The Auction

[lamar]

I am annoyed to note that the thread has been locked preventing me making a reply.

I would not normally go against the wishes of forum moderators, but I do think I need to make a public statement on this... I meant "General Attendance" as in "This will be an event advertised in the con book as of general interest to all members of the convention" and that I would be surprised if everyone went in *expecting* uncensored adult content to be present.

The understanding I had after complaints were made after the last time, was that there would be no uncensored items *at all* in the event. Last time you made the decision that when rushed, and after mistakes in processing happened, you would go ahead and display uncensored adult art anyway. You were told that was something you should not have done. You were told not to do it again this year. Now you are saying you don't care, and if things get rushed, and mistakes happen in processing, you're going to display the uncensored adult art. And that there certainly will be uncensored adult art taken up to people in the audience who request it, with the blasé opinion stated that we should just avert our gaze if someone next to us decides they want a nice close look at that tentacle orgy poster.

This is unacceptable. ConCom are directly rebuffing the complaints we made about this last year! It makes too many people uncomfortable, and will turn some people off from going to it at all. Frankly, I won't be going to it if this attitude is taken, because I think adult art shouldn't be pushed on those who feel uncomfortable about it.

[Matt the Lion]

Hello Lamar,

The original thread was locked because it was turning into a back-and-forth argument that was not producing any productive results with each side simply repeating itself. Please do not flaunt the moderation of this forum again or you will face a suspension of posting rights on it. If you feel that any moderation decision is unfair you may appeal that to any of the forum staff who will review the decision - making a new post is not the way to do this. Please do not do this again.

Since the convention last year we have had to deal with many posts and comments from yourself, many of which have been uninformed and come over as just an unending stream of criticism and complaint. I have received numerous complaints from members of my staff about this, some of whom have been very upset by the tone in which some of your posts have come across. This is a situation I cannot ignore.

I must also correct you about your understanding of the results of the feedback session.  I have pulled out my notes from the session and from what I can see, we did not make any promise that there would not be any adult art in the auction at all. We did agree that we would review the situation, but no definite answer was given at the time.  The policy has indeed been reviewed as promised and we will commit to censoring the projection screens for the auction. A sign will also be posted at the entrance to inform people that there may be items on view when taken around that could be adult in nature and the auctioneers will make a warning at the start of the auction that items being shown to people for a closer look may be uncensored. The auctioneer will also clearly state if any item being shown around the room is adult in nature. We believe that it is quite reasonable for people to avert their gaze from an item carried around the room.

We very much try our hardest to be tolerant and accommodating to everyone at the convention, but I really must restate that so far the people who have registered an objection to adult artwork in the auction really are in a minority compared to the overall attendance.

We derive our auction format from a number of international furry conventions, including Eurofurence, who all have the adult artwork distributed throughout their auctions in this way. The pseudo-random distributions of items throughout the auction allows for a series of peaks and troughs in bidding interest which makes for a much more interesting experience for all those attending. We have consistently had a noticably higher attendance at the auction every year with this policy in place and so I do not believe that it is impacting the possible total that we can raise.

This thread will now be locked. If you wish to appeal this decision you may contact me directly by email to chairman@confuzzled.org.uk or my counterpart on vicechair@confuzzled.org.uk.

Kind Regards,
Matthew "Matt Lion" Hood
Convention Chairman