| Author |
Topic:
L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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RebelGrrl
Registered:
Jan '06
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Date Posted:
5/25/07 10:16pm
Subject:
L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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The L.A. Convention Center was evacuated by order of the LAPD Friday night just as opening ceremonies were due to begin. They did not tell us attendees anything other than that the convention center was closed for the night, including the store and the fanfilm/sw in pop culture film tracks. They told us to go home for the night.
Anyone who has any concrete, legit information, please post here. I'm sure there's all sorts of wild rumors that don't need to be encouraged, but the news outlets locally are being extremely slow on this story.
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vadersfist
Registered:
Jan '01
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Date Posted:
5/25/07 10:31pm
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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Good lord, what a bummer.
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ardavenport
Registered:
Dec '04
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Date Posted:
5/25/07 10:51pm
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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Well, KTLA said that the convenion center was evacuated because of 'a suspicious suitcase'. Which turned out to be nothing. Gee, a convention center full of SW fans; what are the odds? Anyway, I'm gooing to presume that everything will continue the same as planned for tomorrow.
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vadersfist
Registered:
Jan '01
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Date Posted:
5/25/07 10:57pm
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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Here's the story on Fox 11.
http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=3318501&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1
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HandmaidenAnde
Registered:
Feb '01
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Date Posted:
5/25/07 11:00pm
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
- Date Edited:
5/25/07 11:07pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
HandmaidenAnde
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Edited post after seeing the news story.
According to FOX 11, the convention center was evacuated just after Opening Ceremonies began. There were 8000 of us in Hall K for that event, and we didn't know anything about it. I guess it's good the suspicious package wasn't dangerous!
After hearing about the evacuation, the disjointed feeling of the Opening Ceremonies makes a little more sense.
Andé 
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snowtrooper2
Registered:
May '07
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Date Posted:
5/25/07 11:05pm
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
- Date Edited:
5/26/07 7:11am (1 edits total)
Edited By:
DarthIntegral
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Disjointed opening ceremony? That thing was amputated and stupid.
Language edit
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ANGRY_LEIA
Registered:
May '02
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Date Posted:
5/25/07 11:50pm
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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Wow!
Just watched that story re: evacuation!
I had NO idea this was going on...was working on eating cake and trying to get pictures of the USC marching band...explains now why the trade guy next to me took a cell phone call and suddenly packed up his stuff and literally ran out of the place!
Martha
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Gallandro
Registered:
Jul '98
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Date Posted:
5/26/07 12:13am
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
- Date Edited:
5/26/07 9:06am (1 edits total)
Edited By:
NaboosPrincess
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Wow, sorry for you guys. I had tickets and room booked for C4, but because of some last minute emergencies I had to cancel... but that really sucks...
And now of course LA being LA I'm sure some ***** saw this on the tube and will call in a bomb threat tomorrow just to screw around with the Star Wars "nerds".
Yancy
NP edit: Language
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snowtrooper2
Registered:
May '07
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Date Posted:
5/26/07 1:02am
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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you callin' me a nerd?
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Amidala081499
Registered:
Sep '03
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Date Posted:
5/26/07 1:04am
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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WOW...This is news to me, I was in line for 2 hours for the Opening ceremonies and never heard a word. Then we were let in at around 7:45 p.m and my family and I left at 9:30 p.m due to the kids being exhausted, so this makes no sense.
Oh well, I guess we were not important enough to be told anything...lol
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Phaedrus76
Registered:
Jul '01
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Date Posted:
5/26/07 1:27am
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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Amidala081499 posted:
WOW...This is news to me, I was in line for 2 hours for the Opening ceremonies and never heard a word. Then we were let in at around 7:45 p.m and my family and I left at 9:30 p.m due to the kids being exhausted, so this makes no sense.
Oh well, I guess we were not important enough to be told anything...lol
Take solace in the fact that you weren't one of us "evacuees," who were lied to, misled, and frankly put into worse danger through the inept handling of the situation. (Putting a bunch of oddly dressed people out on the streets of LA with no access to their cars is not exactly a "safe" way of handling things. Nor is closing off all exits but one. Nor is actually telling people to cross a street in the middle of traffic.) I just hope everyone comes back tomorrow to find that they still have their merchandise and that GenCon isn't going to charge them for the extra day's bag check.
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gabe
Registered:
Jul '98
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Date Posted:
5/26/07 1:28am
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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Damn Trekkies.
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atmicwedgy
Registered:
May '07
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Date Posted:
5/26/07 2:58am
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
- Date Edited:
5/26/07 9:10am (1 edits total)
Edited By:
NaboosPrincess
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This was a **** day at this convention.
The organizers had no clue what was going on. For the opening ceremony this evening, they split a line in half, and had everyone in the rear of the line go backwards towards a different entrance, i.e. "You have been in the middle of this long a** line for the last hour? Guess what, you are now in back. Enjoy!"
Then the opening ceremony, or at least what we saw of it, was lame. Lucas? Nowhere to be seen, oh wait! A video: "Hi guys, I'm somewhere else filming a movie. Yes, I will collect your money for events that you wait in line for but never see because it fills to capacity while you are still waiting in line. But, no, I cannot, even for one night, make it out to LA. Instead, I will get some young exec from Lucasfilm to show up...yeah and Mayor Villaraigosa, ummm, and some extras from the films. And you get a small piece of cake! Cuz you know, 30th birthday!" (yes, they even had the audience sing the song)
This is **. We left. As we tried to walk to the parking lot in the West Hall, Gencon lackies tell us we have to exit through the southmost point, nowhere near the lots. I say "Um, its getting chilly outside, can't we walk along the hall that connects?" "Only if you want to get arrested." was the quirky reply. Lovely.
So we exit, and find a crap load of people just waiting. This is odd. I ask a couple with baby and kid what exactly they are waiting for, and they said they were required to leave with no explanation why. The were forced to check in their bags before entering the convention hall, and are now waiting to get back in and retrieve it. We wish them luck and begin walking towards to parking lot. AHHHH, they have BLOCKED off the sidewalk. Yes, exit through that ONE door in all the convention center, but don't walk passed it? A load of people just started running across the street, stopping traffic.
We joined em and ran across various streets until we got to the lot. No info as to whats going on, and given Gencon's incompetence throughout the whole day, we know it was up to us to make our escape. We hauled ass to the car, and got the hell out of there.
So now we find out there was a suspicious package. Fine. Does that make up for the whole day of frustration? No.
==============
I've got a 4 day pass to this thing, but plan on not even going on Saturday. What for? To wait in a one-hour line for a half-hour event? There is very little in the way of an official Lucasfilm presence. The only thing that really makes it worthwhile are the fans: costumes, fan-made droids, info sessions, etc. The Lucasfilm archive section is crap. This is the '30 year anniversary' convention. I didn't realized that the "Where Science Meets Imagination" would have so much more to see and for a cheaper price. So what are you doing, Lucas? Collecting money just so we can see clips from an upcoming fan film? Wow.
In my circle of friends, I am the Star Wars geek. But my experiences from this convention thus far has exposed the money making schemes which seem to prop up what I held previously as a source of inspiration and imagination. It is that result for which I am ultimately dissappointed.
NP edit: Language.
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vadersfist
Registered:
Jan '01
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Date Posted:
5/26/07 3:09am
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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Wow, sounds like a repeat of the complaints from CIII, only this time you get the LAPD and "suspicious packages". And no Lucas. 
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-_-_-_-_-_-
Title: Manager Emeritus
Registered:
Apr '02
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Date Posted:
5/26/07 7:14am
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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atmicwedgy posted:
The organizers had no clue what was going on. For the opening ceremony this evening, they split a line in half, and had everyone in the rear of the line go backwards towards a different entrance, i.e. "You have been in the middle of this long a** line for the last hour? Guess what, you are now in back. Enjoy!"
Wow, sounds exactly like what happened to me and some of my friends when we were waiting in line to see Lucas at C3. When we were put in the Hyatt for the night, they separated us, and people who were originally in line quite a bit back from us ended up ahead of us in line after it. Typical GenCon **** up.
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Phaedrus76
Registered:
Jul '01
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Date Posted:
5/26/07 8:07am
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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I disagree that the rest of CIV was that bad. I, for one, had no trouble getting into any of the shows and panels I wanted (including Carrie Fisher), and though I stood in line for 15 minutes each time "in case," I found that most people coulg get into things with little trouble up until door time (except for Star Wars in 30 Minutes, which seems the exception rather than the rule).
That said, the disaster that was the "evacuation" followed by the knowledge that numerous other people got their full evening leaves an incredibly bad taste in my mouth. And yes, the GenCon staff has largely been incompetent, but the reason why is a bit more sinister- there IS no GenCon staff.
What I mean to say is, I have been volunteering for three days straight- in that time, I have yet to see a supervisor or anyone else who was actually a paid employee. Everyone I have worked with has been either A. An unpaid volunteer like myself (some of whom are putting in 20-40 hours at the event in order to get a 40day pass refund), B. A "higher tier" volunteer who got free plane fare, hotel room, and per diem, but in exchange doesn't get to see much of the Con at all, or C. Outside contract labor/Convention Center employees. I was told by one "senior volunteer" that there are only ten paid GenCon employees at this entire 25,000+ attendee event. I don't know whether that is an exaggeration or not, but again, I have yet to meet one, so I would estimate at least 80% of the GenCon workforce is unpaid labor. Think about that for a minute and you'll realize why, in an emergency, NOBODY knew what to do.
Granted, prices at the Con are largely high because a Center that size costs enormous amounts to rent- but running an entire event with a slave (koff) volunteer force almost guarantees that there are HUGE sums of money being made by GenCon for this, and poor handling.
Evidence was there in the days before Friday night- I've worked Will Call at Celebration IV, and probably, personally, checked in 300 people who had preordered. At least half of them received a package that as not complete. Things were so bad with fan club lanyards that we were giving them out to anyone who said he was a member, without proof. (And yes, I was told to do this by a higher up, so if you're reading, GenCon, don't get cute ideas about me being "insubordinate.") I was told to tell angry groups of people they were only allowed ONE free guide/map to the Con no mtter how many members there were in their party- despite the fact that it's a black and white, not high-quality guide that was almost surely cheap to make and was, so far, the only free thing offered at the Con. When I complained of this to a superior he just bitched about "fans who will thake three or four and toss them in the trash." How petty.
I worked bag check at this huge merchandising event and was told to charge 5 bucks for EACH bag anyone brough in- except for the XL bags, which cost 10 bucks. We were telling people to combine bags to save money, but still- 5-10 bucks a bag? What a disgrace.
I'm not an autograph guy, so I went to the autograph hall just to get a look at the celebrities- and found I couldn't even get a glimpse of them unless I paid between $10 and $35 for the privilege.
This is about greed and cutting corners, and it's about the idiot LA emergency services. What a slap in the face.
But again, you can get into whatever you want to see.
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"Be resolutely and faithfully what you are. Be humbly what you aspire to be." -Thoreau
"The unexamined life is not worth living." -Socrates
"Luminous beings are we- not this crude matter." -Yoda
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