Steve Simmons of the Dorsai Irregulars here. I had a much large post written, but let's just cut to the chase:
Hotels and convention centers don't care about damage to public vs. private space. They care about damage. They don't care about why you don't rein in your attendees, they only care that you do or don't. They will tolerate bad behavior and damage only if the convention makes it worth their while - ie, pay very high facility and room rates, or consistently accept responsibility for and pay for damages. They're business. They'll tolerate an amazing amount of stuff only if you make it worth their while. Rainfurrest hasn't accepted responsibility for the attendee behavior, hasn't moderated the attendee behavior, and has consistently left the facilities on the hook for attendee behavior. No-one should be surprised that they are no longer tolerated by the facilities.
A convention can change its culture. I'm typing this note at Magfest 2016, where the 22,000 attendees had fewer arrests and hospital runs than Rainfurrest. Magfest was once had a huge percentage of toxic attendees. They once had 500 attendees and more arrests/hospital runs than Rainfurrest. They dodged a couple of bullets, and accepted their wake-up call. After a couple of years of downright painful adjustment, they successfully changed the limits of what they would tolerate from attendees. Once the new limits were clear, the good attendees moderated their behavior and the bad ones found other venues. They're now doing multiple cons per year, in part because facilities seek them out. Given their continual improvement, no-one should be surprised.
The takeaway: Magfest recognized their problem, and did something about it. Rainfurrest did neither, and it has probably killed them. It shouldn't be a surprise that they've reaped what they've so consistently sowed. It's sad, it's unfortunate - but it's not a surprise.
Steve Simmons of the Dorsai Irregulars here. I had a much large post written, but let's just cut to the chase:
Hotels and convention centers don't care about damage to public vs. private space. They care about damage. They don't care about why you don't rein in your attendees, they only care that you do or don't. They will tolerate bad behavior and damage only if the convention makes it worth their while - ie, pay very high facility and room rates, or consistently accept responsibility for and pay for damages. They're business. They'll tolerate an amazing amount of stuff only if you make it worth their while. Rainfurrest hasn't accepted responsibility for the attendee behavior, hasn't moderated the attendee behavior, and has consistently left the facilities on the hook for attendee behavior. No-one should be surprised that they are no longer tolerated by the facilities.
A convention can change its culture. I'm typing this note at Magfest 2016, where the 22,000 attendees had fewer arrests and hospital runs than Rainfurrest. Magfest was once had a huge percentage of toxic attendees. They once had 500 attendees and more arrests/hospital runs than Rainfurrest. They dodged a couple of bullets, and accepted their wake-up call. After a couple of years of downright painful adjustment, they successfully changed the limits of what they would tolerate from attendees. Once the new limits were clear, the good attendees moderated their behavior and the bad ones found other venues. They're now doing multiple cons per year, in part because facilities seek them out. Given their continual improvement, no-one should be surprised.
The takeaway: Magfest recognized their problem, and did something about it. Rainfurrest did neither, and it has probably killed them. It shouldn't be a surprise that they've reaped what they've so consistently sowed. It's sad, it's unfortunate - but it's not a surprise.