My Lfcc experiance

[Dreamsphere]

Hi all! thank you to everyone that made the convention memorable for me. i thought i'd share some of my memories and a bit of feedback here.

Friday:

cons: we arrived at 3pm. i explained to a lady in the main hall that i never received my special assistance email despite emailing them constantly and was told very bluntly that i had to prove i was disabled, despite the fact i walk with a very obvious limp and showed her my social welfare card as proof from ireland. in the end she just gave up, seemed annoyed with me and gave me the wrist band. then when she asked to see my ticket she tells me to go around to the yalc entrance (security had made me walk to hall H ) but was adamant that if i entered the main convention (lfcc) i would be asked to leave, that YALC ticket holders were only aloud to enter YALC. i grew panicked and told her she was misinformed, as i attend every year with yalc tickets. she grew a bit cranky and said no, she was right. then told me saturday was sold out so no use in me coming tomorrow and to try sunday. i was close to tears and made to walk all the way around to yalc, in so much pain from all the walking.

Pro: once in YALC entrance the lovely security guard calmed me down before letting me in and the man handing out the bands confirmed i was aloud in to LFCC after ten. i knew it! i have no idea why that lady thought other wise. the YALC section staff were angels, honestly.

Saturday:

Cons: Lines, thats it, nothing else.

Pros: The staff inside the con. honestly, angels! once they saw my extra help band they couldn't do enough for me. thank you so much. YALC was a haven to rest in. John Cleese made my day and getting the very last question in the Benedict talk was amazing! i left feeling so happy. also the love for my chaplin costume was wonderful. thank you all.

 

Sunday: 

cons: missing guests everytime i went for an autograph. and again, lines in autographs. that is all

Pros: this goes out to the bag checking gents at the YALC entrance. my bag strap snapped as i handed it over and even though it wasn't his job to do so the older of the two spent some time fixing the bag for me while the other spoke to me about my favorite anime to distract me from the panic the broken bag caused. if that was gone id have to buy a new one and my budget could not afford it! meaning id have to miss out on autos. it was fixed and they sent me off with lovely smiles. 

 

all in all, my only issue was friday. i really hate being reminded im disabled and that woman made me feel so low i was close to tears and in so much pain from all the unnecessary walking. aside from that, it was a lovely convention, thank you for the memories!

[Raylenth]

Sorry about your experiences on Friday Dream, I know it doesn't help but unfortunately they do have to guard against people who are trying to get an extra help wristband fraudulently because unfortunately some people do.  Therefore proof is needed and even if you have a visible limp they can't take that on face value because you can bet someone's tried faking one in the past.  It could obviously been explained to you in a better way though.

As I understand it if you have a YALC ticket you are supposed to use the YALC entrance, and then from 10 you can go down to LFCC from inside.  I could be wrong but I guess that's what she meant and just explained it really badly.

I hope you haven't been put of though and that you continue to go and enjoy the events.

[Dreamsphere]

i understand the need to keep on guard for people faking disabilities. but i did hand her the card that is only handed to disabled people in ireland that clearly states i am disabled. thats when i started to feel like she was being nasty. she also very clearly stated no YALC ticket holders were aloud into the convention without a LFCC official ticket. that was made very clear, even after i showed her my photoshoot tickets. thats why i was getting so upset

[Raylenth]

Ahh fair enough Dream, it was pretty specific then and not just a misunderstanding.  If you haven't already it might be worth sending some constructive feedback to Showmasters and the extrahelp email.

[robmoriarty]

Sorry to hear about your experience Dreamsphere, though I have to say I agree I've seen others experience similar issues. At another SM event previously I was stood next to a lady who found it difficult to walk and even though she had the extra help form, she did not get the same preferential treatment I did. proving you have a disability to someone (anyone from your great volunteer team who are already stressed enough at the events) who is not an expert in the field is almost an impossible task - especially when you consider mental, learning or transient disabilities. 

The system broadly speaking works, but it needs refinement. I'm more than happy to feedback to extrahelp@ as you suggested Raylenth. From what I can see so far only UK proofs of disability are accepted: what happens if you're coming from somewhere else in the world? Many venues are now starting to accept online submissions for disability proof in advance of the event so time can be properly taken to examine and grant people onto an accessibility database which is then stored for a period of time (say a year, then you don't have to repeatedly submit proofs). I do this with venues when booking music tickets and needing a carer to accompany me, could SM consider doing something similar? It would make on the day administration significantly easier if much of this could be done beforehand and you only need to prove your ID to match your name against one of your lists.

Despite attending a number of SM events now I've never actually been asked to provide my proof on the day, though I guess my huge electric wheelchair and poor PA running behind me to catch up are usually sufficient indicators.