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An open letter to Yaoi con
Dec. 12th, 2011 04:17 amI have two open notes here, one more detailed than the last, but I'm doing the simple one first.
Dear Yaoicon, whatever happened man? you used to be cool. Remember when you were in a little Holiday Inn in San Francisco, right on golden gate transit's second most meandering bussline? I sure do, I was there. I was there that very second year when you treated us adults like... adults, and you didn't do anything like ban vuvuzelas or have a code of conduct that was a few pages long. You had an older couple (that weren't prettyboys, but people from the society of Janus) showing the basics of bdsm, and thus how fanfic writers could create a more realistic story. Your auction was held in a grand hall, with glasses of water spread around, and the boys were dragged up on stage in collars. The male gaze and objectification was subverted hard, and that was okay. We were all adults here, we knew that it was glorified roleplay, we could be trusted to not violate anyone's liberties, male or female. It was a nice, relaxed con.
I know, part of it is that as conventions get bigger, more of the kind of people that ruin good things come in as well, and so more of the howling, squealing, glomping fanbrats as they say, "made it so we can't have nice things", but it's not all on their shoulders really. Let's have a frank talk here, have you ever had a open forum about the con itself? The issues therein? When, say, one of your volunteers downright refuses to let someone hold the spot for her friend because she has to use the restroom, is that person ever truely called out on it? When we have lines to get into lines to get into lines, and the staff say "this is the best we can afford", isn't it time to bring on a better negotiator for the hotel? When artist alley table notices are being sent out a week after inquiry (and past the conceivable time to get a temporary seller's license), isn't it time to be open about how you do business and get feedback on how it can be improved?
And most importantly, when you are considering moving to a hostile, unwelcoming city instead of the Bay area, isn't it best to look to the con goers first before deciding such a move?
I'm going to more or less copy my post from your facebook page, since despite saying that you're listening, there's been a distinct amount of radio silence on this. This isn't new, the last time someone commented on the shortcomings of the convention (about two years ago, iirc), it was answered with defensive hostility on the part of the forum moderator. But here, the short version of it is that there's a good number of reasons to stay the hell out of LA for this convention:
"1) it's socal, say what you want, but people don't think Tolerance and Safe refuge in the part of the state where they heavily voted for prop 8. The bay area's known for culture and a welcoming spirit, La's known for being... hot and full of smog. Oh yes, I want to take a plane down THERE.
2) It's not going to be cheaper for the congoer, flying in, traveling, or rooming. Check all of those costs. They all match up to the costs for SFO and the city, or are more than flying in and out of OAK. As for transportation? Until you hit north bay you have a good network of public transportation that even has it's own website to plan your trip. LA? you NEED a car, as confirmed by nearly everyone I've known that lives in LA. Someone flying in is going to need to rent a car, or hope to god the con sets up a shuttle. Oh yeah, and for someone else with a car to take them on supply runs. Unless the metro is built in under nine months it isn't going to do jack to help.
3) most of the existing conbase is out of the bay area. This is a bay area con. You're asking the vast majority of people to move to a hostile environment, where they'll spend more money, for the same thing or worse as last year. It's not going to fly.
My answer? if you're dead set on being idiots and moving the con, take it to vegas. It'll cost as much (or less) to book a hotel, there's something to draw the people to the city, there's the necessities around within walking distance, oh yeah, and it's VEGAS. Do you think anybody there really cares what a bunch of yaoi fangirls do? Everything from bdsm to furry conventions have been held there, nobody's going to be anything but friendly to the crowd. If anything they'll be overjoyed to see us, and our money, and that we're used to higher prices. So yes, please, if this thing's not going to be a proper yaoi con, at least make it a convention worth going to."
So there you go. This year I didn't go because I had real life matters and a fledgling startup to look after, next year? I'm very likely not going to go if it's in LA. As a congoer the expense is not worth it, as a potential dealer I know that most of the fanbase is going to be back in the bay area, the additional cost isn't going to balance out what I sell. So sorry Yaoicon, it's not working anymore. If you were a band I'd be the jaded hipster in the corner talking about how you sold out, going over the glory days when you were true to your roots and played in the hall of a San Francisco Holiday Inn.
Good times those, the con had a warmer tone then, the con had a warmer tone.
Dear Yaoicon, whatever happened man? you used to be cool. Remember when you were in a little Holiday Inn in San Francisco, right on golden gate transit's second most meandering bussline? I sure do, I was there. I was there that very second year when you treated us adults like... adults, and you didn't do anything like ban vuvuzelas or have a code of conduct that was a few pages long. You had an older couple (that weren't prettyboys, but people from the society of Janus) showing the basics of bdsm, and thus how fanfic writers could create a more realistic story. Your auction was held in a grand hall, with glasses of water spread around, and the boys were dragged up on stage in collars. The male gaze and objectification was subverted hard, and that was okay. We were all adults here, we knew that it was glorified roleplay, we could be trusted to not violate anyone's liberties, male or female. It was a nice, relaxed con.
I know, part of it is that as conventions get bigger, more of the kind of people that ruin good things come in as well, and so more of the howling, squealing, glomping fanbrats as they say, "made it so we can't have nice things", but it's not all on their shoulders really. Let's have a frank talk here, have you ever had a open forum about the con itself? The issues therein? When, say, one of your volunteers downright refuses to let someone hold the spot for her friend because she has to use the restroom, is that person ever truely called out on it? When we have lines to get into lines to get into lines, and the staff say "this is the best we can afford", isn't it time to bring on a better negotiator for the hotel? When artist alley table notices are being sent out a week after inquiry (and past the conceivable time to get a temporary seller's license), isn't it time to be open about how you do business and get feedback on how it can be improved?
And most importantly, when you are considering moving to a hostile, unwelcoming city instead of the Bay area, isn't it best to look to the con goers first before deciding such a move?
I'm going to more or less copy my post from your facebook page, since despite saying that you're listening, there's been a distinct amount of radio silence on this. This isn't new, the last time someone commented on the shortcomings of the convention (about two years ago, iirc), it was answered with defensive hostility on the part of the forum moderator. But here, the short version of it is that there's a good number of reasons to stay the hell out of LA for this convention:
"1) it's socal, say what you want, but people don't think Tolerance and Safe refuge in the part of the state where they heavily voted for prop 8. The bay area's known for culture and a welcoming spirit, La's known for being... hot and full of smog. Oh yes, I want to take a plane down THERE.
2) It's not going to be cheaper for the congoer, flying in, traveling, or rooming. Check all of those costs. They all match up to the costs for SFO and the city, or are more than flying in and out of OAK. As for transportation? Until you hit north bay you have a good network of public transportation that even has it's own website to plan your trip. LA? you NEED a car, as confirmed by nearly everyone I've known that lives in LA. Someone flying in is going to need to rent a car, or hope to god the con sets up a shuttle. Oh yeah, and for someone else with a car to take them on supply runs. Unless the metro is built in under nine months it isn't going to do jack to help.
3) most of the existing conbase is out of the bay area. This is a bay area con. You're asking the vast majority of people to move to a hostile environment, where they'll spend more money, for the same thing or worse as last year. It's not going to fly.
My answer? if you're dead set on being idiots and moving the con, take it to vegas. It'll cost as much (or less) to book a hotel, there's something to draw the people to the city, there's the necessities around within walking distance, oh yeah, and it's VEGAS. Do you think anybody there really cares what a bunch of yaoi fangirls do? Everything from bdsm to furry conventions have been held there, nobody's going to be anything but friendly to the crowd. If anything they'll be overjoyed to see us, and our money, and that we're used to higher prices. So yes, please, if this thing's not going to be a proper yaoi con, at least make it a convention worth going to."
So there you go. This year I didn't go because I had real life matters and a fledgling startup to look after, next year? I'm very likely not going to go if it's in LA. As a congoer the expense is not worth it, as a potential dealer I know that most of the fanbase is going to be back in the bay area, the additional cost isn't going to balance out what I sell. So sorry Yaoicon, it's not working anymore. If you were a band I'd be the jaded hipster in the corner talking about how you sold out, going over the glory days when you were true to your roots and played in the hall of a San Francisco Holiday Inn.
Good times those, the con had a warmer tone then, the con had a warmer tone.
