Katsucon & the Blame Bus; or, For the Love of BCC!
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The background: Last year, after the giant trainwreck of the Katsucon Artists' Alley, artists were promised better & more transparent communication. The old Alley head Tex was replaced with Jasen, one of the old security people. Jasen seemed pretty open, the Alley applications went up on September 12th, and on November 10th Jasen sent out a non-BCC'd email which stated, "You will shortly be receiving instructions about payment and any further registration information we need."
What happened next? You guessed it: Nothing. So people started questioning what was up on the forums. The con chair popped up on page two to say they're really really really gonna work on their communication for next year, honestly this time you guys, and by the way, here's what artists should really be doing instead of waiting around.
Possible attendees were, as you might've guessed, somewhat unimpressed. Katsu's con chair responded by first pointing the proverbial finger at Jasen--then his wife followed suit by throwing Jasen under their bus, claiming he'd been actively ignoring absolutely everyone's emails. ETA: And the second post's been deleted, though there's mentions of its contents in later posts. :(
At this point user Studio Kitsu decided she was fed up with the inaction and took matters into her own hands. Since Jasen'd not BCC'd the artists in his first "Be with you soon!" email, she snagged their addresses and sent this:
( And for the tl;dr portion of our show! )
The next morning, Jasen crawls out from under the bus to point the finger in return . . . in an email sent to absolutely everyone.
( Oh, by the way, fanart is now banned in the Alley. )
User Dashi, though, has had enough, and goes from passive-aggressive to aggressive-aggressive faster than you can say IP law--and once again, sends their grievances to the entire list of artists.
( IP Law: It's like magnets, in a way. )
And for bonus giggles: Despite addressing the email to "Katsucon staff," the only staff member she actually sent the thing to is Jasen.
But this is the end, right? People who've worked with grouchy customers know there's a time to step back and look for a higher ground and . . . Oh, who am I kidding. I preserved the formatting and colors because I love you guys.
From Jasen: ( There's no fanart ban except for where there is! )
And finally! . . . Finally? Irony tastes like apples!
What happened next? You guessed it: Nothing. So people started questioning what was up on the forums. The con chair popped up on page two to say they're really really really gonna work on their communication for next year, honestly this time you guys, and by the way, here's what artists should really be doing instead of waiting around.
Possible attendees were, as you might've guessed, somewhat unimpressed. Katsu's con chair responded by first pointing the proverbial finger at Jasen--then his wife followed suit by throwing Jasen under their bus, claiming he'd been actively ignoring absolutely everyone's emails. ETA: And the second post's been deleted, though there's mentions of its contents in later posts. :(
At this point user Studio Kitsu decided she was fed up with the inaction and took matters into her own hands. Since Jasen'd not BCC'd the artists in his first "Be with you soon!" email, she snagged their addresses and sent this:
( And for the tl;dr portion of our show! )
The next morning, Jasen crawls out from under the bus to point the finger in return . . . in an email sent to absolutely everyone.
( Oh, by the way, fanart is now banned in the Alley. )
User Dashi, though, has had enough, and goes from passive-aggressive to aggressive-aggressive faster than you can say IP law--and once again, sends their grievances to the entire list of artists.
( IP Law: It's like magnets, in a way. )
And for bonus giggles: Despite addressing the email to "Katsucon staff," the only staff member she actually sent the thing to is Jasen.
But this is the end, right? People who've worked with grouchy customers know there's a time to step back and look for a higher ground and . . . Oh, who am I kidding. I preserved the formatting and colors because I love you guys.
From Jasen: ( There's no fanart ban except for where there is! )
And finally! . . . Finally? Irony tastes like apples!
- From: Poisoned Apple (email redacted)
Subject: RE: Attn: Katsucon Marketplace Artists
To: Everyone!
Date: Thursday, January 6, 2011, 7:52 PM
Stop mass e-mailing. No one wants to read this.
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