Twister Tournament?

[Krissay-face 0]

Alright, I feel sorta bad posting this considering I sent an email to 'General Info' asking the same question, but it's been several days and I'd really like an answer.

I wanted to plan something fun this year at Otakon, so I thought about having a Twister Tournament.

(I doubt I need to explain it, but Twister as in "right hand red, left leg blue.")

I proposed the idea on cosplay.com and several people suggested I get this

checked out with the staff to clear up any problems there might be with liability and other such things.

I pretty much just want to know if it'll be okay.

I am responsible, as are the people I plan to attend with. If there are any

issues with any of the people, should the tournament take place, we will make

sure to take care of it in a reasonable manner.

If we see any thing that could result in injury happening, we will take care of

that as well.

I will be sure to make Guidelines for the participants to follow, and if they do

not agree, we will not allow them to play.

The group playing will not be that large either, nor will we let too many people

play at once.

Please consider letting us do this, as we are very fond of the idea and others

interested don't seem like unreasonable people. I can assure you that I will do

everything in my power to make it a fun and safe game. The staffers have more

important things to deal with then some people playing Twister, after all.

Thank you.~

[shoujokakumeijchan 0]

I can't give an official answer (not the sort of thing I deal with), but I can tell you that the first question will likely be "Where do you want/plan to hold this event?" Open floor space in the BCC lobby-type areas would probably not be a good idea because of the sheer volume of foot traffic.

[ithilienne 2]

Why? That's my first reaction - why do you want to set up a game of Twister at an anime convention? Twister is in no way, shape, or form related to anime or Japanese culture. While it's a blast to play a few rounds with friends, the odds of having an official Otakon Twister Tournament are essentially zero. We already have more programming than there is time for over the weekend - and that's limiting things strictly to east Asian or east Asian-influenced offerings.

Where? That's my second question - as Jen said, there are no good places in the BCC to set something like this up, even if (especially if) it is not an Official Otakon Event. Even if you find a corner that's big enough for your game, nine times out of ten that corner will not be big enough to adequately contain the crowd that will inevitably form around people playing Twister.

How? How will you keep things under control? How will you stop something when it gets out of hand? Twister is, by its very nature, not a Controlled Environment, and even the slightest disruption could quickly escalate into something serious in such a charged and crowded atmosphere as the BCC. Even if you and your planned group are responsible, there are inevitably one or two (or twelve) people who will, just for the fun of it, try to ruin your game.

If you'd still like to email the staff again, you're more than welcome to, of course. You can use the Contact Us page to send an email to Programming. However, the answer will almost certainly be no. A game or three of Twister is better played among friends in your hotel room (or outside, if the weather is nice) than in the BCC.

[Krissay-face 0]

Why? That's my first reaction - why do you want to set up a game of Twister at an anime convention? Twister is in no way, shape, or form related to anime or Japanese culture. While it's a blast to play a few rounds with friends, the odds of having an official Otakon Twister Tournament are essentially zero. We already have more programming than there is time for over the weekend - and that's limiting things strictly to east Asian or east Asian-influenced offerings.

Where? That's my second question - as Jen said, there are no good places in the BCC to set something like this up, even if (especially if) it is not an Official Otakon Event. Even if you find a corner that's big enough for your game, nine times out of ten that corner will not be big enough to adequately contain the crowd that will inevitably form around people playing Twister.

How? How will you keep things under control? How will you stop something when it gets out of hand? Twister is, by its very nature, not a Controlled Environment, and even the slightest disruption could quickly escalate into something serious in such a charged and crowded atmosphere as the BCC. Even if you and your planned group are responsible, there are inevitably one or two (or twelve) people who will, just for the fun of it, try to ruin your game.

If you'd still like to email the staff again, you're more than welcome to, of course. You can use the Contact Us page to send an email to Programming. However, the answer will almost certainly be no. A game or three of Twister is better played among friends in your hotel room (or outside, if the weather is nice) than in the BCC.

[XellosNoHimitsu 0]

I'm not a staffer this year, but I don't see why they would say no. People have been playing every year since 03 ( I remember at one point possibly 06 we played down by the fountains) It was hilarious and fun and used basically as an interactive photoshoot. At one point the Ouran twins were the spinners and they were acting very in character to the amusement of all of the players. So far it's been a responsible bunch and nobodies gotten hurt, though as I said, it's usually just a few people.

[Asrial Dune 0]

This is one of those things that's fine to do in an area which is out of the way. The area around the fountains is not a good area for something like this due to the number of people around (plus it's a stone floor and people playing Twister are prone to falling...those two don't tend to mix very well). I can't promise that any one area would be alright for this, it all depends on how the traffic patterns play out at con, but if you look on the 400 level you should be able to find an empty corner.

If you're looking for an official green light from the staff for this, it won't happen; member-run events that happen on the side are never officially sanctioned by the con. As long as it isn't causing a disturbance, blocking traffic, giving us reason to think that someone's going to be hurt, breaking or very likely to break any of our other policies then it probably won't be shut down (that decision is up to the individual staffer who sees the game though), but that's the most that you'll get in terms of an official ok from the con.

[Krissay-face 0]

Alright. Thank you!

Everyone will be glad to hear this.

[bobn64 0]

(Not to bring up old topics, but this thread has been discussed recently among staff, and we wanted to clarify the following)

I think that Asrial Dune's message may have been interpreted the wrong way. Otakon presently holds no official opinion on a member-organized Twister meetup. This means that we do not officially approve of it (the cosplay.com thread refers to it as "Otakon approved"). We actually have serious reservations about such an event, mainly out of concern for member safety. Even though something like this could be done with no problems at all, all it takes is one or two people to push it over the edge and turn a good Twister game into a bad Twister game.

We just need you to know that if it gets out of control, you may be asked to pack up the twister mats. Don't be angry if that happens - we only do it to prevent inappropriate situations, and keep people from getting injured. We're not out to break up meetups just for fun.

I do agree though, if this meetup takes place, the large West side of the 400 level is probably the best location so that you don't block any traffic.

Edited July 3, 2009 by bobn64