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Sunday, April 29, 2012

Fire Alarm at Anime Central's Masquerade

Orderly Chaos ensues at ACen 2012 Cosplay
Just as the Masquerade was about to start at Anime Central 2012 (having already been delayed by at least an hour), the Fire Alarm went off and we were forced to evacuate the hotel and into the street. Orderly chaos ensued. It lasted around fifteen minutes. However, it was long enough to further delay the schedule to the point where all of the Masquerade skits were cancelled and only walk-on cosplayers were shown on-stage, just so the Soap Bubble Dance wouldn't be delayed afterwards. One of the highlights of Anime Central are the skits which people have worked with great effort to put together. And according to the ACen Program Book, the Soap Bubble was scheduled from 9:00 pm to 4:30 am. That's 7 1/2 hours! They couldn't give up at least one hour for the skits!? 

Seriously, one hour.

Bummer...

2 comments:

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  2. I've caught word that the Soap Bubble wasn't affected due to union labor rules. Hotel and convention center setup crews require contracts with the organization to rearrange chairs for different event needs. This appears to be non-negotiable, even due to unforeseeable incidents like a fire alarm. Yes, conventions like ACen pay for services like rearranging chairs (on top of ridiculous entertainment taxes and loading dock fees).

    I've also heard that masquerade participants were suitably compensated for the inconvenience and the perpetrator was in custody. All things considered, if this were a real emergency, it's good to know that safety was the primary concern of convention staff, Hyatt employees and Rosemont police and fire officials.

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