I just went to Dragoncon. I loved it. What I didn't love was the neanderthal football fans who were ALSO in town. I didn't see any of the ire or comments made, and they are lucky I didn't. There was also a reported attack on someone just walking back to a hotel room. Some morons threw eggs at somene in garb, screamed obscenities and sped off. That's idiotic in high school, when you are talking a $400 custom bodice or the like? Very bad karma!

No mention about it in the news, no response from the cops since no-one got a license..


What's worse is the abuse that the TELEVISION STATIONS gave us!! I've started a petition to protest the abuse we got at their hands. This isn't the fifth grade. Standing still and "Taking it" isn't gonna happen!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/11alive-abusive-insensitive-and-wrong

Please consider signing the petition. The links are there to the interviews and so-called "news stories". Judge for yourself.

Edit: thanks for the URL.. don't know what happened..

And PLEASE...

Spread the word..

Signed, commented and emailed the station. OMG that was disgusting. When Triumph the insult dog does it it's funny. Mean but funny. When the local news does it....it makes you want to break out the torches and pitchforks.

That link doesn't seem to work for me. This one does, though:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/11alive-abusive-insensitive-and-wrong.

I've signed. My mom actually told me about this. Both of us are huge geeks. She said the rage was huge when she saw the report. Seriously, did these idiots not know that there is this thing called "Youtube" that is on the "World Wide Web" which is heavily populated by "geeks" "dorks" and "nerds"?

I'll give my buddy down at GA Tech a call today. I'm sure he was there.

That one reporter is a tool. I can understand what he was going for, but you're a journalist, not a comedian. 11 Alive Atlanta is not the Daily Show.

The second is a stupid piece, but it's not that offensive. Cos-players in close quarters do kinda stink. Yeah, large groups of people do stink, but let's be honest if you spend 12 hours in a Wookie costume, you'll stink.

The reason I found the second piece so offensive is that it was done at all. Yes, anyone who has been in costume knows that you sweat and stink. Halloween partygoers are just as aware of the phenominum. A news station doing a story on the smell of a group of people, whatever they happen to be doing at the time, is frikkin offensive.

I can't, for the life of me, get the video to work. I suspect the station took it down.

Did anyone manage to post it on Youtube yet, you think?

I searched you tube with no success. The station has taken the videos down.

Not to mention, bleeding obvious and therefore a stupid waste of time. Does anybody bother to report that football players stink? No. Why? Because it's bleeding obvious.

yeah, the videos are gone. They never replied to my emails either. I think they want this to blow over. NOT GONNA HAPPEN!!

The petition fails at English. I'm reading as I go.

Well, it could stand an editing.

I recieved two E-mail responses to my mail to 11 Alive.

This:
John,

I honestly didn't see any of the pieces that 11Alive did on Dragon*Con since I
was off and at Dragon*Con that weekend, but I'm going to forward your concerns
on to our Vice President of News.

Thank you,


Travis G. Maurer
Assignment Editor
11Alive News
404.873.9114


And This:

Jon, I read your email and just wanted to apologize if you were offended by the
11Alive coverage of DragonCon. We in no way meant to offend anyone. Many
people on our staff are huge, huge DrangonCon fans and we look forward to
covering it every year. We find people who attend have a great sense of humor
and love the coverage and the fun way we always portray the festival. From all
of us at 11Alive we want to apologize and let you know your viewership is so
important to us. We will be more careful next year not to cover it in a way
that would offend the participants. Thank you for opening our eyes to the
problem.




Ellen M. Crooke
Vice President News and Information Center
WXIA 11 Alive / Myatltv
Atlanta, Georgia
www.11alive.com
404-733-2210
[email protected]


This was the mail I sent them.

Name: John Peterson

Address:
City:
Zip:

Phone:
E-mail Address: [email protected]

Opt-In: NO_do_NOT_send_me_marketing_messages

Message: I found your news coverage of the DragonCon event distasteful and
bordering on abusive. I cannot imagine any other specific group of people who
would have been treated this badly by a news station. Would you send reporters
to a gay pride parade and have the reporters mock the marchers during interviews
and ask them questions such as "Does your mom know you dress this way?". The
people who go to conventions like DragonCon do not deserve ridicule. They
deserve respectful treatment. These are the people who bring needed cash to the
local economy.
An entire news story on the smell of the conventiongoers? Are you kidding me? I
haven't seen any news stories on how bad it smells in a sports arena during a
game but I have been to some nasty smelling stadiums. When you get that many
people together in an enclosed area there might just be some body odor. Was it
that slow of a news day or are your producers just that inept and rude?