Frat boys ahoy! (long)

[Silent-Hunter]

Can someone please tell me how the hell an elevator shaft can be set on fire??

I mean, WTF...??

Gasoline/Petrol, Kerosine, alcohol, exothermic reaction of some sort, etc.

Tons of ways, really.

[Silent-Hunter]

Con management got together with the hotels, and it is now in the convention charter that from Friday afternoon to 2 AM Sunday night/Monday morning the only way to enter a host hotel is with a convention badge or a keycard.

Wow, I would NEVER have expected a hotel to agree to that! I mean, would that mean they'd refuse to allow anyone not attending the con to stay at that hotel?

Note, I may be missing something here.

[BearLeeBadenaugh]

Silent, basically the Con is big enough that they take over the ENTIRE center for the weekend. Rooms are usually booked months in advance, and sold out sometimes as early as 3 months before. IIRC, last years attendance was something in excess of 50k.

[ComputerNecromancer]

ISTR:

Elevator doors open to reveal a man in full devil costume inside, and a little old Baptist lady outside.

"Going down?"

OryCon 1. First day of the con was the last day of a Baptist event.

We're filking away in one of the function rooms Friday evening and some of the Baptists wander by. You can see the smiles on their faces as the recognize the tune. "Old Time Religion".

Then comes the shock/horror as they get close enough to hear the *words*. The fannish version is not for the faint hearted...

[Gizmo]

Wow, I would NEVER have expected a hotel to agree to that! I mean, would that mean they'd refuse to allow anyone not attending the con to stay at that hotel?

Note, I may be missing something here.

With Cons like that they tend to block out the reservations with a code known to the convention goers only. They know they will see enough bookings to be full no matter what. Friends trying to get rooms for Dragon Con have known to have been unable to an HOUR after the booking open.

Another convention group in the UK deal with the bookings themselves and just give the hotel a list of room bookings so they can input them a couple of weeks before the event itself. Basically the hotel closes all booking from any other source for that week.

[Seshat]

Then comes the shock/horror as they get close enough to hear the *words*. The fannish version is not for the faint hearted...

I didn't know there was anything other than the fannish version.

It was good enough for Isis
She'll be with you in a crisis
And she'll never raise her prices
So it's good enough for me.

[greek_jester]

Elevator doors open to reveal a man in full devil costume inside, and a little old Baptist lady outside.

"Going down?"

Ah, memories. My very first con, still a just-about-legal teenager, and I was standing at a lift bank when everything suddenly went rather dark. I turned around, all 4' 10.5" of me, to discover myself surrounded by half a dozen 6' plus, very broad Klingons in full gear, bat'leth's included. I'm not quite sure how sickly my smile was when I gave them a little wave and hello, but bless them, they took me under their wing and introduced me around to the con circuit regulars. Thanks to them I always got a free pint of Green Komodo Dragon* every con, and I ended up good enough friends with the resident drag queen/dominatrix that he gave me some tights one night when my last pair laddered. Those were the days...

* Green Komodo Dragon

In a bottle mix up the following:

2 shots of Southern Comfort
2 shots of Bacardi
2 shots of Tia Maria
2 shots of Vodka
2 shots of Blue Bols
2 shots of Malibu

Pour as much as you dare in a pint glass (start off with one to be safe) then fill up with orange juice. It tastes remarkably like alcoholic Opal Fruits Starbursts

[AnaKhouri]

At one of the Dragoncons I attended back in the day (this would have been the late 90's/early 00') they had booked the con and a Salvation Army convention at the same time. Which led to some funny sights like a couple old ladies in their spiffy SA uniforms having photos taken with con attendees dressed as Darth Vader and storm troopers, giggling at the kick their grandchildren would get out of the picture.

Of course this was long ago, before the con had swollen to its current enormous size.

[Gizmo]

Thanks to them I always got a free pint of Green Komodo Dragon* every con, and I ended up good enough friends with the resident drag queen/dominatrix that he gave me some tights one night when my last pair laddered. Those were the days...

* Green Komodo Dragon

In a bottle mix up the following:
...

OK... now I'm wondering who you are.... Because mentioning THAT drink and that description of the taste I have probably met you! (and the 'correct' measure is about half of the pint is the mixture above and half is orange juice btw. I actually mix up tons at a time and just do equal measures of all six ingredients in the bottle.) Another way to drink it is with berry juice and make a blood dragon - a lot smoother!. Or recently I have been involved with the idea of using it as a syrup to put into coffee in small amounts.

I am currently the Dragon queen. I think I do drink - or at least mix! - more than the original 'creators' these days! (for anyone interested the current 'lore' on its creation is a group of friends couldn't get a mate drunk on his birthday so not long before last call they pooled their money, went to the bar and just pointed at random spirits.... oh, two of that one, two of that, GOT to have that..its blue.... and so on... ummm... and add orange juice to it? The bar person made it largely out of amusement since the lore is its actually too much alcohol in one glass to make legally and we haven't been able to since!)

And yes, the resident drag queen/dominatrix IS still around. I do see him time to time sporting that lovely beard. The ones who dress as Klingons are normally way nice and lovely. Sci Fi Convention community in the UK can be so nice!

[Mytical]

IN CASE OF FIRE DO NOT USE ELEVATOR, USE STAIRS

For some of 'humanity' the sign should read IN CASE OF FIRE, PLEASE PLEASE USE THE ELEVATOR, NOT THE STAIRS.

[Jay 2K Winger]

For some of 'humanity' the sign should read IN CASE OF FIRE, PLEASE PLEASE USE THE ELEVATOR, NOT THE STAIRS.

Mytical, please, think about what you're saying!!





We all know they don't read signs.

[Argus]

Note, I may be missing something here.

"... or a keycard." In other words, anyone with a room key can still enter the hotel. Some of the hotels downtown here have signs about keycard-only entry after a certain time of night, although they apparently don't apply that policy during certain conventions.

[It's me]

Almost forgot one of the best parts.

I sent a detailed letter to the Dean of one of the colleges explaining what had happened and how their school was being portrayed by these little jackholes.
The response was basically "that could have been anyone wearing our hats and shirts, I feel that it would be counter productive to talk to the students about behaving themselves while at events in other cities"

So, in a nutshell, it's okay for their students to run wild as long as they don't get caught

Hmm... They pretty much had to reply that way. Anything else could be construed as them having some sort of responsibility, which they won't risk in case they get sued....

[sms001]

costumes ...that appeared demomic to the uninformed.

And it's certainly not too hard to find outfits that are, actually, demonic.

Wow CS, I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't gone through all five pages. A thread about geeks and nerds with a question about elevator fires, and no mention of Experimental Rocket Fuel?

[greek_jester]

OK... now I'm wondering who you are....

*snip*

And yes, the resident drag queen/dominatrix IS still around. I do see him time to time sporting that lovely beard. The ones who dress as Klingons are normally way nice and lovely. Sci Fi Convention community in the UK can be so nice!

Good to know K's still going strong. Is he still in the TOS nurse's uniform, or has he upgraded? Did he ever talk you into getting tied up? Pro-tip; make sure you keep your shoes on if your friends are the type to wander up and randomly tickle your feet!

I haven't been to a con since the late '90s (an independent sci-fi con in Blackpool) but I do miss them. I kind of gave up when they started getting bigger and bigger; the original appeal was that many of the stars would end up in the bar where you could have a nice chat, since UK con-etiquette stated that you didn't hassle them for autographs outside of the queues. I had a great chat with Peter Cushing once, about how he preferred UK cons as he didn't have to leave his room surrounded by con security.

Another fun aspect (to bring this comment back on topic) was that the locals tended to happily cheer you on and ask for photos (genuinely) rather than mock you.