It's been awhile folks, but we finally have some brony convention drama for you. And not just any kind of drama: we're talking about two night in a row of theft from a supposedly secure vendor's room over at Fiesta Equestria. More details below the break.
Let's start with the basics, shall we? Vendors at Fiesta Equestria were promised a 1,000 attendee convention and instead received what is closer to 400 people (including ~60 vendors and staff), and even that estimate is on the high end according to various sources at the convention. Some speculate that it's as low as 200 at the moment. After Sunday I'm sure the real number will be somewhere in between.
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| "Of course the giant empty space in the middle of the vendor's room is a good idea, every other con is just stupid!" |
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To make matters worse, in a giant vendor's room that had a ton of space wasted some people actually got put right behind giant poles, often blocking the view of the table for people far away, and quite a few people were far away considering the size of the room.
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| A good way to tell a vendor to fuck off is to steal their shit. Another is crappy table placement. This guy got double trouble! |
A lot of vendors set up Thursday night, only for a few to find out they had goods stolen Friday morning. The stolen items were reported to convention staff, but none of the vendors actually saw or heard any progress on the matter. Then Saturday morning arrived and it seemed like every vendor and their mom got hit.
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| And when I say "got hit" I mean literally for this busted up cash box. |
One vendor in particular was pissed about this, and after seeing the convention vendor staff doing jack shit about the new thefts they decided to gather a list of items stolen and their retail value. Now, I can't show you guys the physical list since it has real names on it with someone wishing to remain anonymous, but I can list off what they found out:
- Cutie Coral- Gummy, Tirek, and Crazy Eye Twilight. $270 Retail
- Table F1- Trigun Cat Toy. $10 Retail
- Table A2- 2 RD and 3 Vinyl Jerseys. $114 Retail
- Table A2- Damaged Cash Box, As pictured above. Retail not disclosed.
- Linda ____ - Chrysalis Plushie. $75 Retail
- Firebrand Kun- 5 Different Mousepads. $75 Retail
- Firebrand Kun- Over a Dozen Buttons. $24+ Retail ($2 Each)
- Anonymous- Laptop stolen, details not known.
- Circle Art Designs- Applejack Purse. $40 Retail
- Purple Pumpkin- Splatoon Hat. $30 Retail.
Not including the laptop or cash box damage, (Luckily no money was stolen from it, but if it were that would have been a grand total of... $13 in coins. This thief is that much of an asshole.), the total value on that list alone comes out to $638.
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| You'd think with this many poles and lack of lighting here there'd be some late night entertainment, but no. |
Oh, and have I mentioned yet? That list is actually incomplete. Not even half way through talking with other vendors, convention security told him to stop what he was doing. Security considered real, actual theft at the convention to be defamation. While he did stop immediately, the head security staff member still dragged him to a corner and yelled at him for 20 minutes straight.
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| Defaming the convention? What convention? |
Another vendor tried to get him out of it, but the security staff told them that no one was to interfere while this was going down in front of the other vendors. Remember, this poor guy was just a vendor that trusted the convention to take care of his merchandise over night only to find things stolen. If anyone should have been yelled at, it should have been security. And people wonder why no vendors ever ratted out Drawponies publicly until Horse News reported on it... It's shit like this, folks.
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| I guess their souls are as empty as their average panel. |
On the bright side, staff actually got off their asses and started going around the vendor's room making their own list. Good con! On the not so bright side, vendor staff closed the entrance door closest to our vendor friend's table for no reason other than to fuck with him. That's a bad bad con, no treats for you tonight!
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| Although based on their turnout I doubt Fiesta Equestria can even afford such luxuries as dog treats. |
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Granted, a few minutes later a staff member from a different team opened it back up again, but don't think that's going to prevent us from reporting on vendor staff petty revenge! Around 4:30 vendor staff told a couple of vendors that there was going to be a staff meeting with the hotel to talk to hotel loss prevention, but sources report that none of the staff members budged right before or after that time. How do they know? Because vendor staff were all huddled together at a single place:
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| Yeah, give vendor staff their own table so that they can sit on their asses all day. That'll make 'em efficient! |
And before you think I'm undermining the staff's intelligence, how about I let you in on how the thief got in. Take a guess, c'mon, I want to hear it. Did they... hide under a vendor's table during closing? Nope! Did they... blow hotel staff to get a 10 minute shopping spree with a five finger discount? Unlikely. No, instead it looks like they got in through an open kitchen door that connects to the vendor's room. And this happened on both Thursday and Friday night, so I guess no one thought on Friday to check the doors. "Hmm, gee, should I double check all the doors before I go? We did have a theft last night... Naaaaaaah, I got an Apple Bloom dakimakura waiting for me in the hotel room!"
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| "Oh sorry, we left the keys where we keep our fucks given." |
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If you know anything about the possible culprit, are a vendor that was too afraid of staff to tell them what was stolen, or are just some bored fucker at the con that witnessed some weird shit going on, give us a holler. You can tweet us (@HorseNewsMLP or @ThePerlerPony) There's also a giant Contact Us button to the right... you know, if you didn't already see it. Hopefully vendors leave this con at least breaking even, but for many of them it looks doubtful.
Oh hell here we go again. IDK about you guys but honestly pony cons quality seems to get less and less. They are basically the SAME cons over and over year after year.
ReplyDeleteAlso the fact Grand Brony Gala is taking that fucking hack drawponies is disgusting. Are they flat out stupid cause when I inquired why hey are keeping him they said "he did nothing wrong and the fandom needs to love and tolerate him"............cheating needs to be loved?! Are conventions this stupid these days?
Honestly, I believe the MLP fandom doesn't even need it's own cons. People can sell merch and have panels at general nerd / cartoon / comic conventions. Apart from what fans create there simply isn't enough material to fuel an entire convention. How many times can you have the same voice actors answer the same questions?
DeleteThe fandom is dying!
DeleteI blame M.A. Larson!
Some cons are well done, like one's that have been around (such as Everfree NW, EQLA)
DeleteThe fandom is too dead to start any new cons, they're all sure to fail.
I agree.....how many times can the show staff ask the same thing........it's so boring. Guests don't make cons....EFNW is a good example of a solid con...not a lot of guests for a big con and does well cause of the experience with fan w/fans is good.
DeleteI am still shocked Grand Brony Gala is still guesting Tracemonies in 2 weeks and vending. what a joke. I hope HN reports on this cause he's gonna fuck over the vendors with his $100 double retailed blankets and fake China merch.
DeleteThe fandom is NOT dying, it is changing. If it was dying, conventions would be doing worse, not better. Every pony convention that happened this year (sans FE) had grown in size. New cons can start, but you have to have some key factors... location, timing, price, and a good staff who knows whats up. Guests help new cons start, but if the convention is run well, people will come back despite who shows up... myself included.
DeleteYou'd think fucking Houston (4th largest city in the US) could find enough decent people around to be able to put on a decent convention. (Well, it was decent two years ago, but now it's turned to shit.)
DeleteWait, back the fuck up, Everfree is a good con that doesn't focus on guests? What fucking con were YOU at this year? Everfree was 100% #horseFame, 100% of the time. They didn't just have a VIP dinner like most cons, oh no - two hundred f**king dollars to sit down with De Lancie, and another two hundred sh*ting dollars for Nicole. Wanna go to the f**kin maker panel with Mr Tokar? A HUNDRED AND FIFTY FUCKING DOLLARS! Every last bit of that con was LOOK, GUESTS, MONEY PLS.
DeleteDrawponies is at MLP Fair.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, I meant Traceponies.
DeleteI swear to god. I've had enough of small conventions. Hell, I don't even visit the ONLY DAMN ONE IN MY COUNTRY anymore.
ReplyDeleteYikes! I thought the con was bad from the disturbing lack of communication from con staff in the preparation stage to the disappointing turnout numbers (seriously, Midwest Brony Fest had about as many people despite being in a con space 1/4 of the size), but this just takes the cake.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's a shame, since the first Fiesta Equestria was an awesome con. Guess the con heads shouldn't have ousted one of the co-chairs, but that's chock full of drama of its own.
The co-chair that was ousted drove the con $30,000 in debt and then left it up to the rest of the staff to foot the bill. Getting a bunch of big-name guest stars is easy if you don't intend on paying them. Anyway, the second con was great and no one got hurt. I'm still waiting for some sort of full-disclosure on this one.
DeleteSomeone is robbing a con blind and it's not me?
ReplyDeleteThank fuck
DeleteI got my Trigun Cat in China (thats why it's so cheap) and its not even for sell. Had it for 8 years now it's gone. Also all my products are cheap stuff and I give them away free from time to time so I didn't count them, maybe the thef took a bunch or something
ReplyDeleteAlso they don't have a big screen for panel at least for the panel I went to, so we have to stare at tiny laptop screen. The room occupation is about 10%. Sad
DeleteBtw we don't even get a con book lol
DeleteWhat's with drawponies? What drama did I miss?
ReplyDeleteDP was caught tracing over images from the show. That's pretty much it.
Deleteand some vendors are selling his art. Likely he outsourced it for them to sell for him
Delete"Drawponies" technically isn't a guy, it's a brand. IIRC, Neil would send folks to conventions to run "his" booth under the Drawponies name.
DeleteAnd Grand Brony Gala is still guesting him in 2 weeks. what a joke
DeleteHey all, if you are at FE, please come by and support the artists on Sunday. Some got hit hard, some are having a slow con, and we would love to see you!
ReplyDeleteIt seems that the only thing the staff was policing properly was the FUCKING ENTER AND EXIT DOORS. I mean, seriously, I was getting really pissed over the fact that they were constantly trying to redirect the VENDORS to the correct enter and exit doors. Sorry, but some of us need to get back to our stand ASAP because we don't have a helper to watch our stuff while a thief is lurking about. Not for nothing, but I doubt the whole 30 attendees in the room at any one time were constantly crashing into each other at the exit. Useless.
ReplyDeleteWhen you read the update today I'll doubt you'll even think they did that well.
DeleteWho would steal all that junk other than a brony? I don't think it was one of the attendees. Whoever did it knew how to get into the vendors hall after the con closed for the night. He picked up tons of random crap from various tables and took his time to break open cash boxes. So he knew he wouldnt be disturbed. And he knew, that nothing was done about the first theft, so he repeated it the second night. Who has easy access to all that information? It was most likely a staff member.
ReplyDeleteEven the Fiesta Equestria website has a disturbing lack of content on it...
ReplyDeleteThings such as Musicians page being empty is concerning. (Not even getting started on other muso drama)
and no Con Book for attendees. Or anyone else
DeleteI just want to point out that every convention I have worked at has a table for the vendor coordinator. It is where you do check in and find information, these are usually considered good things. Everything else aside the statement about the table seems like a pointlessly scathing coment. I do feel bad for the vendors who were hit though.
ReplyDelete"And people wonder why no vendors ever ratted out Drawponies publicly until Horse News reported on it... It's shit like this, folks."
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean, Ren?
And if you can't show a scan or photo of the actual list of stolen items because real names on them, can't you just BLOCK OUT THE NAMES IN PAINT?
Vendors are afraid of either nothing happening or of getting blacklisted. In this case both may have happened with the vendors that stepped forward at Fiesta Equestria, (although I doubt most of them will want to come by next year... if there is a next year). And when you get blacklisted, you never know how far it can spread. Sometimes it's one con and sometimes it's all the cons that the con head is friends with. Most of these vendors are college students and part timers that need a little extra money, so for many of them that's a risk they can't take.
DeleteI could block out the names in paint, but I'm not sure what good showing a photo of handwriting would do. Text is more legible and if the person writing the list had wanted to remain anonymous, their handwriting style would have been there for all to see. At the time of writing the original article it was unclear whether this vendor wanted to be anonymous or not.
Vendor here and can confirm all of the above and more.
DeleteMore often than not whatever concerns a vendor has with another vendor is dwindled down to "oh they're just being petty" or "they're mad jealous." Plus, most of us are small time compared to the empire that was Traceponies. Even if we DID come out and say something, the backlash from their massive fanbase and the fandom as a whole would not have been worth it - such as the backlash the FE vendor got for trying to report a fucking theft.
We all knew he was tracing but it was in our best interest to avoid that heaping pile of drama and wait for them to fuck up so great that it just couldn't be ignored (which they did and it was great.)
I can guarantee that my convention will not blacklist or pass over any vendor simply because they reported a crime. This isn't just fandom drama, it's felony theft. Vendors are an essential piece of the fandom- without them there'd be so much less content and so much less to bring people together at conventions. They put a lot on the line every time they go to a con, and it's the staff's duty to take reasonable measures to protect the assets the vendors are trusting them to safeguard.
DeleteWho am I? I'm the head of security at Nightmare Nights Dallas. The safety and security of our guests, vendors, and attendees comes first, and helping everyone have fun comes a close second. For anyone attending or vending, if you have any problems, be it harassment, lost items, theft, or any kind of assistance needed, I am the one you can ask any of our volunteers or staffers for.
Featherprop. Your post is extremely awesome and very welcomed in my book as a affected vendor to hear. Also actual vender not bs vendor from the con. Just got home from driving and saw this. You put a smile back on my face to know that were not going to get kick by other con's because of this one. Thank you for your support when I got so little while I was there.
DeleteI'm glad I could help lift your mood. :) We were all disenheartened to hear what happened to so many of the vendors at FE, and I'm doubly sorry to hear that you were one of the ones targeted. If anything good can come out of this, it's that the staff of a lot of cons are taking note and will evaluate their own procedures and venues to try and cover any gaps in their setups. Even in something as lighthearted as a pony convention, new stuff will jump out at you every year. When most things run smoothly, it's easy to forget this.
DeleteI hope it doesn't sour you on conventions in general!
First, the photo of the "staff table" isn't the staff table, it's the autographs row at the front of the dealer's room.
ReplyDeleteSecond, despite the thefts (which I suspect are hotel staff), most of the vendors I've spoken with, myself included, are doing VERY well and looking forward to returning next year. We've done shows MUCH, MUCH worse than this one, and we'd hate to lose a local pony show because of some intemperate press. Most of the attendees we get (and counting one-day people as separate, I'd guesstimate 700-800 or so total attendance for all three days, counting by memberships sold.
If only money and the laptop would be missing, sure hotel staff. Since brony merch disappeared too, i dont think so. I suspect con staff. One of them got himself some extra payment for his service.
DeleteNice try, con staffer. There wasn't more than 400 there all weekend.
DeleteFiesta Equestria is frankly one of the better cons I've been to. I sold a good quarter of my merchandise yesterday alone, and I've heard nothing of any thefts. I'd like to know exactly how you get off bashing a small con. Did they not pay you enough to suck their dick?
ReplyDeleteWowie gee wiz, hi there Mr or Mrs Totally-A-Real-Vendor! I'm so glad you put your table name here for all to see, and I'm extra glad that you think selling a mere 25% of your inventory on Saturday, aka what is usually the best sales day at most brony cons, is an impressive feat! I'm extra impressed that on Saturday you were never asked by con staff or that vendor walking around if any of your stuff was stolen, and that today you failed to notice the beds in the vendor's room where a couple vendors stayed overnight because they trusted the convention with their inventory so little. But hey, I guess you wouldn't know about the beds unless you were either actually there or had sources at the area giving you updates.
DeleteNice talking to you, Definitely-Not-Con-Staff, but no matter the con I try to report on major vendor theft like this. If this had happened at a place like Bronycon we'd report on it just the same, if not harder, but oh yeah, Bronycon's hired security is actually competent around the clock and doesn't take stupid selfies while they're on the clock. I'm sure you'll love the follow up article I've got planned for later tonight. It'll be oodles of fun! :)
The people sleeping in the vendor room Saturday night was the Con staff, which the hotel didn't even want to allow at first.
DeleteI've gotten confirmation that at least two of the people sleeping in there were perler artists taking sleeping shifts in between crafting. While there were some staff in there, there were also vendors as well. There was even talk of ordering pizza and making it a sleep over amongst the vendors, but from the sound of it that didn't go through.
DeleteThe vendors I talked too, not to mention myself that was censoring, WILL be going back next year.
ReplyDeleteI even spoke to one of the vendors that had their things stolen and they blame the hotel, not the con staff.
The hotel didn't do what they needed to do and was refusing to hep the staff. (At first)
And I hope to see everyone else there next year!!
My autocorrect changed vendoring to censoring. >.>
DeleteJust an fyi to those wanting to put full blAmerican on the hotel, it's a con's responsibility to ensure the hotel is locking all the doors to double check they actually are.
DeleteThis is far from the first pony con to have things like this happen. Evetfree, Bronycon, and Babson are all guilty of things going missing, however, the cons and hotels are not legally liable and cannot be held accountable.
Shill harder.
DeleteAlso the theif used the hotel employee elevator that's in the back. Not just some door they could lock.
ReplyDeleteSo the people who stole my stuff wanted it more than I wanted to sell it right?........right?
ReplyDeleteLike
DeleteHere's hoping they at least like pony stuff and aren't just planning to ebay it. Or maybe even urinate on it... I mean, this could be anybody.
DeleteWell if they urinate on it there just claiming it as there's. I mean come on, obviously they aren't intelligent in the first place to think its "OK" to steal others things. But that may be our fault for not marking them as ours to sell in the first place.
DeleteI enjoyed the convention. It sounds like the hotel failed to lock down the room like they were supposed to, but the staff should have checked every door being locked themselves. Sucks. As someone who went to Fiesta Equestria, I think there was a bit of wasted space do to poor planning, but like I said, I enjoyed the convention over all.
ReplyDeleteAll those pictures of empty hallways are very funny but not very accurate of what it was like to be at the con. The hallway wasn't full of people like last year but the Main Events were very well attended and the smaller panels were as well if they weren't competing with a more "horse famous" person. I was on the stage in a panel room with one of my friends who was the host of a smaller panel and his panel was attended by several people and was a success even though it was directly competing with Rainbow Dash Presents.
ReplyDeleteThere were 4 great voice actors, and community guests were there like Saber Spark, AC Racebest, Ilovekimpossiblealot, Braeburned, The Wonderbolts, etc. I had a great time at the rave as well even though people kept doing that silly Shia Le Bouf thing. lol
I had a great time even though the tone was a bit lower key than last year. I'm looking forward to next year very much as well.
Don't believe everything you read on the internet guys...
What does any of that have to do with easily preventable failures that cost a lot of people a shit ton of money?
DeleteYes it's clear that ACRacebest and Saberspark had fun.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKMugfNI0IY
I just wanted to point out that as an attendee it was still a good con even if the vendors didn't have the best con.
DeleteAbout as accurate as the "National Enquirer" is about celebrities... Horse News must be hurting for readers.
ReplyDeleteTell that to all the people who were actually there and got royally fucked by this.
DeleteThe amount of FE shills in the comments is staggering. It's like nobody learned from any of the countless mistakes that other convention staff made.
ReplyDeleteYes, there's some bias and sensationalism in the article, because it wouldn't be Horse News if there wasn't. But pictures tell a story, and the overall backlash against FE on social media shows they fucked up good. Anonymous comments lambasting Ren Haru and blindly defending the con and its staff, excusing or refusing to admit mistakes, shows that this con was run by people who had no business running one.
Think about it, before you hit that Reply button below and tell me to suck my own dick: You're defending theft from people who already spent hundreds, if not thousands, of their own dollars to be there, and it's all but certain this was an inside job. How else would someone have all the time to pick at cash boxes and loot in large quantities if they didn't know how to get in the back door and not have anyone stop them, hotel or con staff otherwise?
I love how ^ posts a complaint about "Anonymous" comments lambasting Ren Haru, and he posts it under "Anonymous. You are even coming up with your own "Who done it" for the whole thing. Which pictures? A picture of a panel room before the panel starts (I was at that panel). Complaining about a "vendor staff" table, which was actually the "VA autograph" and "Charity Auction Donation" table.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I know nothing about the vendor hall thefts, but nobody was behind a pole. The room was too big for the hall though. Oh and the beds, that is where the con staff slept.
Finally, if your reporter had stayed for the last panel, closing FE, They went over their mistakes, they asked all people attending to help find the mistakes so they can correct them next time. Con staff was very active in trying to make sure things run smoothly and to find ways to improve for next year.
FE was wonderful this year, maybe it was not as big as hoped, and whatever happened in the vendor hall, I am sorry and hope that things can be made up to them... But exaggerating the issues that there were does nothing but hurt the con and the fandom which loves it. Instead of bashing something with much hyperbole, why not try and be helpful, point out faults and ways to improve rather than trying to tear something down.
(BTW, I understand the frustration people have, And though I highly disagree with you and the author of this article, I would never wish you to suck your own dick... Try to be constructive though.)
If you believe that no one was behind poles, you're sadly mistaken. I watched as several people didn't even notice my stand as they rounded the corner avoiding the pole in front of them. There were even times when I just simply said hi to some attendees for attention as they turned the corner and they nearly jumped because they didn't know I was there.
DeleteThe vendor staff table was the vendor staff table it was at the end of the autograph row. It was were their staff was for the entire convention. Its where vendors signed in on Thursday and Friday morning as well. They also accepted the charity donations there on Saturday and Sunday.
DeleteThe beds were only there sat nught after two rounds of thefts. Con staff and a few vendors stayed the night after all that had happened.
How exactly had the issues been exaggerated? Showing the people behind the poles, a incomplete list of thefts, and stating that it happened not just Thursday night but also Friday night. These are big issues and they need to be talked about. The convention tried to brush it under the rug and change the blame when they were responsible for that space.
" last panel, closing FE" "they asked all people attending"
DeleteYou mean they asked all of 50 people?
https://twitter.com/thomzahler/status/615293153252261888
Hello, Can we please post the vendors twitter/deviantart/webpage. FE was great, but I hate for these wonderful vendors to have the trouble that there was, and would like to support them. Many Houston bronies would like to do this... They deserve better, and I think the best way Houston can help is to become customers outside of the convention.
ReplyDeleteCan't say I know all of the vendors, but Table F1 was Philip Double
DeleteTwitter: @philipwu17
deviantart: http://peichenphilip.deviantart.com/
Website: http://www.philipwuart.com/
Tumblr 1: http://rabbitcakefactory.tumblr.com/
Tumblr 2: http://seaswirltheattentionhorse.tumblr.com/
Who even was the con chair and senior con staff?
ReplyDeleteThe con chair was the same as last year: Headliner at the Hooves Line at BronyCon. Strange because last year's Fiesta was pretty well run. Not sure if something happened. D:
DeleteCommunication was a severe problem with this con to begin with (look at their homepage... and no con books? Really? A lot of people rely on those for information) and this did not improve during the con. Those of you who want to blame the hotel instead of Fiesta Equestria, you have to realize that there is a huge possibility that the staff of Fiesta Equestria did not communicate properly with the hotel and thus, had to assume to some extent when to lock and unlock the doors which creates several opportunities for thieves to enter.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I can imagine that Marriott would just love to throw away their reputation as a hotel chain just to fuck with a small convention. *rolleyes*
DeleteAnd which stand was it that was behind the pole? What did you sell?
ReplyDeleteThere were a few tables behind poles. Some got moved on Saturday from behind the poles, but not everyone was that lucky. Also with how much open space there was its ridiculous that anyone was behind a pole.
ReplyDeleteI agree communication was a problem, and though there were problems with communications on the hotel and the convention's part, and either way, those issues are our conventions problems to own. Our convention owns the errors, and is something to be corrected next year (Hopefully). Problems happen, Smaller conventions do not have the experts that larger ones do. Gotta fix the issue and get back on the horse that Houston fell off of. Vendor hall had issues, but it was a great convention, Tons of fun. I am sorry to the vendors who had problems, and hope we can support them in the future. We do love all of you, and hopefully will come back with guns blazing...
ReplyDelete(Hell, at least don't make it out like Vegas, Was not that bad...)
It was still pretty fucking atrocious though, especially considering this is Fiesta Equestria's third year as a convention.
DeleteHey Everypony,
ReplyDeleteThis is Snuggle T's of stand A2. I've only been vending for four conventions now and attending conventions for over 10 years. As a vendor and a seasoned attendee of conventions, this is what I can say regarding many of the comments and the story as a whole.
To start, I agree with many that communication was, by far, the biggest issue I had with this convention. Two weeks prior to the start of Fiesta Equestria, I panicked because I had never received an e-mail from them regarding what we need to know as vendors nor received a confirmation e-mail that payment for the table was received. I e-mailed them right away and they did reply in a timely fashion stating that everything was all set. However, on Thursday, we still had no information as to what time we can set up, anything we may need to know, or overall vendor hours. I confirmed with other vendors in case this was just an e-mail issue (mistype or something) but I received the same response from all... no e-mails.
FRIDAY.
I was one of the first vendors to be hit. I noticed that my lock box handle was gone and when I looked further, severely damaged as if someone had time to try to open it. I immediately reported this to the vendor hall head and that's when I learned I wasn't the only one.
AT THIS POINT - I discounted this as just a simple mess up. Though I found a little later that some of my jerseys were stolen, I never said that this was a terrible convention. I understand things go wrong and mistakes happen. Had this been the only incidence, I wouldn't have thought twice about it.
The rest of the day was a typical Friday... somewhat low sales and low attendance. No big deal.
SATURDAY.
When I arrived, I learned that the vendor's hall was broken into AGAIN. This is the point where I can no longer count this as a mistake. The staff was well aware of the fact that something was going on and this should not have happened again. Staff members patrolling the vendors hall would've easily prevented this.
As the day went on, it was becoming painfully obvious that there was another problem with the convention... and a big one at that. Saturday in the past has been a very busy day for me. Unfortunately, it looked exactly like Friday with only about 20-30 attendees in the room at any one time, and most of them the same faces just lapping the hall. Furthermore, we were in a room that was detached from the hotel with a flow of entrance to the hall the furthest door from the con hotel and exit the closest. At some point in the afternoon, staff decided it was too slow to man both doors and decided to close the exit meaning that the only open door to the vendor's hall was a door furthest to the hotel. I wonder how many attendees thought the hall was closed.
To add to this, I looked through the hotel and there was not a single sign showing where the vendor's hall was. This is yet another big oversight from the convention and one they should've been familiar with as this is their third year. Also, the halls were strangely empty given that this convention had an attendance of 900 last year (according to ponycons.com). With the convention activities confined to one floor plus one building of two large rooms, it should've been way more crowded.
AT THIS POINT - I've determined that I will be unable to attend this convention again. I flew in from Boston to vend here and, though I wasn't expecting huge profits (in fact, I was expecting a $200 loss... I attended anyway for practice, feedback, and to meet new people), I didn't expect to lose more than $700 overall. The three conventions I've attended prior, I've always broke even or made a little money and I had bigger expenses for those.
TO BE CONTINUED DUE TO CHARACTER COUNT LIMIT
SUNDAY.
DeleteNot much to say, the damage was done. No break-in, but too little too late.
MISCELLANEOUS POINTS
- The vendor's hall was indeed too big and improperly lit. The vendor's in the back could've been moved to the front and the poles would not have been a problem. Better yet, put the main events hall in there and bring the vendors to the actual hotel.
- The one panel I did attend had only 10 attendees and was completely a bust due to a raging panelist, and a good 20 minute raging at that. I don't attend a lot of panels but isn't there some kind of staff patrolling to make sure this doesn't happen?
- The musicians we also given no e-mails or information prior to the con
- There were far too many vendors and far too many like items being sold (5 shirt vendors for instance). Placement of such vendors was poor as well (plushies next to plushies, perlers next to perlers, etc.)
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
I don't entirely blame the staff of Fiesta Equestria 100% as I understand there were also communication problems with the hotel but the second break-in, poor internet communication, and lack of information for all the attendees, vendors, and musicians tells me that a large portion of the blame should be allotted to the staff.
I am very sorry to the attendees, the vendors, the musicians, the staff, and the hotel for the events that took place this weekend. I really hope that we all can learn from this and if Fiesta Equestria 2016 happens, it doesn't mimic the mistakes from this year.
In the end, even though I did take a big hit and had a very frustrating weekend, I will walk away from this knowing that I made some really good friends and received a TON from the experience at that, to me, is worth every penny of my loss.
Thank you all who took the time to read this,
Have fun,
Snuggle Trumpet
Good lord. D:
DeleteThanks for sharing your story so candidly. Sucks that you had a terrible experience at this con.
DeleteFirst we want to say that as people who know, at least casually, many of those on staff at Fiesta Equestria, we are incredibly sorry to hear about your losses and all the thefts. The vendor room was a different room this year than at previous FE's and so everything there was much more like a first-year trial than before.
DeleteHere is our perspective, as musician performers, emergency AV team, and congoers:
As one of the musical acts, I can say that despite communication problems (not being announced on the website, for example), my Fiesta Equestria 2015 experience as a performer was entirely positive. The other performers have said the same to me as well as on social media. The essential problem was for those who did not get picked to perform this year, no "We're sorry, but you weren't chosen to perform this year" messages were sent out. That was an oversight that we hope will be corrected next year. We want to stress that we performed for free and without any sort of compensation. We even stayed at our bassist's house this year as we're saving up for a long travel to our next convention.
As the guys wrangled into doing AV for the mane hall when the original AV lead quit, we have to say that was not ideal, but we were the ones who knew how to do it, and Fiesta was all of our first pony con, and we love the convention and the staff. We were willing to do that. Sure, we bitched in private, but we don't regret a single minute we spent setting up that room, running the board, troubleshooting audio problems, or tearing down all that same equipment we set hours setting up.
Unfortunately, Fiesta was extremely short on volunteers this year, which meant not enough people to monitor the panel rooms to make sure that no drunk angry people were ranting for 20 minutes, only to check on them to make sure they started on time. It also meant there weren't enough people to watch the dealer's room. One of our guitarists volunteered with security as much as he could, but unfortunately things slipped through the cracks.
As congoers, we all really enjoyed the convention. Our drummer spent his free time in the game room, our lead singer checked out (and enjoyed) panels, despite some small crowds, and the rest of us just hung out and spent time with the friends we only get to see at conventions.
One accusation made in the article was that a door was closed "just to fuck with" one of the dealers. On this, we can speak with knowledge. One of us was there when that decision was made and was party to the discussion by con staff before it was made - it was done because the volunteer who was supposed to be watching the door decided not to show up to his door-watching shift and so they had to make the entrance door into both entrance and exit. It was an unfortunate side effect that it hurt the aforementioned dealer's business.
We can also confirm that these problems are known to con staff and they do intend and already are making preliminary plans to do better next year. :)
DeleteI've been referring to the Flutterwhat thing as the panel that went to hell. I was actually kind of frightened when I left that room at the end. I had tried to calm him down by telling him thank you for making brony music but he only seemed to ramp up more.
DeleteHe seemed to be doing better the next day when I talked to him at the entrance to the hotel but he was still kind of passive aggressive with people later on Sunday morning. I am not sure what his issues were other than being super drunk that night and being disappointed about not being able to perform... but yeah if there had been more volunteers it would have been good if someone had stepped in to stop him from insulting the other people on the panel and the con staff for 20 minutes. I hope he's doing better and will learn from this though. As big as this fandom is we don't have a huge number of content creators so it would be nice if he could sort of redeem his image. That would go well with the themes of the show too.
I'm sad Snuggle Tees won't be back. I bought one of your Twilight Sparkle shirts. I understand why you're not returning but it would also be great if all the kinks get worked out next year and the vendors and attendees are both made happy. Then maybe you would be able to come back to FE once you heard their good reports.
@ The Wonderbolts! - I will agree with you that the article does inflate a couple things. However, it seemed like there were a couple elementary mistakes that this con should've known to avoid. Unfortunately, with me being in the vendor's hall for the most part and too tired/frustrated to see any part of the con (aside from my one walk though on Saturday and the one Friday panel), I didn't even know if the guests or congoers where enjoying themselves. The lack of volunteers does make more sense that there would some trouble but a part of me is wondering how that was an issue since they would've at least matched last year's volunteer number and, with the con being smaller this year, it shouldn't have been that problematic. The only thing I can think of is that they didn't have as many volunteers as last year in the first place.
Delete@ Wendy D - Yeah, Flutterwhat said he's never coming back anyway and he'll probably just stop with the Brony scene altogether. Oh well, one bad con experience shouldn't make you want to leave the entire fandom... whatevs.
In regards to vending, the thefts is only half of the reason I cannot return... I other half is the lack of attendance. I have to make sure that, if I have to fly to a destination, there are enough attendees to make up for the air fare and shipping expenses. If Fiesta Equestria does show a very positive year in 2016 and bounces back, I'd consider vending there in 2017.
What people fail to realize is that the con staff did lock doors but the hotel doors unlock from the other side which the staff didn't know.
ReplyDelete(Last I heard)
So what your tell me is that a con goer knows more than the staff itself knew? Also for some reason you also think that that's an acceptable thing. The fact is people were still able to get in regardless of how a door opened, and knowing that it could be opens from the inside ( which EVERY convention hall door will do because of fire regulations) they should have had extra security especially since theft happens TWO nights in a row! Come on sleepers are a thing con's do to make extra sure nothing happens to there venders so there is no excuse. They did it on the last day which as you can tell was way to late
DeleteFunny how this "news source" never reached out to the con at all to find out their side of the story but fuck trying to do actual reporting right
ReplyDeleteLess drama that way
DeleteOh hi con staff! You know another funny thing? How Fiesta Equestria got theft reports from vendors starting Friday morning and didn't even start recording the thefts until another vendor started writing up their own list on Saturday. Another funny thing is how the con heads only visited vendor tables and apologized for the thefts, (without any promise of compensation of course), after this article started trending online among bronies and other brony cons.
DeleteIt's true we didn't reach out to an incompetent con that's only sorry because they got noticed. But you know what? They never sent us direct emails or tweets either. We can't silence what doesn't speak. They just occasionally commented on this and the newer article with a couple other anons shutting them down, and I guess that along with some of their own Facebook posts (which are very easy to moderate however they so please) was good enough for them.
i was a volunteer at the con this last year (and every year its been running) and while I'll be the first to admit it wasn't handled great, it wasn't entirely the con staffs fault, the hotel staff was fucking with us RIGHT from the start, i got the distinct feeling that the night manager didn't like the con or want us there because she did EVERYTHING she could to screw everything going on at night, they honestly tried to pretend that the contract they received had the TWENTY FOUR HOUR game room, closed from 10pm to noon.(turns out the idiot was using LAST years schedule for this years contract) locked the room up tight with a padlock and everything, but did they bother to close the fucking doors leading to the game room and vendor hall? nah, why would they. it has a sign saying employees only, so clearly NOBODY would IGNORE those
ReplyDeleteas i said, con staff could have handled it better, but hotel staff was the serious problem during the entire con.
the way the con was arranged was a little bit of a clusterfuck too, here's something i bet you didnt know, there was an entire unused panel room. NOTHING in it.
also to you guys talking about flutterwhat, having dealt with him for both of the last two years. he's kind of an asshat :/ really pushy and just mean in general, he spent an entire night trying to flirt with one of my friends who REALLY didnt like his advances, but he was too drunk to notice/care. and did nothing but bitch about EVERYTHING (both years)