I wonder how many kids will be super mad when they arrive, having not looked at the web site once, and find there's no rave this year.
I also wonder how this will affect panel attendance in the evening (in a positive way).
I wonder how it will affect kids making trouble just in general around the hotel area and in their rooms where nobody is watching instead of in a somewhat controlled dance space. Not that it hasn't been a problem at AB's past.
I'm not going to lie. Based on the responses I've gotten from the MCCA, and some review of the maps of the convention center, I predict disaster...
I really hope I'm wrong, and that this bag checking thing isn't going to be a big deal, but I honestly expect that ingress/egress is going to be a disaster this year. The MCCA doesn't give me any reason to trust that they know how to handle a crowd like this in a manner like this.
Specifically, I predict the area in the mall next to the con itself to be a giant, constant mob. People will try to leave for lunch and be unable to return in any reasonable span of time. That specific entrance is the most dangerous and most problematic.
I'll bet the MMCA ends up shutting that entrance or instituting some ridiculous managed line in the mall, and possibly that the mall stores themselves and/or the regular police will take issue with said line.
I suspect that there will be more damage and trouble in the hotels than usual this year, as kids already mad about there being no rave and now unable to easily re-enter the con take out their frustrations or have stupid room parties.
I suspect that the "no bag" line will fail, due to a combination of people with small bags getting into it anyway and the other line crowding it out of the area entirely.
I suspect that a good 1/3 of the attendees will have no idea that there will be a bag check until they arrive and are confronted with it. (I'll bet a similar 1/3 won't realize that there is no rave this year).
I predict extra crowds in the main convention center as people who normally would spend time in the mall are unwilling to leave.
I predict the fire marshal being none too pleased with the lines that form.
I really, really hope I'm wrong. Most of my predictions will be wrong if the checks are managed well. But, I honestly have no faith that they will be. We'll see what happens, but my pessimism level is approaching criticality.
The most obnoxious part (at least among FRCF types) is going to be for us panelists; it's often difficult to carry your panel equipment around the entire con, so I tend to leave it all in the hotel room until just before the panel. Unless I can reliably have a place to stash a laptop and printouts, I'm either lugging a laptop around the con, or killing almost an entire hour before my panels, and probably a similar amount of time after.
I predict I'll be staying in the game room 90% of the convention center, in the game room, anyway. It's just annoying.
I, too am predicting disaster, but I don't think it's going to be a recurring thing. It's a knee-jerk reaction to a relatively minor event. No one actually wants it, and I suspect very few people think it will do anything. Personally, I plan to pack a lunch. Cuts down on time I have to spend outside of the con center, ergo cuts down on time I have to spend re-entering the con center and going through bag check.
Measures like this rarely go away once they have a foothold.
If you institute a measure like this, and then rescind it, and there is later an attack, you appear weak, and the incident is framed as being your fault. No one will ever take the bullet and scale back security theater that's already been put in place.
That's just it, I don't think it's going to get a foothold. I think the lines are going to be so disastrous -- not just at Anime Boston, but for all Hynes cons -- that they'll give up on it in a mater of months.
My daughter will be cosplaying as Ness. She has the shirt and yoyo already. I was working on a hat but fan gamer.net has them back in stock so it should be in by Friday.
We also could not find a pair of red Converse so we got a white pair and dyed them red. She asked about bringing a bat but that would probably be a bad idea.
My daughter will be cosplaying as Ness. She has the shirt and yoyo already. I was working on a hat but fan gamer.net has them back in stock so it should be in by Friday.
We also could not find a pair of red Converse so we got a white pair and dyed them red. She asked about bringing a bat but that would probably be a bad idea.
In all likelyhood they'll allow it, you'll just have to check in with security. That said, you should try to get a wood-like wiffle bat if you can. Not because of security, but because wood bats are heavy.
I'm sure they're being totally honest about that. I'm sure they even printed it out and dropped it behind a convenient filing cabinet just to make sure it was really well lost.
Yea number one rule for me, convention doesn't get my games unless they have a check out system. I won't even give them to my convention because we haven't started to do that yet.
I am getting concerned, tabletop person has not replied to my inquiry about if they have a check in/out system to leave my games on the floor.
They definitely do not. Anime Boston tabletop is really meager.
Ug...If I can make MAGFest library decent I can always spruce up things with a meager library. Maybe this time people will play Lupin the Third and not only read the Italian instructions
So name the place and the bins of games shall be there.
Games are in the hotel, right? So no bag check! I almost wasn't going to bring any out of concern over lines but now yay. My collection is on BoardGameGeek under the user name cvonh. If anyone wants to play anything listed in there please let me know and I will bring it.
Comments
I also wonder how this will affect panel attendance in the evening (in a positive way).
GUY'S THIS ISN'T FUNNY! LET ME IN!
I really hope I'm wrong, and that this bag checking thing isn't going to be a big deal, but I honestly expect that ingress/egress is going to be a disaster this year. The MCCA doesn't give me any reason to trust that they know how to handle a crowd like this in a manner like this.
I'll bet the MMCA ends up shutting that entrance or instituting some ridiculous managed line in the mall, and possibly that the mall stores themselves and/or the regular police will take issue with said line.
I suspect that there will be more damage and trouble in the hotels than usual this year, as kids already mad about there being no rave and now unable to easily re-enter the con take out their frustrations or have stupid room parties.
I suspect that the "no bag" line will fail, due to a combination of people with small bags getting into it anyway and the other line crowding it out of the area entirely.
I suspect that a good 1/3 of the attendees will have no idea that there will be a bag check until they arrive and are confronted with it. (I'll bet a similar 1/3 won't realize that there is no rave this year).
I predict extra crowds in the main convention center as people who normally would spend time in the mall are unwilling to leave.
I predict the fire marshal being none too pleased with the lines that form.
I really, really hope I'm wrong. Most of my predictions will be wrong if the checks are managed well. But, I honestly have no faith that they will be. We'll see what happens, but my pessimism level is approaching criticality.
I predict I'll be staying in the game room 90% of the convention center, in the game room, anyway. It's just annoying.
If you institute a measure like this, and then rescind it, and there is later an attack, you appear weak, and the incident is framed as being your fault. No one will ever take the bullet and scale back security theater that's already been put in place.
My measure for disaster is Line Con. Who thinks this will be worse?
I also predict many horrible mini parties due to no rave happening. Sigh.
We also could not find a pair of red Converse so we got a white pair and dyed them red. She asked about bringing a bat but that would probably be a bad idea.
Might be able to go to redo other one, depends on time.
Now, they said they'd "lost" my last email.
So name the place and the bins of games shall be there.
The most corporate, CYA responses possible. For example:
6. How many staff will you have on‐hand inspecting bags?
We cannot answer this for security reasons.
They also said the BCEC now has bag checks too, and that there are no plans to not have them in the future. They were super vague on that point.