Tumblr Convention "Disaster" Unfolds at Illinois' DashCon

[webkilla]

I've been following this wonderful trainwreck on tumblr...

I swear, by the inglorious wonders of 4chan, then the /b/ raids on tumblr leading up to this haven't done a fraction of the damage that this event has done to tumblr.

I found this post, which highlights SO MANY of the hilariously horrible things that happened there - as well as how it was mis-managed leading up to it (It is supposedly written by one of the poor souls who had been part of the founding and organization of the event, but managed to get out before the con started)

http://augustinesycamore.tumblr.com/post/91592502875/here-goes-i-decided-to-write-up-my-personal
- apparently there was absolutely no actual management of the event. People could just form comitees ad-hoc with no central oversight, and no-one holding anyone responsible for anything.
- one committee member (some 13yr drama queen) supposedly threatened suicide after being deposed as a committee chair

To quote the poor soul:

"This is a convention being run by teenagers with no amount of good experience running anything. From the beginning it was shitty, disorganized, messy, communication was HORRIFIC, etc. literally no one except for the mods (Roxanne in particular) knew what was going on, and she would often make changes with no warning. I?m not surprised it turned out like it did, the mods when I interacted with them were VERY unprofessional and irresponsible, and more than once I was bothered by the fact that they were handling so much money."


Conversely, this was the con schedule: http://axelkatten.tumblr.com/post/91597186818/fierzzz-lets-stop-beating-around-the-bush-with

It must be purged with holy prometheum.


Oh, and someone pissed in the ballbit when it was empty (before the balls were added?) and posted pics online of it later.


Not even 4chan could come up with madness on this level (...their real world events tend to be eerily well organized, Chanology anyone?)

 

[rofltehcat]

This is pure internet gold. Who thought this was a good idea?

 

[NiPah]

Yeah, this seems about what I would expect from a gathering of people who would attend a convention for Tumblr. Of course I highly suspect that they are currently trying to figure out a way to blame the entire thing on straight white men as a whole.

I've gotta ask, I get that "blame the entire thing on straight white men as a whole." is from something and it must have some meaning, but I'm lost as to what it is.
I've seen several statements like that from other people and it's really jarring.

 

[Cowabungaa]

Is there anyone outside of the typical Tumblr community who did not see this coming? Because we can all see how it is online, and see it play out in reality... It's way too funny actually, way too funny. In a sort of sad way, so many people screwed out of cash.

 

[DugMachine]

Just what I'd expect from a website like Tumblr. Bunch of morons, naive teenagers and man/woman-children trying to organize something themselves? Good luck with that.

Pretty hilarious. Somebody urinated in the ball pit supposedly

 

[mistwolf]

Yeah, this seems about what I would expect from a gathering of people who would attend a convention for Tumblr. Of course I highly suspect that they are currently trying to figure out a way to blame the entire thing on straight white men as a whole.

I've gotta ask, I get that "blame the entire thing on straight white men as a whole." is from something and it must have some meaning, but I'm lost as to what it is.
I've seen several statements like that from other people and it's really jarring.

There appears to be a lot of over the top, extreme feminists on tumblr, and there is also a huge backlash against minorities of any type who are pretty much all standing up for themselves and seeking recognition. Between the two, there's an extra huge dose of vitriol going around for anyone who makes the mistake of identifying as an equality activist, feminist, whatever. Pretty much any time you see the term 'Social justice warrior', a term I would never have thought DIDN'T apply to me, you can assume it is from one of those two groups. IMHO, usually the latter using tumblr as a mask to sling crap.

 

[Darks63]

The part about the protest songs, gang signs, and mockingjay signs had me in stitches. I surprised the tumblr people didn't start pulling macro/meme images out on their phones too.

 

[Erttheking]

Look, I know that Tumblr is the punching bag of the internet right around now, but can we not indulge in sterotypes?

 

[Cowabungaa]

Look, I know that Tumblr is the punching bag of the internet right around now, but can we not indulge in sterotypes?

I can see where you're getting it, but this ain't so much stereotyping as it is seeing the way the most well-known Tumblr communities ways of dealing with things online actually see work out in real life. Or more accurately, to see it crash and burn so hard. A much needed reality check, in a way.

 

[ayvee]

First of all this is hilarious (though unfortunate for anyone losing money on it) and the internet is having a ball with it--including and especially Tumblr.

But please for the love of god Escapist Community, can we get past this idea that Tumblr as a whole exists as some hivemind of social extremists who lurk in the proverbial shadows to pounce on anything they think will drum up controversy. Because unless you're making an active effort to turn your user experience into those things, Tumblr is cat pictures, food porn, actual porn, and anime gifsets.

Which are incidentally what this con was basically supposed to be.

 

[Eric the Orange]

Look, I know that Tumblr is the punching bag of the internet right around now, but can we not indulge in sterotypes?

You didn't quote anyone so I assume your referring to the original post. If so, what in it was a sterio type?

 

[Erttheking]

Look, I know that Tumblr is the punching bag of the internet right around now, but can we not indulge in sterotypes?

I can see where you're getting it, but this ain't so much stereotyping as it is seeing the way the most well-known Tumblr communities ways of dealing with things online actually see work out in real life. Or more accurately, to see it crash and burn so hard. A much needed reality check, in a way.

I'm not following. A reality check on what?

Also I think it's worth mentioning that just an hour ago something on my Friend's Tumblr went up poking fun at this whole thing.

http://kitkatinahat.tumblr.com/post/89739085499/sameatschildren-co8alt-thief

 

[Erttheking]

Look, I know that Tumblr is the punching bag of the internet right around now, but can we not indulge in sterotypes?

You didn't quote anyone so I assume your referring to the original post. If so, what in it was a sterio type?

Half of the post in the comments are indulging in sterotypes about Tumblr, I was mainly addressing the comments in general because there were too many to quote.

 

[Cowabungaa]

I'm not following. A reality check on what?

A reality check on how the real world works, that you can't shout at something (the wrong thing no less) and expect a thing to happen, that boundless enthusiasm doesn't even get you halfway through something, that rational thinking and behavior is actually a thing, etc etc etc.

They wanted to get friggin' Benedict Cumberbatch at one point. They were talking about handling thousands of dollars through humongous Skype chats. Ridiculous decisions to decide what never-going-to-happen actors to bring in through shipping preferences. I mean good lord, there's unprofessional behavior and there's that.

 

[Erttheking]

I'm not following. A reality check on what?

A reality check on how the real world works, that you can't shout at something (the wrong thing no less) and expect a thing to happen, that boundless enthusiasm doesn't even get you halfway through something, etc etc etc.

They wanted to get friggin' Benedict Cumberbatch at one point. They were talking about handling thousands of dollars through humongous Skype chats. I mean good lord, there's unprofessional behavior and there's that.

I wasn't under the impression that most people on Tumblr were thought like that. Heck, I just find it to be mainly useful for spreading awareness. Also, I don't know if shouting can NEVER do anything. Heck, I found an online petition website that's managed to get quite a few things done called Change.org.

 

[lacktheknack]

That ball-pit picture is the saddest thing I've seen in weeks. ;__;

 

[Cowabungaa]

I wasn't under the impression that most people on Tumblr were thought like that.

I was talking about certain Tumblr communities that most definitely act like that. And it just so happens that those communities are what this convention was from and for. And look where their way of thinking got them in an actual real world thing, when it's about more than making textposts on your blog.

That ball-pit picture is the saddest thing I've seen in weeks. ;__;

It has a certain quiet forlorn-ness about it. Gently sad, so to speak.

 

[ayvee]

I wasn't under the impression that most people on Tumblr were thought like that.

I was talking about certain Tumblr communities that most definitely act like that. And it just so happens that those communities are what this convention was from and for. And look where their way of thinking got them in an actual real world thing, when it's about more than making textposts on your blog.

Dude you're projecting the actions of a group of organizers who turned out to be incompetent and/or scam artists onto people who are only associated with them via shared interests.