Convention Hotel Room Helpful Tips

Standard hotel room

              Conventions can be a place of fun, but they can also be a place of extreme stress. This can get even worse if you're in charge of a hotel room, especially if it's your first time in charge.  Most people jump right in, thinking that being in charge of the room is the same as just staying in the room with friends. It is not the case. People at conventions tend to be dishonest as well as too trusting. They allow people you don't know into the room, things get stolen, people don't pay and try to weasel out of it, and things get broken. In the end, the person in charge of the room is left having to fit the bill for other people's mistakes.

                I've heard so many horror stories about convention hotels. I've also been in charge of hotel rooms for almost the entire time that I have been attending conventions since 2005. I was taken advantage of a lot in the beginning. People have refused to pay and guilt-tripped me into allowing them in for free. People have broken things and refused to pay the deposit saying it was my responsibility to watch them. They have let others into the hotel room when I've specifically told them not to and things have been stolen. They've even taken all my alcohol to someone's room party without me, drank it all, and refused to pay me for my booze they drank.

                Unfortunately, I am not the only person who's suffered these types of situations. I've heard these same stories repeated back to me by several people in charge of hotel rooms. I've heard other variations, where someone harassed someone into letting them put 12 people in a room built for 4. I've also heard people who've stayed in other room's been told "there's only 4 in the room, here's the cost" - but when they get there, there's 20 people in a room, and they were stuck in the situation.

                Beneficially, having to deal with these situations and hear them over and over - I've become very knowledgeable on how to prevent oneself from being put into this situation - from both being in charge of the room's stand point, to knowing how to handle being in someone else's room. I will cover both sides and ways to help handle it. 

FOR THOSE IN CHARGE OF A ROOM

Depending on how you manage your hotel room, it can remain as nice as the image on the left, or turn into the disaster on the right. 

                If you want to be in charge of a hotel room, or have been and have suffered these situations, here are some tips and advice to being in charge of a hotel room. These are just my personal advice, as well as some advice given by a few others, so do not take these suggestions as hotel room laws. See them merely as suggestions from convention veterans.

                First off, do not allow people you do not trust to room in your room. This can range from people that are friends of your friends, to even your own friends that you feel iffy about. If you are hesitant about the situation, put your foot down and say "no". Letting people you don't trust into the room is the quickest way to end up with people who don't pay, steal, and bully you into getting their way the entire weekend which will take away from your fun. If you are unable to put your foot down this early in the process of being in charge of a room - you are not ready to be in charge of a room at all.

                The person in charge needs to be able to have good leadership, which means being able to make difficult choices and stick with them. If you feel you would cower if backed into a corner by those in your room, you should probably stay in someone else's room.  I cannot stress this fact enough, if you cannot keep control in a group of your friends - do not tackle being in charge of a room.

                Secondly, and this is extremely important. If you cannot afford to pay for the entire room by yourself, do not be in charge. Situations happen, people who say they can pay could back out last minute, and prices could change. There are so many unknown factors that could make people drop out, the prices go up, more people drop because the price portions go up...and these problems might not surface until the day everyone shows up in the room. If you cannot afford to suffer the loss of money, do not book the room.

                One of the best solutions to this is to have everyone PayPal you the money in advance. Though you need to stress, that if they drop out of the room after a certain time, they will not get their money back, and if they don't pay by a certain day - they are no longer in the room. If they don't pay by the deadline, they probably had no intention to pay you properly anyway. If they cancel and try to get their money back past the date, you must be able to stand firm and refuse to return the money or return it suffering the loss yourself. Be warned, money dealings on hotel rooms is the quickest way to lose friends, so be prepared.

                Another thing to think about is to set rules ahead of time. Inform all people who are going to be in your room of the rules, and have them agree to them. I'd suggest writing up a list if you're unsure of what your rules would be. If you don't have set rules, people won't know what to follow and you will be disrespected. Fights will also break out. So set rules that people agree on like in the following example:

Rules of the Room:

1. No people we don't know allowed in the room unless 2 or 3 room-members are in attendance - unless the head of the room has given you specific permission otherwise.

2. No underage people in the room.

3. No sex or etc in the hotel room.

4. No drugs in the hotel room

5. Keep your costumes and etc organized, and keep the bathroom clean. Do not leave makeup out or etc

6. Everyone must shower at least once a day. If room-members ask you to shower, do so without argument.

7. Sleeping arrangements have been set; do not take another person's sleeping spot.

8. Lights out at 2 a.m. - if you still want to be awake, do so outside of the room - some people need to sleep.

                An additional good tip is not to overflow your hotel room. If the hotel says the limit for your room is 6, then do not have too many more than 6 people in your room. Yes, there are people who break this rule, but that is disrespectful to the hotel and can get the convention into a lot of trouble.  Certain hotels are really cracking down on that lately, so I suggest either researching which cons are okay with overflowing your room and which are not, or obeying the hotel rules regardless. If you are not responsible enough to show the hotel and convention that much respect, then you are probably not ready to handle being in charge of a hotel room. Do not allow other members of the room to convince you to put more people into the room just because other people do it. In the end, if you break the hotel rules and are caught, you will be the one paying the consequences, not the person who told you to do it.

                There are several other pieces of advice that can be given regarding being in charge of hotel rooms, but those are relative to questions asked. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment on this post and we will try to respond to you as quickly as possible. Or you can send an email to animaniacs_cosplay_contact@yahoo.com

STAYING IN ANOTHER PERSON'S ROOM

                As with being in charge of a room, the number one factor here is to make sure you can trust the people you are rooming with. As you attend more conventions, you'll learn how to deal with only trusting one or a few in the room, but when you're just starting out - it is best to trust as many in the room as possible. People at conventions can be extremely cruel, so be very careful. If you feel the people are shady, you probably shouldn't room with them.

                Secondly, it is important to respect the person in charge. There are many aspects to this portion. First, find out what the rules of the room are. If you don't agree with some of the rules - voice your concerns or room elsewhere. Do not just disregard the rules because you do not agree with them - that is the easiest way to get it so the person in charge warns others against you and you will soon find yourself unable to find other rooms in the future. Keep your stuff organized and do not leave things a mess. This is beneficial for two reasons. One, it will make the person in charge respect you more and also it will make it less likely for others in the room to steal your things or accidentally get yours mixed up with their own belongings. Shower every day. Nobody wants someone who smells like a garbage can in their room. Try to be as helpful as possible. Do not be too loud in the room either.

                Be very careful when it comes to money regarding the room. As much as I hate to say this, there are several people who like to charge more than the proper portion and will try and make a profit. Make sure to ask them to show you the exact cost of the room and how many people. If the costs seem odd to you, do not be afraid to question it. Not questioning it will only hurt you. Make sure to find out all the details on costs - parking, room, food, etc. If you wish to be even more helpful, let them know in advance if something happens and the price goes up, that if the price ends up exceeding a certain amount, you cannot room with them. And always make sure to have at least $200 more than what is required with you in the event of unforeseen circumstances.

                Try and get to know everyone who will be in the room before the convention begins. One of the worst things to have to deal with at a convention is ending up in a room with someone who you do not get along with. This is easier said than done, but it is beneficial to try to achieve this.

                Another bit of advice is this - things will go wrong. It is not always the person in charge's fault, so try not to take it out on them. The person in charge is under enough stress as it is. If things go incredibly wrong, try to make the best of the situation and try and handle it professionally - screaming and shouting will get you nowhere. The smartest option you can do in this situation is to stay out of the room as much as possible and not room with those people in the future.

                There is a lot more advice that can be given on these areas, but these are some of the top pieces of advice. The more conventions you attend, the more lessons you will learn, and you will find methods that work for you. You will also hear horror stories and be given advice freely over the years that will aid you in learning to have peaceful hotel situations. 

Article written by Abra Gauthier

Hotel Room Horror Stories

Photo source: Google

Before I post the new article on hotel rooms, I thought it would be fun to get some horror stories regarding hotel rooms from various congoers across the nation. These are the stories we got. Some will make you cringe, some will make you laugh, and some will help get you in the mood for the next article which will be all about how to be in charge of a hotel room, how to maintain order in your hotel room, and how not to get screwed on the price if you're new to cons. With that out of the way, here are the horror stories:

"One MTAC, before it moved from the Sheraton, my friends and I went to the restuarant KOI. I happened to eat raw shrimp, thinking it was great, not knowing that it was part of the hibachi menu. So after a few hours, thinking that my stomach was rested, there was a rumbly in my tumbly, but I know I wasn't hungry. My hotel roommate tried to hold the trashcan by me, but I stumbled thinking I can make it to the bathroom. Well.... I was almost there and all of a sudden, =SPEW!!= All on the floor in front of the bed I was sleeping in, was madness. Luckily it was Saturday night, for checkout was Sunday. Sadly, all through the night, I turned towards the wall... MOAR SPEW ACTION!! After the sunrise hit, we managed to check out. Before leaving, the corner where I slept looked like a whale just died in your arms tonight..." -David from TN

"ConnectiCon, 2009. Someone left a sock in the bathroom. It was filthy. The scent of it was so strong, nobody dared enter the bathroom or even open the door. We decided that whoever left it there would be the one to go in and grab it. Nobody fessed up. I volunteered to dispose of it, since I'd been desensitized to foot odor in the past. I picked up the sock with a plastic bag and a group of us marched out into the hallway with it tied up inside the bag and threw it into the trashcan near the elevators. Apparently, everyone could still smell it. The bathroom was then assaulted by an entire can of febreeze." - Carrie from MA.

 "I was on my way back to my hotel room after hanging out with friends. One of my roommates was drunk and had me help him back to the room. He went into the bathroom, didn't respond and had to go to the hospital after everyone in my room got kicked out." - Mr. Chuckles from IL

"MTAC 2012: A person in our room, who seemed to not have much experience with sharing a room (might have even been first MTAC, though not first con) was apparently not aware of the size limitations and that we weren't sharing space in the other room, since someone in that room had some health concerns and her partner was being a bit obtrusive. That drama aside, she invited what I believe were at least 2 unexpected people into our room and they set up an air mattress. This was Saturday night. Friday night was fine, everyone was relatively comfortable. Saturday, I was pretty much forced by necessity to sleep in the bathtub, however little sleep I got through that, because we have at least 10 people in the room, plus our luggage." - Jared from TN

"AWA 2008. I booked a room, first night the toilet overflowed. And I don't just mean a little mess either. It OVERFLOWED and put about two inches of water in the bathroom. Next day, same convention, the battery to the door died and locked everyone out for about 5 hours before maintenance finally came to open the door. This all happened in the Waverley too." -Mallory from GA

 "Colossal Con used to be at a hotel that had a rowdy bar that swingers would often go to. On Friday evening, two drunk men from the bar were saying nasty sexual things to me. At the time, I was under age. I had a guy friend with me who stood up to the two men, and my friend was then assaulted by the two men. Con staff and police had previous complaints about the men harassing con-goers, but the police did nothing. I even filed a police report and was not taken seriously because I was "in costume". This is also one of the reasons the con changed hotels." - Vincent from OH

"There were 3 teenage girls in the room next to ours. They were screaming, hooting, and hollaring late and night and finally, sick of it, I went "That's it, I'm gonna go tell them off." I open the door, look, and the girl is locked out of her room, topless, and her friends won't let her back in. For a good five seconds I'm like "Ohshit" And then I'm like "Hold still, let me get you a towel." So I grab a towel, throw it at her, and bang on her door and say "LET HER IN NOW" Her friend finally opens the door, cackling, and the girl and her other friend bumrush inside and I'm like "I need that towel back! Now can you be quiet and go to bed? I have a lady who just had leg surgery next door and we're trying to sleep." - Katie from TN

"AX 2010 -I stayed with w a girl who promised the room who would be at the clarition. Tuirns out is was at this little no name hotel about 2.5 miles (an hours walk to and from the hotel each way.)

At first, I'm like...Ok...whatever.

I enjoy the con and i attend an event that allows me to win a prize, one of which was a box of naruto cards

I cone back the second day and i notice that thebox was gone!

she had let another group of friends come into the room and they took it.

I didnt know about that until a few months later. Anyway - she needed money for whatever reaso nand i loaned her he money. She took it and I made her sign an IOU.

The next day, she gives me the money back and we are good. Then, on the final day, her madame red (from black butler) was holed. It had holes in it, like someone had made it with a knife. I only had a pocket knife for packages and things.

She blamed me for that (not in my face of course)

Then as I'm at the con, she tells the con ops and they tell the TRUE police, that i pulled a knife on HER!!" - RM from CA

 "GMX 2012!!! Our story starts at the Anime Blues Con room party I got roped in to help bar tending. There was this guy that was soooo wasted, I gave him 1/4 of a glass of sprite and cranberry juice, he shook his head yelling how strong it was. Fast forward to the party shutting down at 3am, I helped pack up and empty the room and I lounge in the lobby with some people (yes you Abra) and the same guy who is still very much intoxicated followed with us with the same glass of sprite n cranberry juice that I gave him 3 hrs before. He spilt it and started to drink it through the straw he had off of the table. Most of us took that as a sign to turn in for the night. Like every con, I pack all my belongings Saturday night so check out is a breeze. My room mates were all already asleep so I take all my belonging into the bathroom so I wouldn't disturb them. I unload my bag and I hear a knock on our door, I look to see its the same very drunk guy. My first thought is that he followed me. He said this was his room, he was invited by one of our roomies, who was working security over night at fang con on the other side of Nashville that very same weekend. So the person who he is claiming said he could stay in our room is totally unavailable. I ask one of the guys who would've known if it was true or not, and he had no clue. Well we brought with us an extra blanket, I told him to use it and find a spot on the floor because the one available spot on the bed was mine. I went back into the bathroom, trying to pack faster, AND HE WALKS IN AND STARTS TO STRIP!!! I asked him to step out, asked again, told him to step out, told him I am now very uncomfortable, but he was so drunk all he did was shush me! I yelled for him to get the fuck out and locked the door of the bathroom. I threw everything in my back. I was planning to go for a walk to calm down and come back in like an hour to sleep. I go into the room looking for my shoes, while keeping an eye out for the body on the floor. I don't see a body, I DO see a pile of clothes... All HIS clothes and I looked to my spot on the bed... THERE WAS A BUTT NAKED ASIAN IN MY SPOT!! Well, there went any chance of me sleeping. I left and wandered with a friend who was still up and we fell asleep in one of the viewing rooms while Iron Man 2 was playing. Oh Robert Downey Jr. how you make me happy." - DM from TN

"ColossalCon 2008: We had an eight-hour drive from Louisville to Cleveland in 95-degree heat...nine hours if you count getting lost. It was a group of 12 split amongst three cars, and we were all pretty sweaty by the end of it. One of the girls was a larger girl who I will call "Susan", because I know no Susans and thus none shall get mad at me. She smelled quite badly by the end of this drive, but we didn't think much of it since no one smelled like roses at this point.
We checked in...or tried to. My boyfriend at the time had messed up his reservation and didn't have con rate. No one had extra money, so he had to cancel a room. While at this point it's normal and comfy for me to have 6-8 people in a hotel room, my first con was spent in a medium-sized room with 11 other people and only 2 beds. This was made worse by the fact that Susan refused to shower.
The smell was so bad that by day #2, the entire floor of the hotel smelled like her filth. Stepping into our room was a nauseating experience, as she was trying to finish her cosplay for the Cosplay Contest on Saturday and thus never left the room. She also managed to clog the toilet halfway through day #2.
I wish I were making this stuff up.
I had been sharing one of the beds with my boyfriend and a friend from high school. That night after attending one of the later panels, we returned to the room to see that Susan had passed out on top of our bed, her tainted rolls billowing over our sheets and pillows.
I slept on the floor that night.
She stepped on me the next morning.
Day #3 began with us trying to trick Susan into bathing by coaxing her into the hot tub. She stayed in for about 10 minutes and actually smelled better! Then, she went outside and played kickball with Vic Mignogna and Aaron Dismuke, who were guests at the convention and had arranged a tournament for all to attend. We were back to step one at this point, and the rave that night only worsened things.
The next day we were to leave. The three drivers drew straws to see who Susan had to ride with, as she was still refusing to bathe. The poor unlucky driver and his passengers had to keep their windows all completely down the entire way home, and I am told that the driver's car smelled like Susan for days after the trip, similarly to how one's car smells of pizza following a trip to Little Caesar's.
Or after hitting a skunk.
In the subsequent five years since this trip, Susan has learned that showering is a good thing...sometimes. When she sees you out and about and tries to hug you, sometimes she smells like a spring breeze, and sometimes she gives you PTSD. This is the reason why I always put "Those in my rooms are expected to clean themselves daily!" in the documents I give to those traveling to cons with me. Most laugh and shrug at this phrasing, thinking that I'm just being silly, but those who also attended that fateful trip in June 2008 always nod their heads solemnly and thank their lucky stars that I was so thoughtful." -Angela from OH 

These cover several issues that happen quite often at conventions regarding hotel rooms. A lot of people have had the pleasure of avoiding such horrendous situations, but there will be a day when you face this. Soon I will be posting how to handle situations like this, keep your hotel room in order, and not be taken advantage of or offended by others in the room like the above stories. Be looking forward to it, it will be posted tomorrow evening!

Blog Compiled by: Abra Gauthier. Stories gathered from various locations.

Cosplay Contest Chaos

                Cosplay contests have been going on at conventions for years upon years. Cosplayers who make their costumes are allowed to enter the contest to show off all the hard work they put into their cosplays, showcase them in the masquerade, and hopefully walk away with an award representing their talents. It all sounds like an amazing and brilliant idea and inspires cosplayers to work harder, right? So what exactly is the problem then?

                During the last decade of conventions, the contestants have continued to grow more hostile and dramatic over the outcomes of the contests. Horror stories of contestants bribing judges, rigged contests, unfair judging, and cosplayers winning in bought costumes have sprung up all over the nation. Unfortunately we've only ever really heard one side of these stories - usually coming from contestants who didn't win. Now things are beginning to sound a bit fishy.

                I decided to speak with a few judges for cosplay contests about the subject (their full interviews will be at the bottom of this article) to gather a more solid understanding of both sides. I also spoke with a few winners of cosplay contests. The overall result was that most of them feel entirely victimized.

                The situation that is going on lately, is that cosplayers who enter contests and do not win - refuse to accept they lost and start blaming everyone else - the winner cheated, the judges were friends with the winner, etc. Some even go as far as to get their friends to harass the contest winner or judges after the convention. More times than not, these accusations are all false and have no truth behind them.

                This behavior is also unfortunately encouraged by other cosplayers at the cons who don't know what really went on with the contest. They hear stories from a contestant about it being rigged, and their blood begins to boil. Without even thinking to look into whether the comments are true or not, they will quickly band with whoever spoke of scandal in the contest and spread it around at the convention until the contest winner feels so alienated they want to leave the convention.

                These truths are appalling. Nobody who won a costume contest should ever have to feel like they did not deserve to win. They worked just as hard, if not harder, on their costume as anyone else who entered.  Judges, who took the time out of their own convention schedule to see all the different costumes up close and personal, should also not be ridiculed, harassed, or accused of rigging a contest. There is more than one judge at each costume contest just to prevent this sort of biased voting.

                This problem has become increasingly intense lately, and there is too much support for those who claim a contest is rigged without providing evidence. Everyone needs to stop and take a step backwards in the future regarding these situations. When someone wins, don't insult them, congratulate them on their costume. When you lose, don't assume something was wrong just because you didn't win. Please consider the other contestants, the judges, and the time and effort they also put into working/entering a costume contest. The hate needs to stop.

                Going more in-depth on the topic, this is an interview with a Cosplay Judge/Cosplay Head/Cosplay Contest Winner from the Ohio area: Krissy Nunnemaker, who also runs blogs speaking out against convention bullying and etc which you can find here:  (questions are in bold, answers in italics)

1. What is are your feelings when after winners are chosen in a cosplay contest, those who did not win start to gripe and complain and accuse the judges of being biased?

It's a really difficult feeling. You want to be able to award so many people for their efforts, and I know how hard it is to pick the winners. However, the judges are the only ones who have seen the inner workings of a costume. Hems, seams, and the proper skills used are all major things which people don't see. While a ball gown may look amazing, you don't know what's going on underneath. I generally reassure people that, yes, it is a tough call. However, the winners were chosen for craftsmanship beyond what is visible. And if anyone ever wants feedback on what they had points removed for, most cosplay heads can put you in touch with the judges for feedback. So while you feel upset, you have to realize that if everyone got an award, it wouldn't be a competition, and only we, the judges, see every little detail.

2. Have you ever picked a winner and then later found out they had bought the costume or prop from someone else and lied about making their costume?

I haven't personally, but I've seen it happen. Its why, as a cosplay head, I make sure my judges ask questions that only the seamstress/tailor would know. Say a judge suspects an E-bayed costume: they usually ask questions pertaining to a serger. If the person doesn't know what that is, doesn't know how it works, or what brand it is, they more than likely didn't make their costumes.

3. How upset does it make you to know that people will actually lie about making stuff instead of giving credit to who made it or helped them just to try and win a contest?

It's really upsetting. When I enter a competition, I put my heart and soul into that costume. It's disappointing not to win, but the people who do win generally deserve it. When I find out someone entered a bought costume into a contest, it infuriates me. Because craftsmanship competitions are very serious. And those using it to win undeserved awards take away from those who have spent months creating something. I don't understand why people do it, because you ruin your reputation and risk getting banned from that competition in the future.
It's just all over upsetting, and its cheating.

4. Have you ever been personally targeted by someone who didn't win and their friends and accused of judging unfairly to the point it became harassment?

No, but I've seen it happen at bigger cons. Someone once threw a fit on a convention's facebook page and had her friends join in. Thankfully, the cosplay community quickly jumped on her and reminded her that the judges were qualified and that a flashy costume doesn't automatically mean it's better than say a "boring" but well fitted suit with bias tape. That's one thing I've noticed more; sore losers quickly embarrass themselves when they start throwing around accusations.

5. Have you ever seen a judge take bribes from a contestant or unfairly judge? If so, how did that make you feel as a fellow judge?

Nope, never seen that happen. But I've heard rumors of it happening.

6. What was the worst experience you've had to endure as a judge so far? What happened?

My first judging experience was awful. I was pulled into judging two hours before the competition and didn't feel qualified at all, but they had no one else willing to judge. I found out later that the judge who worked beside me didn't even make her own costumes, and so, even today when I see someone who didn't win from that particular competition, I feel absolutely terrible because I was highly under qualified at the time. I actually ended up dating a guy for a long time that had entered that contest and didn't place, and he teased me about it a few times. That same cosplay competition, we were placed in the room to judge while skits were going on. We literally had 2 minutes to judge each person, and could hardly hear over the skits. So that whole experience was really rough and I can't even count how many people I've apologized to over it.

7. Now that you are more than qualified in the area - what advice would you give to people who are just starting out as a cosplay judge or wish to become one?

If you want to become a judge, you have to enter competitions. No serious competition will have a judge that hasn't won any awards, or who isn't in Masters Class. You're going to have to better your craft and get those awards to be qualified. Through competitions, you'll meet the area's prominent cosplayers, the judges, and the cosplay heads. Make friends with people, don't make fun of anyone and be a friendly person and you will be remembered respectfully. If you're just starting to judge, make sure the people entering get to know you beforehand. If they can see you're an accomplished cosplayer, they will feel that you are qualified and be more willing to enter the competition.  From the perspective of a cosplay head, I pick judges who show a multitude of skills. Not just one set thing they're good at. I also generally pick people who have let me see their work up-close. I also only pick people who are willing to help others, who aren't rude or mean to people, and who are generally pleasant to be around. In my opinion, attitude for judges is just as important as skill.

8. As someone who's also entered and won costume contests, how upsetting is it for you after you win to hear rumors in the halls that you didn't win fairly and then be alienated by others afterwards?

Yes, my first award was San from Princess Mononoke. It's a fairly simple costume; however I had dyed the fabric with berries, nut and wood for authenticity. I was bumped up from Novice to journeyman as Best Journeyman. People made a stink about it because, again, it seems like a fairly simple costume. Thankfully, the judges backed me up and calmed the rumors and angry messages.  It made me feel really bad, and I regretted entering the contest at first. But all three judges reassured me that I deserved to win, so I felt a lot better.

And here's another short interview on the subject, that had a few very good points and also shows you how dedicated these judges truly tend to be (which only makes their harassment even more upsetting): 

1. Have you ever been accused of picking a friend or being biased? If so, how did that make you feel?

Most judges can tell, that a costume is bought. And it is not that you are undeserving of an award, we just can't give an award to everyone, though we would love to. Recently I had a few friends enter the costume contest at a convention this past weekend. Of course I believed they were deserving of an award but I chose to leave my opinion last. I let the other judges speak, and decide who they though should be deserving of an award, and if my friend was picked by the majority of judges, I approved. And I also know how hard people work for costumes.

2. How does it make you feel when you hear all these horror stories of people accusing judges at cons of voting unfairly because certain people didn't win?

I want people to know, that we love everyone's costume. We want to give you a medal, a certificate or a little something because we KNOW, we know how hard you worked and how much you put into it. It is very difficult to come down to picking a winner for craftsmanship. And the cosplayers have to realize how many people the judges look at. And it's more of a matter of if you stood out. We look for positive feedback about your own costume and positive thinking and appreciation for your own costume. Those people will be remembered. If you are negative or feel disappointed in yourself, we can tell. And it's kind of, if you hate your costume so much, why should we award negativity? It is all a matter of presentation.

So there you guys have it. The word needs to be spread out about this injustice in the cosplay community regarding contests and we all need to work together to prevent judges and contestants from the alienation they seem to constantly face these days. 

Article and Interview conducted by: Abra Gauthier
This article is now viewable on Cosplayer Nation's blog as well.