Convention Etiquette: Discussion and Advice on Do's and Don'ts

[Skydiver]

and at one gatecon i saw a woman with a sprained ankle standing at her place in line and, as line master, i had to go up to her and say 'hey, you're on crutches, you can come to the front if you want'

so there are some on all 'sides'

some truly disabled that simply follow the rules.
some conveniently disabled that use it when it benefits them
some truly disabled that don't want accomodation

[Arctic Goddess]

and at one gatecon i saw a woman with a sprained ankle standing at her place in line and, as line master, i had to go up to her and say 'hey, you're on crutches, you can come to the front if you want'

so there are some on all 'sides'

some truly disabled that simply follow the rules.
some conveniently disabled that use it when it benefits them
some truly disabled that don't want accomodation

Absolutely. Isn't it interesting that the disabled seem to be just like the rest of us. But they are also under employed and unemployed because so many employers thing that disability means completely unable to do anything. That is a personal annoyance of mine.

Many people with disabilities have probably scrimped and saved to attend a convention while being on a fixed income. It often is the only convention many of them will be able to afford -- ever. However, again, there are a very few that do well economically and can attend many cons. Statistics argue, however, that the majority of people with disabilities have very little money. That being said, people with disabilities do not want to be treated differently than other people when it comes to rules, and most of them would be outraged at those people who take advantage of their disability. Rule breakers, whether disabled or not, should receive the consequences of their actions.

[Kett1701]

and at one gatecon i saw a woman with a sprained ankle standing at her place in line and, as line master, i had to go up to her and say 'hey, you're on crutches, you can come to the front if you want'
so there are some on all 'sides'

I had similar situations while running autograph lines. I have found the person on crutches that is surprised that I'm suggesting that they could come to the front of the line. We also used to have a Committee member that was in a wheelchair. He said that he never goes to the front of the line, after all he's sitting in his chair already. He had no problem sitting in his chair in the same line as everyone else.

I did learn from another friend of mine though, that just because their handicap isn't visible, that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. This friend has a severe heart condition. Our Head of Security used to complain about her showing up in her scooter during autograph lines but walking around the rest of the time. I tried to tell him about the time that I'd been at a convention with that same woman and we were crossing the street against a strong wind. I was genuinely concerned that she wasn't going to make it - the effort of fighting the wind was straining her heart - it was truly scary. She was NOT faking her disability.
BTW, the Head of Security has quit complaining. The woman in question is in her scooter at all times now as her condition has made her weaker over the years.

I never question anyone that claims a disability. I'd rather be fooled by the one person that is trying to pull one over on me than be insulting to someone with a genuine need by questioning them on the need. After all - I'm not the Holographic Doctor that says "State the Nature of your Disability."

As for some truly handicapped folks that then bring all of their friends up to the "Good" seats --- that I can't defend. That is taking advantage of the convention and of the other fans. I don't think that we have much of that problem at Shore Leave, but it's something that I will mention to the Programming Chair for her to be sure to keep an eye out for it.

Kett

[Skydiver]

I wouldn't refuse anyone that says 'hey, i'm disabled'. I don't have the rights or skills to do that. Benefit of the doubt and if they're lying, eh whatever.

doesn't stop me from being annoyed at those that work the system.

I don't know if you've had as much of an issue at Shore Leave that they had at past Gatecons. I think they've found that assigned seating solved a lot of that.

the 'worst' I think i ever saw at Shore Leave was people showing up 3 panels ahead, at the ones that have a lesser interest, and getting good seats then, and those that don't spend the time don't get them. but that's how it works. That's part of the fun and hey, it's their time so no biggie. It's a 'trick' that long time goers learn that newbies don't know

[aboleyn24]

I wouldn't refuse anyone that says 'hey, i'm disabled'. I don't have the rights or skills to do that. Benefit of the doubt and if they're lying, eh whatever.

doesn't stop me from being annoyed at those that work the system.

I don't know if you've had as much of an issue at Shore Leave that they had at past Gatecons. I think they've found that assigned seating solved a lot of that.

the 'worst' I think i ever saw at Shore Leave was people showing up 3 panels ahead, at the ones that have a lesser interest, and getting good seats then, and those that don't spend the time don't get them. but that's how it works. That's part of the fun and hey, it's their time so no biggie. It's a 'trick' that long time goers learn that newbies don't know

Yep, that is exactly how it works there. There are benefits to having the assigned seat because you can get up and do other things when the panel is of less interest to you. Can't really do that at Shore Leave if you have a good seat, you must keep your butt in it which is fine with me because I found that panels I might have missed turned out to be really interesting.

The down side to the assigned seat is if its awful your stuck with it. So unless you have a really great seat I prefer the SL way. I am always willing to put in the time and work my way up and usually get a decent seat there.

My complaint there is not those folks who save a seat while their friends run up to a photo op or a rest room break but those who take up a good seat for their stuff. They place their backbacks, cameras, purchases what have you on a seat and you expect it to be for a friend, but no, many panels go by and no one comes. I understand having lots of stuff, but if its a full panel and you were lucky enough to get a good seat near the front please stick your misc. belongings under the seat and let someone enjoy the chair next to you.

[Skydiver]

yeah. no issue with potty breaks or the like. short term saving isn't an issue.

it's the long term stuff that gets to me.

here, let me come in and 'save' the front row seat for 5 hours and come back later

not only is is rude, it's a safety issue. who knows what's in those packages left behind.

which is why, many cons have a 'stuff left behind will be confiscated' rule now.

[BruTak]

My complaint there is not those folks who save a seat while their friends run up to a photo op or a rest room break but those who take up a good seat for their stuff. They place their backbacks, cameras, purchases what have you on a seat and you expect it to be for a friend, but no, many panels go by and no one comes. I understand having lots of stuff, but if its a full panel and you were lucky enough to get a good seat near the front please stick your misc. belongings under the seat and let someone enjoy the chair next to you.

I'd often do this if there was an empty seat next to me.

However, if someone came along wanting the seat and asked me to move all my crap, I would.

[Vecturist]

I have to chip in my two cents on the whole seating issue. One recent con I went to had an interesting compromise between the assigned seats and the free for all - yes they had tiers for tickets. However, getting gold or silver meant you got a seat within a certain set of rows (gold had the first 5-6 rows), so if you wanted to pay more, you were closer to the stage, which I thought worked well and you could sit with friends.

They also wouldn't let you save your seats unless something else con-related (autographs or photos) was going on, and they were fairly good at policing.

[BruTak]

I have to chip in my two cents on the whole seating issue. One recent con I went to had an interesting compromise between the assigned seats and the free for all - yes they had tiers for tickets. However, getting gold or silver meant you got a seat within a certain set of rows (gold had the first 5-6 rows), so if you wanted to pay more, you were closer to the stage, which I thought worked well and you could sit with friends.

If I'm perfectly honest, I'm in two minds about this whole Gold Ticket, Silver Ticket, Bronze Ticket business.

On the one hand, if you folrk out for a Gold Ticket, you're guaranteed at getting a pretty good seat.

But on the other hand, it discriminates against those who've had to scrimp and save practically all year just to get to the con in the first place.

[Vecturist]

If I'm perfectly honest, I'm in two minds about this whole Gold Ticket, Silver Ticket, Bronze Ticket business.

On the one hand, if you folrk out for a Gold Ticket, you're guaranteed at getting a pretty good seat.

But on the other hand, it discriminates against those who've had to scrimp and save practically all year just to get to the con in the first place.

I understand - part of me thinks it's crazy to spend extra, but part of me says it is worth it, since I don't go to many cons, and they're usually part of a vacation for me. In the case of this con, the ticket price included photo ops and autographs, so it wound up being a pretty good deal (enough so as a grad student on a limited budget I could justify it).

[SG7]

I'm all for the two levels of tickets for various cons (each having different names for their different levels), however I would find it annoying to have too many "preferred" tickets available. For instance if there are a total of 1500 tickets available for the Con, then there should realistically be no more than about 4-500 of the "preferred" ticket. If you have too many of the "preferred" tickets then it kinda defeats the purpose of the preferred tickets. Then you'd have to add a level on top of that to allow for people to get the best ticket with access to the best seating, queuing etc. So really the best is to limit how many of the better tickets there are.

The one thing that I really don't like is that most of them have it where only the better tickets can get photo ops wihch is understandable as that is partly what they are paying extra for. I would love to see something where maybe regular pass holders (at the conventions that have this practice) can get photo ops, but then just limit how many they can get. For example preferred tickets being able to get whom ever they want and all of them if they want all of them. However make it where regular pass holders can only get one maybe two. Or can get one and entered into a draw to be able to get a second one.

[lisinit]

I'm going to jump in as well
When deciding which of two UK cons to go to this past winter, I chose one over the other because of the seating procedure - the one by groups rather than a free-for-all. Although I liked the idea of assigned seats from my first convention experience, this particular con seemed the best of both worlds - you weren't "tied" to a specific seat but there was organization to the seating.
I did not go "gold" at either convention, went silver/preferred at both, and IMHO these con organizers had found a terrific solution to seating.

[Vecturist]

At the con I went to, there were limits with tickets - 100 gold, 150 silver and the rest were standard (I think there were around 500-600 people total). The gold package included 1 photo op and autograph from each of the guests, plus a group shot and you got to attend a drinks mixer with the guests (you could buy extra auto and photos). Silver got photo ops and autos with each of the guests, while standard was just the ticket price. I don't think there were too many complaints with that system.

I do agree that limiting the number of gold tickets is good - as selfish as it sounds, I'm paying for the exclusivity, and there are some people who will pay more if there is a very limited of prime tickets.

[Arctic Goddess]

I wouldn't refuse anyone that says 'hey, i'm disabled'. I don't have the rights or skills to do that. Benefit of the doubt and if they're lying, eh whatever.

doesn't stop me from being annoyed at those that work the system.

I don't know if you've had as much of an issue at Shore Leave that they had at past Gatecons. I think they've found that assigned seating solved a lot of that.

the 'worst' I think i ever saw at Shore Leave was people showing up 3 panels ahead, at the ones that have a lesser interest, and getting good seats then, and those that don't spend the time don't get them. but that's how it works. That's part of the fun and hey, it's their time so no biggie. It's a 'trick' that long time goers learn that newbies don't know

Dragon Con has gotten around that by clearing the room after every panel.

[Sa'Hut_IH']

I know some folks working on a new convention, they have some seriously fan friendly ideas, and major dealers room friendly ideas also.
Im thinking of going through this thread and giving them some ideas on things that irritate the fans.

They have approached Mama to help with the Volunteers and the talent