Marco Polo

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guiiii
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Post by guiiii »

Can we let go of the Marco Polo already? I thought this year would be different with Friday and all but we still got a lot of Marco Polo. It was kind of fun 4 years ago but now it's boring. Even butt scratcher is better at this point.
You know what, I challenge you guys to come with something better for 2012.
We'll be waiting :)
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Post by ErinErin »

How about everyone stops yelling pointless stuff in the hallways all together?
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Post by Sayoria »

You know, I too, found all of those annoying. I think we should get everyone singing "I Touch Myself".... of course, not really. Sunday at about 3-4ish, my group was going downstairs from the third floor, and I had the song in my head from Extreme Geek the night before. I just started singing it out loud as soon as I got my camera rolling. As soon as I said "I don't want.... anybody else...." one of the girls in my group said "When I think abooooout you I touch myself!" and we walked passed a small group of con goers, who were just watching us.... felt awkward, but one of them said to her something like "It's great to know you think about me when you do that" We all got a great laugh. Sadly, I stopped the recording a bit too early.
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Post by tetsujin »

Something better? I got one: it's called "Estee-foo!"

Really, all this crap with people yelling at the con just to make noise has never failed to annoy me. In some cases I think I've had very good reason to be annoyed: for instance, a couple years back I was in a panel room, and there were people lined up outside the panel room yelling, and as a result we couldn't hear the panelist very well. Thanks, jerks!

This year we had our baby girl in tow - of course the con in general is not a quiet environment, but when your baby's over-tired and people start yelling at the top of their lungs right next to you, it can make things extra-difficult. I know I can't expect people to always behave at a con specifically according to what's convenient for me, though. I don't mean to say "before you do anything at a con, consider that there are babies trying to sleep" - that's just silly. But that's just sort of where I was at this year.

So really, yeah, I'd love for people to just let it go already. Enough of the attention-whoring.
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Post by guiiii »

tetsujin,

I like your signature. I survived it as well :)
lol
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Post by DevilAcolyte »

[quote=Yukito Kunisaki]You know, I too, found all of those annoying. I think we should get everyone singing "I Touch Myself".... of course, not really. Sunday at about 3-4ish, my group was going downstairs from the third floor, and I had the song in my head from Extreme Geek the night before. I just started singing it out loud as soon as I got my camera rolling. As soon as I said "I don't want.... anybody else...." one of the girls in my group said "When I think abooooout you I touch myself!" and we walked passed a small group of con goers, who were just watching us.... felt awkward, but one of them said to her something like "It's great to know you think about me when you do that" We all got a great laugh. Sadly, I stopped the recording a bit too early.[/quote]
That would be cool, I got it stuck in my head too, and when I sang it, I just got funny looks hahaha. Anything would be better than Marco Polo, I would rather see conga lines running up the escalators then hear that game another 300 times ^.^
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Post by meerkat »

"Hey guys...you know...you know what would be really funny? I mean like..really funny?"

"What?"

"MARCO!!!!"

Really guys? -_- Again this was fun when I was 13. Not so much now.
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Post by Crack »

I think it's rather fun if you do a reply in this way:

"MARCO!"

"EAT poopy!"
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Post by Saka »

Ugh, i heard Marco Polo in every Event i went to. That, and people yelling buttscratcher or I L0ST The Game. Its all annoying. Especially when your sitting next to someone whos screaming it. They are lucky i have self-control, otherwise i would have strangled them....
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Post by tetsujin »

[quote=Guiiii]tetsujin,

I like your signature. I survived it as well :)
lol[/quote]

Heh, thanks. :) Yeah, I don't know what we would have done if the BPD hadn't [strike]freaked[/strike] taken prudent measures in dealing with that [strike]harmless street art[/strike] serious bomb threat. I guess BPD is likewise fortunate that after the items turned out to not be bombs that they were able to [strike]dodge responsibility for turning the situation into a fiasco by laying the full blame on the artists[/strike] bring the reckless vandals to justice. Certainly it must have helped that local news outlets were [strike]willing to trade journalistic integrity for being on BPD's good side[/strike] able to relay the seriousness of the threat in their reports.

Back when all this was happening I started a project to make a light-up Mooninite T-shirt: LEDs sewn to the shirt with conductive thread... I went as far as buying the 130-odd LEDs and soldering crimping beads to them, but I never finished it. After a while I felt like I'd waited too long and I'd be better off doing something else with the LEDs... But I don't know, maybe something like that would still go over well at AB. :)
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Post by Sora-na »

[quote=ErinErin]How about everyone stops yelling pointless stuff in the hallways all together? [/quote]

-Thumbs up-
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Post by nobody36 »

HELLZ YEAH

I personally don't mind 'butt scratcher' but all the same, this shouting in the hallway nonsense needs to go the way of yaoi paddles and "free hug" signs
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Post by BaffledPrince »

I agree that people should stop yelling random stuff like that! It is already loud enough without all that.

I have a really sensitive head and get migraines. In past years, people have yelled "Marco" right next to me and left me in pain all night to the point where I just want to go sleep all day just so they could be obnoxious for 2 seconds. =n=
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Post by Staren »

I'm with the majority of the comments here. The Marco Polo meme really needs to be terminated with extreme prejudice at this point.

The Adventure Time and butt scratchier lines are usually pretty cool since people know when to drop them most of the time.

Marco Polo though is always laud and never stops very quick. This year I made a point of saying loudly (not yelling) shut up as soon as I heard Marco. Maybe not the best solution but the person doing it never repeated the call when I said something.
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Post by ZenErik »

I wish all that yelling would stop. It mainly happens at larger cons. Didn't have too much of that at Zenkaikon or even Katsucon earlier this year. But I know the headaches will commence at Otakon. Ugh.

Some people just have zero consideration for anyone but themselves. Honestly, I wish I could tie these people up and have them pulled apart by horses. But unfortunately, that wouldn't be very nice either.
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Post by kiarrens »

Out of curiosity, how would you guys recommend we, as staff, deal with this issue?

Signs and paddles are an easy problem for us to fix - if we see it, we confiscate it. We can't exactly do that with someone's voice.

I would have no problems whatsoever asking people yelling things to keep it down, but I have to wonder how much good it would do. The one time I politely asked an attendee to put away a sign over the weekend they gave me a look of disgust and kept walking. I think that if someone has enough disrespect for their fellow attendees to yell out memes, they wouldn't be very likely to listen to staff either.
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Post by Sayoria »

Supply the staff with a roll of duct tape.
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Post by Fetch »

Here is something MUCH better AND AB related for people who want to have a whole group make noise:

I lift things up!
And put them down!

I lift things up!
And put them down!

I lift things up!
And put them down!

I AM A ROADIE!!!
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Post by kiarrens »

[quote=Fetch]Here is something MUCH better AND AB related for people who want to have a whole group make noise:

I lift things up!
And put them down!

I lift things up!
And put them down!

I lift things up!
And put them down!

I AM A ROADIE!!![/quote]
Great. Now it's in my head again. Knew I shouldn't have given him that heart container.
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Post by Anime World Order »

[quote=Kiarrens]Out of curiosity, how would you guys recommend we, as staff, deal with this issue?[/quote]

I think Anime Boston should implement an across-the-board "no disruptive behavior" rule like other conventions have done. Enforcing it isn't impossible, but does require active effort; if someone is blatantly yelling or doing something obnoxious ("acting like you're posting on the Internet, only in person" type stuff), have someone in a staff shirt approach them and tell them to cut it out, same as one would when asking people to move away from the top of the escalators or Dealer's Room exit. If they defiantly refuse to comply--most will begrudgingly accept--then take more drastic enforcement measures. Even if you just stationed people by the escalator area (for instance in the alcove on the 3rd floor, as people would constantly hang over this and shout to the floors below) to ensure that people not be annoying, you would cut down on the amount of yelling DRAMATICALLY. If some people opt to act more annoying just to "stick it to the man," then get security involved.

Getting the "no disruptive behavior" rule to work is a two-stage process. Not only must the rule be on the books and publicly known, people have to be under the impression that EVERYONE in a staff shirt (or security) is willing to enforce that rule. When people shout MARCO or WHAT TIME IS IT or whatever and identified Anime Boston staffers are right next to them doing absolutely nothing in response, it sends the message that "this behavior is acceptable."

[quote=Kiarrens]The one time I politely asked an attendee to put away a sign over the weekend they gave me a look of disgust and kept walking. I think that if someone has enough disrespect for their fellow attendees to yell out memes, they wouldn't be very likely to listen to staff either.[/quote]

You did have the right idea in this case, in that the first step you do is to just ask them, as a staffer, to knock it off because what they're doing is against the rules. "I'm sorry, but the con rules say there are are no signs allowed; sorry, it's a legal thing" or what have you is usually good enough. But if they refuse to comply with the polite and reasonable request, then you have to basically be more forceful. Insist they relinquish the sign to you so that you can throw it away, or maybe even just take the sign outright / get security involved in the event one is around.

Signs are a good example, though. I actually did not see very many signs this year, and the one blatant instance that I did was when a staffer took the signs away, explained they were against the rules, and threw them in the trash. That to me goes to show that once people get the message that "the staff WILL take action against this," the offending activity will not happen as much.
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Post by Fyrii »

I don't think people understand how old something gets when it's repeated 5000 times. Marco polo would be funny if I only heard it 3 times during a con, not every 5 minutes. I don't see any point in it any more other than to sound like mindless sheep baaing at their herder. Okay, that was a weird analogy...

Losing the game was funny before it was repeated several times as well. The point of that game was kind of not so people were losing it every 5 minutes, and now that people have made it lose its touch, it makes me mad.

At least people aren't screaming the floor is lava. That would be chaos.
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Post by Jen-Chan »

[quote=Fyrii]At least people aren't screaming the floor is lava. That would be chaos.[/quote]

Sh! Don't give them ideas!
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Post by tetsujin »

[quote=Kiarrens]Out of curiosity, how would you guys recommend we, as staff, deal with this issue?

Signs and paddles are an easy problem for us to fix - if we see it, we confiscate it. We can't exactly do that with someone's voice.
[/quote]

If push comes to shove, people can be booted from the con. Of course I'd hate for someone to miss out on the con experience over something like this, so I guess start with threats. :)

I'd also focus enforcement on the places where the behavior really is most disruptive - lines outside of panel or video rooms, etc. Explain that the behavior isn't merely annoying but actually interferes with people's enjoyment of other events - I think sometimes people respond better if there's an explanation. Make it clear that "Polo" is just as much an issue as "Marco" and being one of many isn't an excuse, nor is the fact that several other people who also said it didn't get reprimanded.

I understand that in the end enforcement may not be successful, and that people will complain about it, etc. But if you're willing to give it a shot, then my hat's off to you. :)

I don't think people are yelling this stuff out of disrespect - I think most of 'em just don't think it's a problem and are having fun. If that really is true then a more delicate approach could work. (If people get ordered around they have a tendency to rebel - asking nicely sometimes yields better results...) I don't know, really. I think maybe I'll give that a try sometime - I did a "shut up!" this year and that was pretty effective, but maybe not the nicest way to respond to a fellow con-goer.
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Post by veeb »

tbh, I much prefer Marco Polo over "I Tom Selleck'ed it up" and buttscratcher. I find those last two very very annoying and more obnoxious. >_>


I agree with signs and a notice of "No Disruptive Behavior" although I think it would have to be posted at the con itself. And possibly said during badge pick-up, with these examples.
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Post by everywhereXOXnowhere »

It's tough to make people understand how obnoxious these things are when there are so many newbies coming in every day. To veteran con-goers it's an obviously outdated thing. To newbies, it's gold that must be spread.

I would prefer molten floors to losing the game or marco polo... at least it's something that hasn't been done every five seconds for the past few years.
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Post by Aviflora »

I don't know, it seems The Game, Buttscratcher, and Marco Polo memes have had their time in the spotlight, and really need to go away. Kind of like the Jersey Shore MTV show thing. It's not that they give me headaches, they're just obnoxious and bothersome.

Though, I am glad that many of the "Free Hugs" signs have gone away. Four years ago, it seemed as if there were more signs than people. But as for enforcing quieter behavior? I honestly don't know. Heavens knows, most pre-teens would probably shout, be reprimanded, and as soon as they're out of view, shout again. Thus continuing the cycle.

Maybe all those paddles that were confiscated can be used to smack the yellers upside the heads? :D Headaches for all!
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Post by DoubleEdgeSword »

Free headaches for all would be nice... considering how no amount of advil cured my headache caused by all that meme-shouting in my ear. *shakes old lady cane*

Though I am proud to say that I just rolled my eyes and walked on every time the cries of Marco Polo filled the halls.
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Post by J-Man »

Yelling it at the con was bad enough. However, on Saturday, I heard people yelling in outside the Hines and in the halls of the Copley mall. That really makes us look bad.
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Post by Sonadira »

First year at the con, and though my friend loved the 'Marco Polo' stuff, I thought it was really aggrivating.

There were certain outbursts that were fun tho, like while waiting in line a huge clap or wave would start, or a 'woop' would begin. I thought that was funny and cute. I suppose there's a grey area.

But I think clamping it completely would 1) be difficult but 2) be necessary in places like the mall or outside if we want to make people less aggrivated with all the con-geeks =3.

I support a decision either way.
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Post by Cemberse »

[quote=Kiarrens]Out of curiosity, how would you guys recommend we, as staff, deal with this issue?

Signs and paddles are an easy problem for us to fix - if we see it, we confiscate it. We can't exactly do that with someone's voice. [/quote]

Obviously I can see where enforcing this new rule would be much more difficult that a rule about unacceptable items, which as you said can just be confiscated, but it's not impossible. Just make it widely available that the Staff is going to be cracking down on "potentially disruptive, obnoxious behavior" and give a few examples of what you mean (Marco Polo, Tom Selleck'ed it up - which I actually didnt hear any of this year, etc.)But also make clear that you are not banning only certain "common" things but also any act out outright obnoxious shouting and behavior. This will prevent some lame, wannabe-genius attention whore from saying "Well they didn't say I can't scream other nonsense at the top of my lungs! So I'll do that...then people will see what a badass I am and want to come talk to me!"

And then if people still blatantly disregard the new policy then the Staff will take measures to assure they follow the con rules and respect their fellow con-goers. Clearly this is where the problem arises as its not as simple as taking away a prohibited item. However it should be treated the same way as someone running around with a prohibited item and not allowing staff to confiscate it...getting your ass kicked out of the con. Thats obviously an extreme, or the final solution. But in this day and age it shouldn't be too hard to organize the staff effectively enough that measures can be taken to combat these obnoxious people.

I'm suggesting something like the "3 strike system". So say theres a line for some random panel. Staffer A is moving along the line, asking people to push in to keep hallway traffic flowing, and then Staffer A clearly sees Con-goer A scream "marco" at the top of his lungs. A bunch of people yell "polo". Staffer A can approach Con-goer A and politely explain that had they read the Con Policies or wherever that stuff gets posted (I don't generally read them because I consider myself polite enough to not have to know what I am not allowed to do...since I'm not obnoxious enough to do it anyways) that they would know what they just did was against the con-rules. Now every staffer should keep a little pad and paper with them also. You write down their badge name and actual name and explain they have just been issued a warning. If another staffer finds them to be breaking the rule again they will be banned from all Con Events for the rest of that day, take their badge away from them and explain they can come get it again at the beginning of the next day. Obviously that should be explained in the Con guide, and after giving them the first warning to prevent any serious mutinies. A third strike results in being banned from the rest of the Con.

Now there are obvious issues with this system but all in all I think it could work. Maybe with a few adjustments. The first problem is that it seems like a lot of work to communicate the names of offenders throughout the entire staff. But if you seriously want to enforce that rule it wouldnt be that hard. I've seen that most of the staff (maybe just security?) has those headsets in. So say Staffer A writes Con-goer A's info down and then tells it to Security A. Security A informs everyone over his headset that there is a new Con-goer with a warning, gives the info, and they all take it down. How to get that info from security back to the rest of the staff...I'm not sure.

This system is clearly not flawless but I think that if a system does get put in place to prevent this kind of behavior it is the mere fact that an attempt is being made to combat it that will reduce it.

That was extremely long winded haha but hope it helps a little.

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Post by Suna Sato »

i didnt hear butt scratcher or the game even ONCE at AB this year... and as for Marco polo for me its nostalgic. Shouting marco and hearing 20 or so people shouting back polo makes me feel as if im with my own kind.... i feel like its slowly dying anyways.... Cant you guys just enjoy the con its not like this really hurt anyone okay its an old joke but so arent most of the funny ones. just shrug it off!
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Post by Cemberse »

[quote=Suna Sato]i didnt hear butt scratcher or the game even ONCE at AB this year... and as for Marco polo for me its nostalgic. Shouting marco and hearing 20 or so people shouting back polo makes me feel as if im with my own kind.... i feel like its slowly dying anyways.... Cant you guys just enjoy the con its not like this really hurt anyone okay its an old joke but so arent most of the funny ones. just shrug it off![/quote]

See I also agree with this too. Personally, I don't really give a rats ass what other people are doing as long as they're not up in my face about it. I also find it a bit nostalgic in the same way I would find watching Barney nostalgic of when I was two. But that doesn't mean I would make a huge group of people ages 2-60 endure watching Barney for a weekend. Thats a bit of a stretch haha but although it doesn't really bother me much I can see where it would really annoy a lot of other people.

Its whatever, this is really a minor issue in my opinion...if an issue at all. I was just suggesting what I thought would be a good way to prevent it from happening anymore. Although it doesn't bother me when I hear it and even makes me smile a little, I would certainly not mind never hearing it again either.
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Post by heartstarmagick »

[quote=Suna Sato]Cant you guys just enjoy the con its not like this really hurt anyone okay its an old joke but so arent most of the funny ones. just shrug it off![/quote]

First off: Mother! <3

And second: I totally agree. I mean, honestly, it's an Anime convention; one in which a majority of the attendees are high school age or younger. You have to expect them to act like highschoolers. Is it annoying? Yes, it can be, but it's not like it's hurting anyone. From my experience, the mall right outside the con and the entire hallway where the game room was situated was quiet (well...as quiet as a con can be).
Marco Polo/The Game/Buttscratcher didn't irk me nearly as much as the constant barrage of people stopping in the middle of the hallways to take pictures. I feel like that's more of a problem than loudness at a convention. But hey, maybe I'm just a bit cruel.
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Post by Rappak »

[quote=Suna Sato]i didnt hear butt scratcher or the game even ONCE at AB this year... and as for Marco polo for me its nostalgic. Shouting marco and hearing 20 or so people shouting back polo makes me feel as if im with my own kind.... i feel like its slowly dying anyways.... Cant you guys just enjoy the con its not like this really hurt anyone okay its an old joke but so arent most of the funny ones. just shrug it off![/quote]

Um... it does bother people, especially people who are trying to get info from staff and have to constantly repeat themselves because we can't here them. Or when people do it in the mall. Just keep in mind that attendees represent Anime Boston as a group so if people are annoying others in public, the public won't think highly of Anime Boston as a whole.

I swear I've heard it about 60 times over the weekend. The first few times, fine, but on Sunday I wanted to bash my head into a wall to stop the noise. Just stop please.
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Post by Suna Sato »

[quote=Rappak][quote=Suna Sato]i didnt hear butt scratcher or the game even ONCE at AB this year... and as for Marco polo for me its nostalgic. Shouting marco and hearing 20 or so people shouting back polo makes me feel as if im with my own kind.... i feel like its slowly dying anyways.... Cant you guys just enjoy the con its not like this really hurt anyone okay its an old joke but so arent most of the funny ones. just shrug it off![/quote]

Um... it does bother people, especially people who are trying to get info from staff and have to constantly repeat themselves because we can't here them. Or when people do it in the mall. Just keep in mind that attendees represent Anime Boston as a group so if people are annoying others in public, the public won't think highly of Anime Boston as a whole.

I swear I've heard it about 60 times over the weekend. The first few times, fine, but on Sunday I wanted to bash my head into a wall to stop the noise. Just stop please. [/quote]
are you insane... its a convention with 20,000 people nearly! Your not gonna be able to hear people regardless of the 2 seconds it takes to shout Marco and 5 second to receive a response and do you really think the people of boston have a high opinion of us when were walking around in Crazy costumes talking what seems like to them a foreign tongue and doing things most Americans find strange "Fan service" etc etc you really think a game of marco polo hurts abs rep... get over your self and smile its a convention you want quiet go to the library and read manga.....
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Post by Suna Sato »

Hello my sweet child. I hope you will be joining me for the reunion ^.^ Its time for the Jenovas witness to rise lol!!!
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Post by nobody36 »

[quote=Cemberse]Now every staffer should keep a little pad and paper with them also. You write down their badge name and actual name and explain they have just been issued a warning. If another staffer finds them to be breaking the rule again they will be banned from all Con Events for the rest of that day, take their badge away from them and explain they can come get it again at the beginning of the next day.[/quote]
How will another staffer with a completely different piece of pen and paper know to punish a person who's been written down?!?!?

Just have con staff tell each and every person to knock it off, and start a new rule along the lines of "AB and its staff will not be held responsible for damages/pain inflicted upon attendees who shout 'marco polo' at the top of their lungs". Simple.
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Post by tetsujin »

[quote=Suna Sato]i didnt hear butt scratcher or the game even ONCE at AB this year... and as for Marco polo for me its nostalgic. Shouting marco and hearing 20 or so people shouting back polo makes me feel as if im with my own kind.... i feel like its slowly dying anyways.... Cant you guys just enjoy the con its not like this really hurt anyone okay its an old joke but so arent most of the funny ones. just shrug it off![/quote]

Admittedly, I can be kind of a grouch sometimes about things like this, sometimes I have to make a conscious effort not to get too annoyed with people too easily...

I'd be willing to shrug it off as long as it doesn't disrupt my ability to enjoy con events. Like I was saying, there was that one time I was in a panel and there were people lined up right outside yelling at the top of their lungs... That was a couple years ago that this happened - maybe it's not likely to happen again, I don't know.

"Marco Polo" is always annoying, but maybe I could live with it as long as people respected certain boundaries...
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Post by Suna Sato »

I agree with the above posters. We are in America land of Free SPEECH if someone wants to shout and there in the general con area there shouldnt be any punishment sorry if your annoyed but to be honest this is stupid...
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Post by Fyrii »

Just wanna jump back in and say, while people respect other's wishes to have fun in their own way, you have to respect theirs as well.

There's no reason to assume that non-con people all think everyone who attend this con are freaks, and therefore, it's completely okay to endorse behavior of shouting random things and getting an even louder response. All that's doing is encouraging a negative stigma on the Anime Boston crowd.

When you say "can't you just enjoy the con" well, that's exactly what people are trying to do. Yes, there are 20,000 people already there and there will be an expected noise level because of that, but 20,000 people aren't screaming marco polo every 5 seconds at the same time.

Marco polo / everything else is completely fine when it's done not every other minute. I personally don't really care whether people are saying it or not, but it appears a lot of other people have a problem with it. I just think it's inconsiderate that people get extremely stand-offish when people are getting headaches because of it and are trying as kindly as they can to get people to say it less.

Also, with losing the game, the whole point of that game was to prolong losing as much as possible- not to continually lose it, which is kind of sad that no one even knows how it works anymore. It's not a game anymore, it's a mindless chant. I remember when actually losing the game brought amused rage out of people instead of a disinterested "Oh, darn, I lost that 2 seconds ago anyway."

/done rambling :]
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Post by tetsujin »

[quote=Suna Sato]I agree with the above posters. We are in America land of Free SPEECH[color:red]. I[/color]f someone wants to shout and [color:red]they're[/color] in the general con area there [color:red]shouldn't[/color] be any punishment[color:red].[/color] [color:red]S[/color]orry if [color:red]you're[/color] annoyed but to be honest this is stupid... [/quote]

That's not what freedom of speech means... It's the right to speak one's mind without fear of being imprisoned for the message, not the right to say whatever you like, wherever and however you like without concern for any practical consequences.
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Post by kiarrens »

[quote=tetsujin][quote=Suna Sato]I agree with the above posters. We are in America land of Free SPEECH[color:red]. I[/color]f someone wants to shout and [color:red]they're[/color] in the general con area there [color:red]shouldn't[/color] be any punishment[color:red].[/color] [color:red]S[/color]orry if [color:red]you're[/color] annoyed but to be honest this is stupid... [/quote]

That's not what freedom of speech means... It's the right to speak one's mind without fear of being imprisoned for the message, not the right to say whatever you like, wherever and however you like without concern for any practical consequences.[/quote]
Exactly. I'd use the "shouting fire in a crowded theater" example, it is close but not exactly the same. This is more similar to the "turn off your cell phone in the movie theater" thing. The movie theater can kick you out for disruptive behavior if you are disrupting the other people who paid good money to be entertained by the movie.

If there are people in panel rooms and video rooms who can't hear what they came to see because of people shouting in the hallways, it becomes a big problem.

I'd also like to take a moment to note that I've never seen this kind of behavior at Otakon, which is a 25,000+ person con.
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Post by WigglyOwl »

[quote=Kiarrens]Out of curiosity, how would you guys recommend we, as staff, deal with this issue?

Signs and paddles are an easy problem for us to fix - if we see it, we confiscate it. We can't exactly do that with someone's voice.

I would have no problems whatsoever asking people yelling things to keep it down, but I have to wonder how much good it would do. The one time I politely asked an attendee to put away a sign over the weekend they gave me a look of disgust and kept walking. I think that if someone has enough disrespect for their fellow attendees to yell out memes, they wouldn't be very likely to listen to staff either.[/quote]

I know this sounds harsh, but I say maybe put a little marker mark on the back of their bagde. 3 strikes, you're out. The yelling scares me when it happens. It gets my anxiety acting up and I really want it to stop. Also, because I get extremely bad Migraines normally, nevermind being with a huge group of people.
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Post by WigglyOwl »

[quote=Suna Sato]i didnt hear butt scratcher or the game even ONCE at AB this year... and as for Marco polo for me its nostalgic. Shouting marco and hearing 20 or so people shouting back polo makes me feel as if im with my own kind.... i feel like its slowly dying anyways.... Cant you guys just enjoy the con its not like this really hurt anyone okay its an old joke but so arent most of the funny ones. just shrug it off![/quote]

It does hurt some people. Like I write in the other post, I (along with a lot of people) have terrible anxiety (along with PTSD and stuff) and people yelling like that scares the hell out of me, which can cause a serious panic attack (aka, throwing up or just bursting out crying among other things)
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Post by heartstarmagick »

I don't know why I'm even bothering, because clearly I'm outnumbered and it's not like anyone will listen anyway. But fine. I'm sure nobody was trying to initiate panic attacks and the like. It's really supposed to be all in good fun. And honestly? I was there 12+ hours Friday and Saturday, plus Sunday until about 1:30 and I wasn't hearing it "every five seconds". I went to panels. Couldn't hear it. I went to screenings. Couldn't hear it. Spent time in the malls, again couldn't hear the rampant banshee screaming you all seem to be describing. Hell, I was in the game room for three hours satuday, and couldn't hear it. I can understand the concern for those with anxiety, and I get it; I used to have horrible, horrible crowd anxiety. To this day I hate having more than a dozen people around me. I'm also terrified of elevators, which were completely unavoidable being in the Sheraton on floor 23. My point is, I'm not just a heartless eighteen year old looking for attention by screaming and to be honest, I wasn't even one of the ones screaming but I know people who did, and I'm sure if con security or the front desk or /someone/ had told them it was legitimately bothering people psychologically, and not just ticking them off, they would've stopped. That's just my two cents I suppose, take from it what you will.
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Post by starnld »

would an entertaining PSA be out of place or even effective? I can visualize A-chan, B-kun and the Roady trying to do a take and having to redo it multiple times because it keeps being interrupted by Marco Polo and boom boxes. Marco ( lock and load ) Polo ( let loose with the m60 )
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Post by komamura-okami »

I've tried by best to ignore the childish antics. Couldear ignore it when it was yelled in my ear.
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Post by ShinkuNoKitsune »

I started hearing Marco Polo on Thursday...in line for pre-reg at 4pm. ._. So again, it was around for the entire con. Unfortunately. Same with the game. There were times where no one responded and that was actually relieving. xD

So yeah, I'm going to agree with everyone else and say come up with something new or don't do anything at all. <<
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Post by WigglyOwl »

[quote=heartstarmagick]I don't know why I'm even bothering, because clearly I'm outnumbered and it's not like anyone will listen anyway. But fine. I'm sure nobody was trying to initiate panic attacks and the like. It's really supposed to be all in good fun. And honestly? I was there 12+ hours Friday and Saturday, plus Sunday until about 1:30 and I wasn't hearing it "every five seconds". I went to panels. Couldn't hear it. I went to screenings. Couldn't hear it. Spent time in the malls, again couldn't hear the rampant banshee screaming you all seem to be describing. Hell, I was in the game room for three hours satuday, and couldn't hear it. I can understand the concern for those with anxiety, and I get it; I used to have horrible, horrible crowd anxiety. To this day I hate having more than a dozen people around me. I'm also terrified of elevators, which were completely unavoidable being in the Sheraton on floor 23. My point is, I'm not just a heartless eighteen year old looking for attention by screaming and to be honest, I wasn't even one of the ones screaming but I know people who did, and I'm sure if con security or the front desk or /someone/ had told them it was legitimately bothering people psychologically, and not just ticking them off, they would've stopped. That's just my two cents I suppose, take from it what you will. [/quote]

I know what you mean. Im sure no one was trying to do this, but I would like people to be more aware of it next year. I did mention it to a few of the volunteer people though. I have no problem with people doing random stuff at cons, I LOVED the free sign thing xD and the buttscratcher people werent as loud as the Marco people. They were kinda just chilling in the main hall of the hynes but the marco people would be like...2 feet in back of me and just scream into the back of my head.
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Post by Suna Sato »

I have PTSD and im sorry i think thats a BS answer for someone whos annoyed with something. I think this can be resolved very easily. If you have an issue with someones noise level simply walk up to them and Say "Could you keep it down" Like humans talking to humans. If the person persists get an AB Staff to ask them to Keep it down. If that doesn't work Hynes Security! We dont needs rules we just need people to treat each other like humans! Marco polo can still be played but it should be played Respectfully. If someones being overly loud and obnoxious that is grounds for discussion. Its harmless. If your PTSD is so Severe that you can handle a sudden increase in someones voice maybe you shouldnt be at a anime convention. Perhaps you should be with a counselor where i was learning to handle it...
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