I go to comic cons with my family to have a chance to get close to my favorite celebrities. The vendor floor is fun, but there's nothing there that I can't get online. And it's fun to see the cosplay. But the real attraction is the celebrities. Now you get maybe 5 seconds with each one for a photo-op, and maybe 10 for an autograph. So the real attraction is the celebrity panel. Being able to go to a celebrity's panel and listen to them tell stories of their careers, anecdotes of things that happened on set, of - in the case of John Barrowman - show up on stage is a TARDIS dress.
So when a comic con gets the panels wrong, it can ruin the whole experience. Denver Comic Con not only got it wrong, they got it so wrong the people involved in the mistakes should publicly apologize, then resign from any future comic con productions. They got is so wrong they put people in physical danger, and could have easily sparked a riot of angry fans.
The celebrity panels are run one right after another, so while one panel is in progress, the fans wanting to see the next one queue up in lines outside of the auditorium to wait for their celebrity's turn. Line management is extremely important here. Attendees, often tired, often with small children, are asked to wait in line with hundreds of other fans. Waiting in these lines can be a pleasant experience, or it can be stressful and unpleasant.
The security staff of Denver Comic Con and Argus Security went out of their way to make the experience unpleasant and stressful. They insisted that fans waiting in line stand. There could be no sitting, not on the floor, not even if the fan brought backpack chairs just for that purpose. The security staff walked the lines rousting people and forcing them to stand. Barrowman's panel was the last one of the day. My wife is recovering from tibular tendonitis and has difficulty standing for long periods. My son and daughter and I were all tired from walking the convention center all day. Making us stand like that resulted in a grumpy bunch of people who should have been having a good time.
Their excuse? If there was a fire, people sitting couldn't get up fast enough to avoid getting trampled. Um, first, the fire danger is the convention center is minmal, and 2, given the lack of communication equipment to address the crowd, and the effects of mistake number 2 below, they were making the danger of someone getting trampled worse.
But having everyone stand wasn't enough. Denver Comic Con's security and volunteer staff thought then needed to pack all of us into the lines like sardines in a can. And they managed this by hollering at the crowd from the sidelines like Marine Corp drill sergeants. I heard one person near me in the line comment that it felt like he was a prisoner being herded to his cell. I'm not claustrophobic, but being packed in with that many people made me nervous.
If there had been a fire (unlikely) or some other reason that might spark a panic, the security staff's lack of a PA system or any other way to address the crowd other than shouting eliminated any chance they had of stemming a panic if something were to get started. The tightly packed people, combined with the tensa barriers would have certainly resulted in people getting trampled.
Fortunately, John Barrowman's panel was beyond expectations.
But this isn't the worst of it!
Throughout the con, word had circulated that the auditorium the bigger panels were held in would not be cleared between the first three panels of the day. On Sunday morning, volunteers managing the lines directed fans into the lines before the first panel (Mark Shepherd), specifically telling them the line was for the second panel (David Tennant). The folks stood in line for an hour waiting to get into the auditorium. After the audience was seated, the woman warming up the audience informed us that, contrary to what we'd been told, if we wanted to see the David Tennant panel, we would have to leave the auditorium, get back in line and go through the whole process again. Two thirds of the audience - which I estimate at about 4,000 people, got up and left to get back in line.
Two thousand disgruntled people who has just learned they'd been lied to, and just been told that their experience wasn't important to whomever made the decision that resulted in unseating a seated audience, rushing for the exits so they could get back in to a mismanaged line. Two thousand people who have just been told that the hour they spent standing in a mismanaged line was wasted, and they'd have to repeat the process because of mismanagement of the entire process. Two thousand people who had gotten into relatively good seats for their panel, now rushing to get back into line, knowing that they'd probably not get seats as good as what they were just told they couldn't keep, rushing - running - for the exits.
Fortunately for Denver Comic Con, Argus Security, and the volunteers, comic con attendees tend to be a friendly and forgiving lot; in another context they'd have had a riot on their hands. Fortunately, no one tripped and fell getting out of the auditorium or Denver Comic Con would have had a major liability lawsuit to answer.
Unfortunately, the experience was so foul for me and my family that we will never attend Denver Comic Con again. And I suspect we're not alone in that decision.
So when a comic con gets the panels wrong, it can ruin the whole experience. Denver Comic Con not only got it wrong, they got it so wrong the people involved in the mistakes should publicly apologize, then resign from any future comic con productions. They got is so wrong they put people in physical danger, and could have easily sparked a riot of angry fans.
The celebrity panels are run one right after another, so while one panel is in progress, the fans wanting to see the next one queue up in lines outside of the auditorium to wait for their celebrity's turn. Line management is extremely important here. Attendees, often tired, often with small children, are asked to wait in line with hundreds of other fans. Waiting in these lines can be a pleasant experience, or it can be stressful and unpleasant.
The security staff of Denver Comic Con and Argus Security went out of their way to make the experience unpleasant and stressful. They insisted that fans waiting in line stand. There could be no sitting, not on the floor, not even if the fan brought backpack chairs just for that purpose. The security staff walked the lines rousting people and forcing them to stand. Barrowman's panel was the last one of the day. My wife is recovering from tibular tendonitis and has difficulty standing for long periods. My son and daughter and I were all tired from walking the convention center all day. Making us stand like that resulted in a grumpy bunch of people who should have been having a good time.
Their excuse? If there was a fire, people sitting couldn't get up fast enough to avoid getting trampled. Um, first, the fire danger is the convention center is minmal, and 2, given the lack of communication equipment to address the crowd, and the effects of mistake number 2 below, they were making the danger of someone getting trampled worse.
But having everyone stand wasn't enough. Denver Comic Con's security and volunteer staff thought then needed to pack all of us into the lines like sardines in a can. And they managed this by hollering at the crowd from the sidelines like Marine Corp drill sergeants. I heard one person near me in the line comment that it felt like he was a prisoner being herded to his cell. I'm not claustrophobic, but being packed in with that many people made me nervous.
If there had been a fire (unlikely) or some other reason that might spark a panic, the security staff's lack of a PA system or any other way to address the crowd other than shouting eliminated any chance they had of stemming a panic if something were to get started. The tightly packed people, combined with the tensa barriers would have certainly resulted in people getting trampled.
Fortunately, John Barrowman's panel was beyond expectations.
But this isn't the worst of it!
Throughout the con, word had circulated that the auditorium the bigger panels were held in would not be cleared between the first three panels of the day. On Sunday morning, volunteers managing the lines directed fans into the lines before the first panel (Mark Shepherd), specifically telling them the line was for the second panel (David Tennant). The folks stood in line for an hour waiting to get into the auditorium. After the audience was seated, the woman warming up the audience informed us that, contrary to what we'd been told, if we wanted to see the David Tennant panel, we would have to leave the auditorium, get back in line and go through the whole process again. Two thirds of the audience - which I estimate at about 4,000 people, got up and left to get back in line.
Two thousand disgruntled people who has just learned they'd been lied to, and just been told that their experience wasn't important to whomever made the decision that resulted in unseating a seated audience, rushing for the exits so they could get back in to a mismanaged line. Two thousand people who have just been told that the hour they spent standing in a mismanaged line was wasted, and they'd have to repeat the process because of mismanagement of the entire process. Two thousand people who had gotten into relatively good seats for their panel, now rushing to get back into line, knowing that they'd probably not get seats as good as what they were just told they couldn't keep, rushing - running - for the exits.
Fortunately for Denver Comic Con, Argus Security, and the volunteers, comic con attendees tend to be a friendly and forgiving lot; in another context they'd have had a riot on their hands. Fortunately, no one tripped and fell getting out of the auditorium or Denver Comic Con would have had a major liability lawsuit to answer.
Unfortunately, the experience was so foul for me and my family that we will never attend Denver Comic Con again. And I suspect we're not alone in that decision.
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