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FC2011 and Elevatorcon: The facts!
14 years ago
Hi guys!
Back from FC and finally caught up on sleep. I effectively spent the last 2 days having my own super-nap-con, and I can finally say I feel rested.
FC was AMAZING this year, and I have everyone that I saw there to thank for it! Thank you to everyone that dropped by my table, and fist bumps to everyone else I ran into! I plan to run my table a little differently next year.. hopefully allow for more commissions for more people since I was booked almost immediately this year @_@.
It was awesome partying with all the people I got to see again, and for those of you that were there and I missed, I am sure we will have another chance next FC!
I'm gonna keep this short since my brain is still a little gone, but I wanted to thank everyone for their support (financially (as in buying commissions or artshow work) or otherwise), their friendliness and kindness. It was so nice to be able to see everyone again <:).
ANYWAY, I am taking a couple of days of break from the internet, and then I will be back to respond to notes and email! Until then, caio X3
Onto elevator con! I am hearing crazy rumors floating around, so I figured I'd give you guys the facts (if only to cull the drama slightly).
1. The reason the elevator broke was because there were too many people in it. TOO MANY DAMN PEOPLE. 25 to be exact. When I got to the elevator lobby on the 18th floor, an elevator opened up with a bunch of party people inside yelling "come on, get in! get in!". I didn't realize how many people were already on there, and I don't think THEY realized my friends and I were a party of 5 rather than just one or two people. Regardless, in a moment of irrational exuberance, we managed to pack 25 people like sardines into one of those elevators. None of us realized the error of our ways until it was too late. It was too much for the counterweight on the elevator, so basically the motors could not effectively control how fast the elevator was going down.
2. I've heard the word "plummeted" used a lot to describe the way the elevator descended. Whether or not it fell faster than it should have, I can not be sure. What I CAN say is that it did not FEEL like plummeting. However, we did not stop at any floors, something went wrong with the numbers, and we were all freaked out by a sudden jolt as the emergency brakes up top clamped down on the lines and the elevator came to a sudden stop. Regardless, nobody in the elevator felt a horrifying moment of panic as the elevator "free-fell" or anything. Things seemed mostly OK until that jolt at the end.
3. The rest of the story is that we were stopped about 4 or 5 feet above the lobby level (if we pried open the internal doors, we saw about 40% concrete, and 60% lobby external door) and the firefighters could not figure out how to open the external doors to get us out. I assume they were doing their best to keep from BREAKING the elevators, so they ended up calling the elevator company to figure out how to open the doors without ruining them. All in all, it took them about an hour to get us out of there (which is funny, because it was really simple once we knew what to do..).
Anyway, nobody got hurt, nobody died, there was not a fist fight, we were not jumping up and down, we did not pull the emergency stop because we thought it would be funny. It was simply a moment of being too excited that put us into the situation. Everyone in there did pretty well, and I was PERSONALLY just fine. It was just another wonderful FC adventure :P
So yes. I just wanted to post this so that people can relax and stop spreading rumors about it XD. Just remember, never get into an elevator that seems too full, no matter how drunk you are..!
Back from FC and finally caught up on sleep. I effectively spent the last 2 days having my own super-nap-con, and I can finally say I feel rested.
FC was AMAZING this year, and I have everyone that I saw there to thank for it! Thank you to everyone that dropped by my table, and fist bumps to everyone else I ran into! I plan to run my table a little differently next year.. hopefully allow for more commissions for more people since I was booked almost immediately this year @_@.
It was awesome partying with all the people I got to see again, and for those of you that were there and I missed, I am sure we will have another chance next FC!
I'm gonna keep this short since my brain is still a little gone, but I wanted to thank everyone for their support (financially (as in buying commissions or artshow work) or otherwise), their friendliness and kindness. It was so nice to be able to see everyone again <:).
ANYWAY, I am taking a couple of days of break from the internet, and then I will be back to respond to notes and email! Until then, caio X3
Onto elevator con! I am hearing crazy rumors floating around, so I figured I'd give you guys the facts (if only to cull the drama slightly).
1. The reason the elevator broke was because there were too many people in it. TOO MANY DAMN PEOPLE. 25 to be exact. When I got to the elevator lobby on the 18th floor, an elevator opened up with a bunch of party people inside yelling "come on, get in! get in!". I didn't realize how many people were already on there, and I don't think THEY realized my friends and I were a party of 5 rather than just one or two people. Regardless, in a moment of irrational exuberance, we managed to pack 25 people like sardines into one of those elevators. None of us realized the error of our ways until it was too late. It was too much for the counterweight on the elevator, so basically the motors could not effectively control how fast the elevator was going down.
2. I've heard the word "plummeted" used a lot to describe the way the elevator descended. Whether or not it fell faster than it should have, I can not be sure. What I CAN say is that it did not FEEL like plummeting. However, we did not stop at any floors, something went wrong with the numbers, and we were all freaked out by a sudden jolt as the emergency brakes up top clamped down on the lines and the elevator came to a sudden stop. Regardless, nobody in the elevator felt a horrifying moment of panic as the elevator "free-fell" or anything. Things seemed mostly OK until that jolt at the end.
3. The rest of the story is that we were stopped about 4 or 5 feet above the lobby level (if we pried open the internal doors, we saw about 40% concrete, and 60% lobby external door) and the firefighters could not figure out how to open the external doors to get us out. I assume they were doing their best to keep from BREAKING the elevators, so they ended up calling the elevator company to figure out how to open the doors without ruining them. All in all, it took them about an hour to get us out of there (which is funny, because it was really simple once we knew what to do..).
Anyway, nobody got hurt, nobody died, there was not a fist fight, we were not jumping up and down, we did not pull the emergency stop because we thought it would be funny. It was simply a moment of being too excited that put us into the situation. Everyone in there did pretty well, and I was PERSONALLY just fine. It was just another wonderful FC adventure :P
So yes. I just wanted to post this so that people can relax and stop spreading rumors about it XD. Just remember, never get into an elevator that seems too full, no matter how drunk you are..!
Not sure I know what you mean by creepy owl thing. o.o
Yeah, I'm not really sympathetic to ZOMG TEH PLITE OF TEH FURRAY DAT HAZ 2 SPEND 2 EXTRA MINNITZ ON TEH TRAYN.
Glad you're ok, and thanks a million for the commission and it was great seeing you at the con! Until next year <3
Anyway, no prob, dude <3. I got the scan and everything :3 I will see you around!
Sweet stuff! I'll probably be making a better scan later, since that one was done on someone's little scanner they brought to the con and it's a little foggy :P
P.S. BONERS
I'm sure I'll see you around next con! Take care 'till then
I did however discover this year that the Fairmont has a steam room, which is in its rec center's locker rooms. Steam room in men's locker room = OK to be naked in there. It was fun :3
Also, hahaha steam room. I didn't even know locker rooms there existed.
My friends and I were joking about it, comparing it to Disney's "Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror" ride. XD
Glad to hear no one was hurt.
It's their policies that I dun like so much (the In Room bar, the "1/2th of room payment due up front", etc.), and I heard that the maintenance staff and the room service staff dun care for us much..
In my opinion they gave off the air of just barely tolerating us... For example, clearing out the lobby at 2 AM when people (ie, paying guests) were still hanging out... other hotels will let you hang out as late as you want as long as you're not passed out or being disruptive.
I personally always felt that the vibe of the place was a little too "swanky" and uptight for a furcon... I'm glad this was our last year there.
People kept saying the Doubletree was better, but then I argue that it has NOTHING around it, while the Fairmont is POOF in the middle of the Downtown district. Plus it was really cramped at times (although yeah the Doubletree had a better "Party Floor")
I'll miss the Fairmont a bit..but I'll adjust to the new hotel.
We'll see how next year goes... I know the con itself is at the convention center, but has anyone announced which hotel is going to have the main FC room block (if any??)
Also, it seemed that both the St Claire and the Crown Plaza are officially overflow hotels. I haven't researched the number of rooms that totals out to, but I have a feeling there will be plenty of options available.
I think that my individual needs change how I felt about the place. I really do miss the party floor and the balconies :/.
And if you didn't have a room key (like if you were staying at the other hotel), you had to find someone who did have one to make the elevators go, or walk up the stairs for 17 floors... if you could find the stairs.
I agree, it was pretty cramped up there.
That's only for the new tower; the one that's segregated from the lobby.
The MAIN Tower elevators didn't require a room key.
For a convention, yes it's stupid, but I realize why they did this.
Remember the hotel is SLAPPED right in the middle of the DOWNTOWN district. To access the main tower, you have to pass though the lobby, which is always monitored.
The NEW Tower, you don't have to go through the lobby.
So to prevent any crimes happening, they require room key swipes for door access late at night.
Like I said, yeah it's really inconvenient for conventions (The LA Convention Center hotels do this for Blizzcon/E3/etc), but it's there for a reason.
Heh, yeah I talked to someone else who was in the elevator, said basically the same as you. I also saw the fire department guys on the lobby floor. Glad everyone made it out OK!
Yeah, so long Fairmont, I've got no regrets about leaving there. Not sure how I feel about the convention center though. Seems kind of big and soulless.
We can make it a block of awesome. Seriously, a block! The length of the convention center is about that long. Let's show 'em what we can do!
**sees a couple of foxes with grins to shame the Cheshire Cat**
Uh... within reason?
It was great hanging with you!! :3
Glad you had a good time... it was a pretty awesome con. ^.^
~Foxy
I also agree with you about the Fairmont. The lobby was KINDA comfy in the middle but way too small and the whole hotel felt like a maze. Food was excellent. That pizza place just a block over was incredible!
-Tibs
I didn't hear a lot of rumors, but fist fights, jumping up and down, pulling the emergency stop... Sounds like something people would believe. I only heard people vomiting?
I think t-shirts are going to be made for "I survived ElevatorCon 2011" as a good, we walked away and in hindsight, not a brilliant idea at the time.
One of our group (Hex) was also a lucky attendee of Elevatorcon. He said that some of the 25 were getting hot, and someone got sick.
Usually there's a phone or intercom inside the elevator. Did you use that to contact the outside world first? Seems odd that the Fire Department got called in.
glad everyone is ok
The one good thing about staying at the overflow hotel this year was that i didn't have to deal with the morons who don't know how to behave on an elevator.
I was totally going to stop by your table at some point but somehow I missed you the one time I swept the den. The rest of the time I was chained to my own table lol. Next time!
LOL you were in the elevator now I can link the journal :D
Miss you guys already :(
Seriously our boob touch was epic. Glad you wern't hurt and that you got to BOPIT.
I was really untrusting of those elevators, especially the ones in the main tower since they always seemed packed.
Area = AWESOME
I wouldn't have minded the cost if they had been nicer overall. But yeah if you had a problem, they were just terrible. The main guy and lady who ran the lobby were horribly rude and I really only got better service from those lower on the staff totem pole (who were genuinely nice people)
Had too much fun! Was great to hang wiff you again.
Ruv you for days. <3
Somehow, when I heard that an elevator had fallen 18 floors with 25-26 drunk people inside, I knew where my Seattle friends were.
I saw that one of the elevators was blocked off when I was leaving the con. Guess that explains it XD
I'm glad I got to run into you! I would've really liked to stick around your table, but you looked absolutely swamped with work. I hate to think FC will be the next time I get to say hi again in person, but I'll certainly look forward to next time! Thanks for the commission you did for me too, I'll send you a scan of that soon.