| Author |
Topic:
L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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RebelGrrl
Registered:
Jan '06
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Date Posted:
5/26/07 7:14pm
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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I'm sure there are other topics more suited to venting one's spleen about what things they didn't like.
Thank you to those that provided facts and pointers to facts on the evacuation. There was no post or mention of it that I saw at the LACC today, but others saw/had news from official sources.
There was a suitcase left by the shuttle bus stops. The LAPD, not GenCon, ordered the building cleared. Why the Opening Ceremonies wasn't cleared, I have no idea and could not find out. Nor am I going to theorize. None of this particular fiasco was GenCon's fault.
I'm sure the person who forgot their suitcase is suitabily embarassed by the whole thing.
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JediBith
Title: Retired LAFF CR
Registered:
Nov '01
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Date Posted:
5/26/07 10:22pm
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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And honestly, the LAPD were just doing their jobs. They are concerned with public safety, not your personal Star Wars con fun. Can you imagine the outcry if it had been a bomb, and they'd done nothing? Really folks, get a grip please!
(Yes, I was there when it happened, and am mature enough to take these things seriously.)
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Phaedrus76
Registered:
Jul '01
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Date Posted:
5/26/07 11:26pm
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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RebelGrrl posted:
I'm sure there are other topics more suited to venting one's spleen about what things they didn't like.
Thank you to those that provided facts and pointers to facts on the evacuation. There was no post or mention of it that I saw at the LACC today, but others saw/had news from official sources.
There was a suitcase left by the shuttle bus stops. The LAPD, not GenCon, ordered the building cleared. Why the Opening Ceremonies wasn't cleared, I have no idea and could not find out. Nor am I going to theorize. None of this particular fiasco was GenCon's fault.
I'm sure the person who forgot their suitcase is suitabily embarassed by the whole thing.
I'm sorry- I simply have to disagree with you on this. The LAPD is largely responsible, but it is absolutely GenCon's fault that they allowed a line to grow that long without actually counting the people in it. When those of us joining the line asked whether we were going to get in, we got a lot of shrugs. A crowd counter clicker does not cost a lot at all. Nobody should have had to wait in a line that they had absolutely no chance of getting to the front of.
The fiasco was also the COnvention Center's fault. THe LAPD ordered the evacuation, but the Center and GenCon volunteers implemented it. Opening two doors for the entire evacuation was insane. Taking away walkie talkies was absurd. And sending people into traffic was stupid. And none of that was the LAPD.
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Phaedrus76
Registered:
Jul '01
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Date Posted:
5/26/07 11:28pm
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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JediBith posted:
And honestly, the LAPD were just doing their jobs. They are concerned with public safety, not your personal Star Wars con fun. Can you imagine the outcry if it had been a bomb, and they'd done nothing? Really folks, get a grip please!
(Yes, I was there when it happened, and am mature enough to take these things seriously.)
As am I. I was also there when 9/11 happened, and again the evacuation, if necessary, was badly executed. if people were in danger, no amount of money spent on the final production should have kept people inside that theater- the ceremony should also have been evacuated. If we weren't in danger, we should have been allowed back in.
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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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Amidala081499
Registered:
Sep '03
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Date Posted:
5/26/07 11:43pm
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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I have been hearing about the EVAC all day at the Con, but we were not evacuated at the Opening Ceremonies. The evacuation would have been more exciting than the show.
"STORMTROOPERS HERE....OH NO, I'VE BEEN SHOT!"
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Mokitty
Registered:
May '02
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Date Posted:
5/27/07 12:24am
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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I expect this evacuation had an impact of the execution of the Ceremonies last night. Thinking back, I recall thinking it was kind of weird that every time someone else was talking, Steve Sansweet was standing in the background with a finger pressed to his ear, nodding and speaking as if to himself, looking an awful lot like some kind of secret service agent or something....
He was probably getting updates on whether or not they were going to force us out.
I wouldn't be surprised if the LAPD said "OMG SUITCASE EVACUATE" and the convention people said "Uh yeah, a suitcase, like countless others around this event, do YOU wanna cause the panic of trying to empty that room?"
But as frustrating as it is (especially as a Canadian where we generally don't have these issues), they sure woulda looked a lot dumber, more incompetent, and faced a lot more anger if they hadn't forced people out and across the street and it HAD blown up. Sounds like the evacuation was handled in much the same way as a high school evac drill back home: everyone out designated exits, and across the street whether you're stopping traffic or not.
This is still proving really fun in any case!!
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bweaver
Registered:
May '07
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Date Posted:
5/27/07 9:52am
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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I wrote a fairly detailed account of my experience with the evacuation at my blog here:
http://brandonweaver2.blogspot.com/2007/05/how-star-wars-celebration-iv-blew-up.html
It was a really crazy night. I was about 10 feet from the auditorium door--we could see through the glass the ceremony had already started...I think I saw an Ewok on stage...then...2 hours of crazyness.
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Jada
Title: Chapter Rep
Charlotte, NC
Registered:
Apr '06
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Date Posted:
5/27/07 1:42pm
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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Here is an account of a news story that has been posted on YouTube:
story
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HoraceAustin
Registered:
Sep '06
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Date Posted:
5/27/07 2:54pm
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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"We've analyzed their attack plan and there is a danger. Shall I have your ship ready?"
"Evacuate? In our moment of triumph?"
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Ulfor-Bombaasa
Registered:
Mar '06
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Date Posted:
5/28/07 8:38am
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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Phaedrus76 posted:
JediBith posted:
And honestly, the LAPD were just doing their jobs. They are concerned with public safety, not your personal Star Wars con fun. Can you imagine the outcry if it had been a bomb, and they'd done nothing? Really folks, get a grip please!
(Yes, I was there when it happened, and am mature enough to take these things seriously.)
As am I. I was also there when 9/11 happened, and again the evacuation, if necessary, was badly executed. if people were in danger, no amount of money spent on the final production should have kept people inside that theater- the ceremony should also have been evacuated. If we weren't in danger, we should have been allowed back in.
Here's the thing people, the "suspicious package" was a bag of clothes found more than a block away from the convention center. If it had been a bomb, we would have been more vulnerable outside than the 6,000 who were safe inside Hall K. It was the single worst excuse for crowd control I have ever witnessed.
Furthermore, it was GenCon's decision not to plan alternative events in the evening for those who couldn't make it into the Opening Ceremonies - a huge mistake which was not the case at C2 or C3. There was absolutely nowhere else for people to go. We went to Universal City Walk as did a number of other C4-goers who were just as upset as we were.
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AboutaSith
Title: IEFF Webi-Master
Registered:
May '05
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Date Posted:
5/28/07 9:52am
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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I didnt line up for anything, the halls were bigger than the lines so I spent more time enjoying the con than lining up.
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Ulfor-Bombaasa
Registered:
Mar '06
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Date Posted:
5/28/07 10:11am
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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Where were you? We were told to evacuate the building.
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ANGRY_LEIA
Registered:
May '02
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Date Posted:
5/28/07 10:46am
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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bweaver posted:
I wrote a fairly detailed account of my experience with the evacuation at my blog here:
http://brandonweaver2.blogspot.com/2007/05/how-star-wars-celebration-iv-blew-up.html
It was a really crazy night. I was about 10 feet from the auditorium door--we could see through the glass the ceremony had already started...I think I saw an Ewok on stage...then...2 hours of crazyness.
Just read your blog, Brandon.
Very well done!
That must've sucked to be outside looking in, then be told to leave...I know I kept looking behind me while I sat in the auditorium and wondered why there were empty seats at the back.
Too bad for the guy with the little boy...I hated checking in my lightsaber to begin with...would've been VERY angry if they said, "Sorry, get out!" and had to leave my stuff behind, with no explanation...no wonder the volunteer staff at the check-in area were so harried after the show.
Martha
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Anapad_Nabooine
Registered:
Jun '05
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Date Posted:
5/29/07 3:14pm
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
- Date Edited:
5/29/07 3:17pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Anapad_Nabooine
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bweaver, thanks for the link to your blog. I feel sad now for the kids you mentioned and who knows how many other children were upset by this.
I was one of the adults who never made it anywhere near the entrance. I didn't think there would be a line outside in the cold reaching the Pacific Ocean for the Opening Ceremony. (My poor sandaled feet suffered.) I mean, the center was open all day for everything else so why not this? When I arrived at 7:15 thinking I could just waltz on in I had quite a surprise. And you know the rest.
I waited with most of the crowd until about 9:30 throughout this whole thing. At that point I think most of us accepted that it just wasn't going to happen. Imagine my chagrin to learn that it did indeed happen and we missed seeing a man fly around above our heads with a rocketeer backpack at the end.  Frank who stood in the Carrie autogragh line with me late Saturday afternoon told me that about half the people who were in there for most of the ceremony missed out on rocket man because the folks in charge seemed to forget about this finale and the show apparently ended. I think I'm quoting Frank correctly here. On top of all this no Lucas in person.
By the grace of God there was no bomb and no one was physically hurt. The best thing about that night was meeting and chatting with more fans (notably a guy named Noah from the only part of Texas on Mountain Time dressed as Obi-Wan Kenobi.) All in all though what a disappointing fiasco! 
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ScootyPuffJr
Registered:
Jan '07
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Date Posted:
5/29/07 4:38pm
Subject:
RE: L.A. Convention Center Evacuated 5/25
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JediBith posted:
And honestly, the LAPD were just doing their jobs. They are concerned with public safety, not your personal Star Wars con fun. Can you imagine the outcry if it had been a bomb, and they'd done nothing? Really folks, get a grip please!
(Yes, I was there when it happened, and am mature enough to take these things seriously.)
Right on. One of my coworkers was killed on Flight 11 on 9/11. I never give the TSA, cops, etc. a hard time. Those who complain about line lengths should get their keisters there earlier, not blame someone else for their woes. Stop whining because you didn't get a piece of what I am reliably told by many friends who did get in, was basically cardboard with frosting. You'd be a lot more upset if the suitcase had turned out to be something bad.
As for overbooking (?) of the con, I was there all day on a very crowded Saturday, and no line for me was longer than 20 minutes, and I always easily found a seat in every room (unlike the many, many times of SRO or turn-aways at Comic-con, with even as big a facility as the SD conv center is...).
Mary Thomson
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