Conventions: Members Versus Customers

[kevin_standlee]

The post-Eastercon discussions going on in eastercon and elsewhere include the question of those people who attend conventions viewing themselves solely as "paying customers." I suggested we may need to start printing a fine-print contract on membership materials, the way sporting events and concerts do on their tickets, such as:

THIS IS NOT A TICKET. You are a member of this convention. This event is being organized entirely by volunteers who are working without compensation and who had to pay for their own memberships and travel expenses. While the organizers will make a reasonable effort to present this event in the way it is described in its written materials, they cannot guarantee that all things will happen as planned. By purchasing this membership you explicitly acknowledge that all functions are subject to change or cancellation with or without notice for any reason whatsoever.

This is only a rough first effort, but I think you get the idea. It is a little sad that I can say that I'm quite serious that we may really need to do this or face threats of litigation for "false advertising" and "breech of contract" with attendees.

Comments

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

It is polite. But it's the politeness of strangers.

Just out of curiosity, do you consider "What can I do for you?" to be equally distant? When my co-workers call me on the phone, that's what I ask them, and I don't consider it particularly distant.

Switch places with me. You're now the one behind the desk, and you know me personally. I've come to the front of the queue. There are twenty or thirty people behind me, and I'm about the five-hundredth person you've had to deal with today. What do you do? Do you shoot the breeze with me or do you process me through the queue as fast as you can?

Now on the other hand, you have a point about some things. I attended a convention that had a strict must-show-government-photo-ID policy. (I find such policies obnoxious, BTW, but that's a slightly different story.) As it happened, the person who processed me at registration did not know me, and I showed my passport without comment. One of the other registration lines had someone I did know personally, and who has, for instance, attended SFSFC Board of Directors meetings and whom I've known for many years. Talking with him and someone else (I didn't know the other person), I said, "Too bad you weren't doing my line; I wouldn't have needed to dig out my passport."

His companion said, "Oh, he should have demanded it no matter what; it's much safer to be consistent about these things."

That's just silly; personally identifying someone because you've known him/her for years is better security than government-issued photo ID.

I tell this story so you don't think I'm advocating keeping people at a distance all the time.

[debgeisler.livejournal.com]

By contrast, I don't like faux personal touches in what's really a business relationship. I hate it when Safeway clerks, instead of giving me the receipt, spend 15 seconds scanning it for my name so they can call me by it.

*snort* We don't have Safeway...but Filene's clerks used to do the same thing...and mispronounce my name every time. Argh.