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[interstellarowl]

All of their information is posted publicly anyway, so people would be able to find it. Just because this information is posted doesn't mean that people who were bent on being malicious wouldn't find it the same way anyway.

It is completely possible to deal with this rationally via e-mail, with well thought out words and not rushing to be harsh and explain in a clear understanding why what their kids did was wrong, and that even go to say that some of our own attendees were awful. I don't think it's fit to go off on a tangent and call people a disgrace because they want to go directly to the source of the problem instead of trying to have the Gaylord handle it, because they did a horrible job during the weekend.

[Mykaios]

Originally Posted by interstellarowl

because they want to go directly to the source of the problem instead of trying to have the Gaylord handle it, because they did a horrible job during the weekend.

Which is another reason WHY the Gaylord/Marriott should be contacted. They are a respected establishment and their actions and how they handled both conventions reflect poorly on them.

[interstellarowl]

Why? They've proved they can't obviously do anything? What could they possibly do? Our grievance is with the behavior shown by the BBYO and their staff, not by the hotel.

[Technowraith]

The best way to handle any beefs with the BBYO convention is to either handle it through Katsucon's grievance process or to handle it on-site if you experienced something on-site. I had an incident of being physically pushed out of the way by a BBYO staffer during one of the "hallway is closed" incidents. I reported the staffer to both Katsucon and the Gaylord, using Katsucon's incident reporting process. From there, I let Katsucon handle things. Since the incident happened under a security camera, i had the camera to back up my claim.

Personally, I have no intention of contacting BBYO directly as that will get you no where most likely. They are already dealing with the repercussions of the incident with assualting and exposing the one girl. That in and of itself is a serious incident (a crime at that).

This thread will probably only serve to fan the flames.

[Mykaios]

Originally Posted by interstellarowl

Why? They've proved they can't obviously do anything? What could they possibly do? Our grievance is with the behavior shown by the BBYO and their staff, not by the hotel.

Meanwhile BBYO proved that they could care less about us and how their staff and attendees treated us (and some Katsucon attendees didn't behave any better). The Gaylord/Marriott needs to know every way possible - respectfully and calmly. Getting through to the higher ups will get the word out, because getting through the normal venue staff won't. It will raise that red flag for them to ask "Wtf went on during that weekend?" and reconsider their current staff and how they handled things.

[AlanaOwlet]

As nice as an apology from BBYO might be, we already know we won't have to deal with them next year. It seems more productive to contact the Gaylord directly and make sure they know all the details of what went down this weekend to help them avoid the same problems if they decide to double book next year. Let Katsucon know what happened as well so they have plenty of information to help them as they continue to work with the hotel management to plan for next year's con and make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen again. Above all lets be adults about this, even though it might be hard. There's plenty of blame to go around on both sides, so we might as well do what we can to handle it maturely and try and improve things next year.

[Midli]

CosZelkovo, Their information is publicly available (as I believe is required by law for religious and corporate organizations). Not taking an organization to task for the actions of it's members is more shameful that posting contact information. One of the female cosplayers was sexually harassed and has come out publicly to state so: http://www.cosplay.com/showpost.php?...5&postcount=12

I think you are under the assumption the person "4channed" or cyber-sleuthed the information, this couldn't be further from the truth.

[nachtinis]

Originally Posted by interstellarowl

Why? They've proved they can't obviously do anything? What could they possibly do? Our grievance is with the behavior shown by the BBYO and their staff, not by the hotel.

MD state law holds a statute of limitation for up to 1 year of harassment and assault (n this situation, not just these two crimes, but to be concise).

Which means that anyone who felt harassed or assaulted is legally protected to file a complaint of such to the local law enforcement, even after the fact up to 1 year from the incident, as part of the investigation LEO will either subpeona or directly view security footage and interview anyone who was supposed to be on "security" or staff positions in the area of the incident at the time of the incident.

Given the number of folks in and around the hotel at given times and the available surveillance that is present, finding someone who sees any incident might be a "difficult" thing, but not at all impossible. GRANTED that the sooner the complaint is filed, the better things usually go, because memories are fresh and security logs are more easliy found, etc...

I fully encourage anyone who feels that they were otherwise harassed or assaulted by anyone to contact the MD Local Law and file a complaint, Katsucon, BBYO, and the Gaylord hotel can only do so much.

[Debitto_of_Bond]

@OP: Why did you feel it necessary to post all of that information when, one, it's only going to encourage the trolls and two it could have probably been obtained from visiting the site of BBYO and The Gaylord? You do know you're onlly dumping Gasoline on a fire by doing this right?

[TETSUYA_CASSHER]

Originally Posted by Debitto_of_Bond

@OP: Why did you feel it necessary to post all of that information when, one, it's only going to encourage the trolls and two it could have probably been obtained from visiting the site of BBYO and The Gaylord? You do know you're onlly dumping Gasoline on a fire by doing this right?

Just to weigh in, i am not a troll. This is just ease a reference for those who have a grievence. I am not saying flame them up.

The fact is i was going to remain independent on the issue, until i looked at the bbyo site. These supposed future leaders thought the best course of action is segregation. If they wanted to have there youth brain washing ceremony they should of picked a different venue then a resort hotel. A hotel that uses its atrium as a key selling point.

They were a sad crew who thought lets just book the gazebo area, that under the gaylord ownership was not available for booking, but under mariot became bookable.

[Marika]

Nothing came over the walkies about the Scanty cosplayer that our department knew of, so I can't say anything about that, which means there's a possibility it wasn't reported to staff. All I can say is that if you had an issue, PLEASE let Katsucon know. If something was said/done to you, write it out and email it on to the convention staff. Let them deal with it, and it WILL be taken care of.

The BBYO was hit/miss in terms of whether or not they were pretty chill with Katsucon. Some of those we encountered were perfectly fine, others were a pain to deal with. Some from the Demilitarized Zone that was set up Friday night even liked the Yamakon name that some Katsucon attendees had dubbed them, finding it creative and descriptive without being derogatory. Sure, there were the bad ones, but several of them also thought the whole segregation thing between conventions was a little extreme since this isn't the 1960s anymore.

From my understanding, there were problems on both sides, both with their attendees and ours. Please don't bash them on "on behalf of Katsucon" such as what that Facebook post says or anything. All it does is make the convention and its attendees look bad.

[HelloKittyQueen]

Originally Posted by tatooine

They won't be back next year. They're going to Dallas.

OH GAWD. Hopefully they won't be there during Akon or AnimeFest

[Mykaios]

As posted on their facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/permalink.ph...=9133 8614397

"Hello!

Thank you to everyone who attended Katsucon 19, 2013! We were thrilled to have you all this weekend and look forward to seeing you again next year.

While we had a wonderful and fun-filled time, there were challenges that we have not experienced at previous Katsucons. We shared the beautiful Gaylord facility this year with another organization, the BBYO IC (B'nai B'rith Youth Organization, International Convention). We realize that there were difficulties regarding navigation of the hotel which had not been anticipated by either party, and we know that there were some negative experiences on both sides; there were also many exciting and enlightening opportunities on both sides for people to meet new friends, and to learn about a culture different from one's own. There were issues, but there were also thousands and thousands of people that got along well, shared experiences, and made connections they would never have had the opportunity to otherwise. Please don't let the bad overwhelming the good, and please start showing some of the tolerance that you want to see from others.

I, personally, and as a member of Katsucon's leadership, am very sorry for the difficulties some of us experienced due to the logistical hiccups, and I'm not trying to excuse or dismiss the serious situations that were encountered. I'm also very grateful to have had the chance to work with the leadership of the BBYO IC to attempt to resolve our mutual difficulties and to work for the happiness and safety of all of our attendees. I wish, very much, that the attitudes, hopes, and intentions of our leadership on both sides had been able to affect everyone this weekend, because the commitment, passion, and dedication from each - to our own attendees and to each other's - was a beautiful thing. I know we all learned a lot that will help us work better and more effectively for you next year

If you, personally, had a negative experience this weekend - on either side of the house - I would welcome your email at info@katsucon.org. I ask, though, that people stop spreading rumors, slurs, hate, derision, and all of the other negative things that come so easily when things get tough (note: as of now in time, while we've heard many rumors, no one directly involved has reported to our leadership or Security anything regarding a sexual assault). Personal complaints and constructive criticism are always welcome (directly, on Facebook, or what have you), but the intolerance bandwagon is something that's destructive to everyone and Katsucon does not support it. BBYO and Katsucon both represent people that struggle for acceptance, that believe in tolerance, and that work for a better tomorrow where everyone can be themselves. We have more in common than we have differences.

For myself, I would like to thank Matt, Ian, Ellen, and the many other fine people I met through our work together with the BBYO IC. I wish each and every one of you reading this (Katsucon, BBYO, both and neither) the best on your future endeavors, and a wonderful, impactful year ahead.

Daphne Santiago
Attendee Services Director
Katsucon 19 Vice Chair
Katsucon 20 Executive Vice Chair"

[CosZelkova]

Originally Posted by Midli

CosZelkovo, Their information is publicly available (as I believe is required by law for religious and corporate organizations). Not taking an organization to task for the actions of it's members is more shameful that posting contact information. One of the female cosplayers was sexually harassed and has come out publicly to state so: http://www.cosplay.com/showpost.php?...5&postcount=12

I think you are under the assumption the person "4channed" or cyber-sleuthed the information, this couldn't be further from the truth.

I think you misread me. Yes their info is available on their site but it is against out TOS to post this info publically on this one. Thats what i meant, not that their info was stalked and posted, but that it should have never been posted here






(Bytheby, i tweeted yamakon as a silly little joke and it stuck. :P since it popped into my head when we checked in at 3am thursday and saw the bbyo decorations everywhere. It was silly and never meant to be mean, i thought it was fun and so did some of them )

[Debitto_of_Bond]

@Tetsuya: I never said you, yourself was a troll, if I implied such I do humbly apologize. All I said was posting this information would possibly encourage people who DO troll such as the con attendees spouting all the anti-semantics and what not.