radio that the fire department had given an all-clear. I didn't catch who it came from but I went about getting a similar all-clear from the hotel staff while trying to confirm who it came from and the authenticity of the report. The fire department's all-clear was rescinded before the hotel's all-clear, and so it was a non-starter. A little bit later, I got an all-clear from an authenticated source and was able to secure the all-clear from the hotel fairly quickly. That's the origin of the delay after Rosemont gave an okay.

As long as I'm here, I want to say thank you to all of my fellow ops (you forumites seem to have started calling us blackvests, which is kinda cool) and staffers who helped with the evacuation. Everyone I needed to do something jumped to do it when I asked and did it well, and people from all over the hotel kept me apprised of their evacuation progress via radio. It is because of all of you that the evacuation was a success.

[JujuFox]

I'm glad you all have been responding here in the forums! I know you all worked very hard to keep us safe throughout the confusion and mixed signals. I was behind the firetruck when the cops started waving us in and saying all clear. I even brought the officer over to a staff member, so hopefully that helped since he disappeared to maybe stop the people he gave the okay too? It was crazy confusing! u__u;

Funny story, but we actually somehow got back up into the lobby before you let everyone in... and then our delivery guy calls us 15 mins before he was supposed to arrive and says he is waiting outside for us to get our food! We had to fight the influx of 3k people to get back outside. ;__;