The Asshole Fiasco

[bascule]

Re: The Asshole Fiasco

I haven't gotten to say this yet, so I really should:

neg9, my sincere condolences for asshole's behavior. You are all some of my favorite people to hang out with at Defcon and we've had some really great times together. It really, really sucks that you're banned from staying at the Riv and that your entire group got blamed for what asshole did. I hope this whole experience didn't completely ruin con for you this year, and I really hope to see all of you at con next year (minus asshole).

[shannon]

Re: The Asshole Fiasco

but i had the ninja sticker. When I got there, no one knew who the fuck I was, so I kinda got the evil eye. I got in because I had the ninja sticker, but the fellow at the door stared at my ID so long I yanked it back... it seemed like he was memorizing it or trying to divine why such a lame person was able to get into such a cool party. It was a totally different story friday night when I was with converge. It was interesting to see how I was treated the two nights. I'm not saying one is right or wrong, just that two people could have an experience 180 degrees apart, depending on if they are known as "cool" or not. Someone could be a totally cool and awesome and brilliant person, but if it's their first year at con, they'll be treated like a lame outsider at these parties. It may or may not be what we want, but it's something to consider.

Wow, this was my first Con and I had a BLAST. I came with my Husband and looked more like a Soccer Mom all weekend than anything. I was completely welcommed to both the Ninja Party as well as Abby/Ice's party. I never felt like I got the 'evil eye' nor did my Husband. I never encounterred any Elite-est(sp) attitudes. We simply went around and smiled alot.. truth be told, I FELT 'cool' even if I may or may not have been. Turned out, I met some VERY Cool People and look forward to seeing them again! I even walked up to DT at the Ninja Party to introduce myself and tell him how impressed I was with the whole 'CON-thing' and not once did I get treated like a lame outsider.

I got the impression that, as a whole, those at the Con were VERY Open, Fun, non-judgemental, and COOL. And if ANYONE would have gotten treated Lame, it would have been a middle-age nOOb Soccer Mom of 3 little boys that is clueless of computers. I felt like I fit Right In With Everyone. I guess it's all in your attitude... if you FEEL out of Place, then perhaps you are......?

[Abby_Normal]

Re: The Asshole Fiasco

Sorry to burst yer bubble, princess. Hotel security was quite happy to have nothing to do. As were the rest of us.

I assure you there were a few really bad apples who were indeed being very rude and confrontational. Anyone who was in the penthouse will tell you the same.

We allowed them to search the room repeatly, we complied with every request they made. But they kept pushing, like they wanted us to push back.

This wasn't all riv security people, it was just a couple. Some of them were actually quite cool.

The goons were, as always, awsome. They are always welcome in our room.

[Xodia]

Re: The Asshole Fiasco

Just a side note, "Fuck Asshole" t-shirts will be available at ShmooCon for the paltry price of $12. The design will be up shortly.

[TheCotMan]

Re: The Asshole Fiasco

I guess it's all in your attitude... if you FEEL out of Place, then perhaps you are......?

I don't know if this was intended as a trolling statement, but it seems a bit antagonistic. Some members here might think you were accusing them of not belonging at Defcon, while other members would read it as a general "you" instead of a "you" directed at the person to which you were responding. I am not telling you how you should act, but am letting you know how some people might take the statement.

Glad you had a great time at Defcon, and welcome to the forums.

[shannon]

Re: The Asshole Fiasco

I don't know if this was intended as a trolling statement, but it seems a bit antognistic. Some members here might think you were accusing them of not belonging at Defcon, while other members would read it as a general "you" instead of a "you" directed at the person to which you were responding. I am not telling you how you should act, but am letting you know how some people might take the statement.

Glad you had a great time at Defcon, and welcome to the forums.

I can see how that would be taken wrong and antagonistic. Very Sorry
I meant it in a VERY General way and not to be hateful. ~I~ tend to use this way of feeling with most of anything ~I~ do.... If I feel out of place somewhere or doing something then perhaps I should not be there or doing it in the first place (Follow your Gut-Instinct kinda Thing).

That being said, it does bother me a bit that someone would criticise a general public attitude (those at Defcon) because they werent 'made' to feel a certain way. Take responsibility for your own feelings and do not blame others if it isnt what you want. (again, a general statement). I would hope that Mfreeck does not feel like it was DefCon's fault that he was made to feel like a 'lame outsider'. Especially since I felt could be considered in the same shoes as he was and had a completely different experience.

I would never go so far as to tell someone that I think they don't belong at Defcon.. (I would be a hypocrite against those I met at DefCon if I did and I have the utmost respect for everyone I met there). I think everyone belongs at Defcon who wants to be there. If your experience is bad, then it is because ~you~ make it bad. Someone else cannot make you 'feel' anything you don't want to feel.

[shannon]

Re: The Asshole Fiasco

Also, Thanks for the Welcome. I can be a bit over-spoken.... ask my Husband.

[astcell]

Re: The Asshole Fiasco

Side note, can we use a picture of Asshole in next years scavenger hunt when they ask for an asshat?
AcidicA

That's like bringing pool2girl when they ask for a young lady.

[shrdlu]

Re: The Asshole Fiasco

We allowed them to search the room repeatly, we complied with every request they made. But they kept pushing, like they wanted us to push back.

This wasn't all riv security people, it was just a couple. Some of them were actually quite cool.

I have to back you up on this. For the most part, everyone in a brown shirt was great. On the other hand, I ran into someone about 5:30 or 6:00AM Sunday that was just *looking* for some reason to get serious. First I got yelled at for not wearing shoes (even though I'd been down there every single morning previously, without shoes, and encountered guards each time). Then, when I returned, I got yelled at when I started to plug my laptop in the wall socket. There were other things as well.

Amazingly enough, I kept my cool (even without adequate coffee), but it was trying. There was simply no reason for this creature of indeterminate sexuality to behave in such a fashion, other than hoping that there'd be something to react to. I say indeterminate because I thought it was female, but some of the white shirt guys swore that it was male. Who can say? Anyway, there really were a few bad apples, noid.

[Grendel]

Re: The Asshole Fiasco

There was simply no reason for this creature of indeterminate sexuality to behave in such a fashion, other than hoping that there'd be something to react to. I say indeterminate because I thought it was female, but some of the white shirt guys swore that it was male. Who can say? Anyway, there really were a few bad apples, noid.

Ok, I now know who you're talking about. I saw her chewing out someone in the common area (around 1 am on Sat.), threatening to throw him out of the casino. From what I heard and saw, I would also state that it looked like she was looking for a fight without any real justification. Yeah, I thought she was a bit over the top, imo.

[mfreeck]

Re: The Asshole Fiasco

That being said, it does bother me a bit that someone would criticise a general public attitude (those at Defcon) because they werent 'made' to feel a certain way. Take responsibility for your own feelings and do not blame others if it isnt what you want. (again, a general statement). I would hope that Mfreeck does not feel like it was DefCon's fault that he was made to feel like a 'lame outsider'. Especially since I felt could be considered in the same shoes as he was and had a completely different experience.

In my post I don't believe I blamed anyone (except possibly the doorman), and I specifically said that I was not judging the events that took place as right or wrong. Someone also replied to my post and defended invite-only parties. I never said I had a problem with them. I believe it's pretty sane to have invite-only parties. At the AP, with an outdoor area, it's easier for the goons to police folks, as they are more spread out, easier to see, etc. This is not so inside, and by now we are all aware of the dangers of having one bad guest.

The topic iirc was about whether folks might feel excluded by not getting into the parties or by being new. I was sharing a story of two different circumstances where I felt I was perceived two different ways. It is true that half of how you are perceived is how you feel.... how you perceive you were perceived. I was in fact a bit cranky that night in general, so maybe the whole 'evil eye' bit was a bunch of hooey. Nevertheless, I was sharing my story about how I felt. It is pretty darn subjective, which is why I took pains to not pass judgement on whether the situation was right or wrong. I doubt that this particular situation could be categorized either way, because there are almost no objective facts which point in one direction or another.

Because I am not new to Defcon, I could only speculate how someone might feel if they were new and didn't know enough folks to get any invites to any parties, or if they did get into a party, but didn't know anyone there at all. I am very heartened to hear that you were new to Defcon, found some friends and were treated with respect.

[dYn4mic]

Re: The Asshole Fiasco

Well the neg9 party was the little neg9 symbol stickers on peoples badges and that was xodia and I. The neg9 stripper con party, but that got screwed up. It just comes down to who you know. If you know the right people you can get into the private parties and such. People like to know who is at their parties so stuff like what asshole doesn't happen, that I believe is the whole reason for the invites.

Yeah.. I really wish you or Xodia would've talked to some of the other people in the group... more importiantly myself and craSH who pretty much founded it, are the PoC for the biggest areas, and are trying to steer things in the right direction among many other things.... As everyone knows we can party well, I'd like to work towards being respected for real reasons. You see Shmoo group throwing a strippercon?

Party invites are good, and bad. On one hand, they keep the "bad" people out, but they also keep a lot of good people, people who neg9 would want to come see what we're all about, see that we're about sharing information, about learning and having the "dedication" to set your mind on doing something and stick with it.
"Stripper con party" is something I myself look down on, and I would bet craSH, twinvega, static_cast and others would agree. Its not something I see as productive, and watching human beings do crazy things then crawl around on the ground for mere few dollars is something that makes me sick, not excited.

This time around, our open arms got some people in trouble. I learned a few things at defcon this year, one of them is to speak up when I meet someone who is being a jackass rather than waiting for someone else to say "slow down".
While I'd not like to bring personal shit into this thread, please don't make stickers and give them out for the group that you barely participate in. Espcially without asking how some other members feel. We're trying to gain respect, not the oppsite.

[dYn4mic]

Re: The Asshole Fiasco

Just a side note, "Fuck Asshole" t-shirts will be available at ShmooCon for the paltry price of $12. The design will be up shortly.

I don't want highwiz to get too excited...

[staticblac]

Re: The Asshole Fiasco

Yeah.. I really wish you or Xodia would've talked to some of the other people in the group... more importiantly myself and craSH who pretty much founded it, are the PoC for the biggest areas, and are trying to steer things in the right direction among many other things.... As everyone knows we can party well, I'd like to work towards being respected for real reasons. You see Shmoo group throwing a strippercon?

Party invites are good, and bad. On one hand, they keep the "bad" people out, but they also keep a lot of good people, people who neg9 would want to come see what we're all about, see that we're about sharing information, about learning and having the "dedication" to set your mind on doing something and stick with it.
"Stripper con party" is something I myself look down on, and I would bet craSH, twinvega, static_cast and others would agree. Its not something I see as productive, and watching human beings do crazy things then crawl around on the ground for mere few dollars is something that makes me sick, not excited.

This time around, our open arms got some people in trouble. I learned a few things at defcon this year, one of them is to speak up when I meet someone who is being a jackass rather than waiting for someone else to say "slow down".
While I'd not like to bring personal shit into this thread, please don't make stickers and give them out for the group that you barely participate in. Espcially without asking how some other members feel. We're trying to gain respect, not the oppsite.

Strippercon at least in my opinon was meant as a good time for all too enjoy. Not as a way to look down on the principles that neg9 belives in and what the group stands for. When I first joined the group I belived the group stood for the open sharing of knowledge with other likeminded people and I still believe the principle stands to this day. I never though it was just putting a name on a group of people drinking together and having a good time. The group stands for a lot more and if in fact the main idea of the group was brought down I apologize, that was not the intention of the party. It was just meant as a way to unwind from dc for anyone to enjoy.

[bryan]

Re: The Asshole Fiasco

Were the falling objects happening on the north side of the pool? While trying to set up for the Beer Cooling Contraption Contest (around 11:30 am on Friday) I had a Redbull can (empty) fall from the sky, hit the ground, and bounce up and hit my leg. I didn't think much of it, especially since I was trying to convince a Riv security guard that my contraptin was not really a cooler.

Bryan