INTERNAL BBYO MEMO: Katsucon Statements

From: http://old.b-linked.org/intranet/article.php?id=2734&p=1|7

INTERNAL: Katsucon Statements

02/19/2013
BBYO Colleagues,

As many of you know, BBYO’s International Convention shared space at the Gaylord Hotel with Katsucon, a three-day festival celebration of Japanese animation, art and pop culture.  Needless to say, this group which numbered over 15,000 brought some life and color to the hotel and convention center.

While sharing space with such a large group posed some challenges, it was an overall positive experience thanks to the strong partnership that we established with Katuscon’s leadership, particularly its security team.   Together, we were able to provide crowd control in the most highly trafficked areas and keep our respective participants in their respective venue locations.  This was a successful endeavor as we received no incident reports from Katsucon or Hotel security regarding our participants.

With that said, there is some misinformation floating around social media that causes us concern.  A small number of Katsucon participants are making accusations that we have no reason to believe are true.  In some cases these accusations are being made in hateful ways.  Should you receive inquiries about this from anyone, please share the following points:

·         BBYO, Katsucon and Hotel security worked together to provide a safe convention experience for everyone.  There were no formal incident reports filed to any party by or about BBYO teen participants or staff during the entire convention.
·         BBYO had 150 professionals and volunteers on duty throughout International Convention, as well as contracted security professionals who coordinated with existing hotel security.
·         Certain sections of the hotel were restricted to BBYO’s conference attendees.  This was a point of frustration particularly for Katsucon participants, who in prior years had the Gaylord to themselves, but it was necessary to maintain security and traffic flow.  BBYO and Katsucon worked together to map-out various sections of the hotel for each group to ensure that the needs of both organizations were met.  BBYO did provide Katsucon unrestricted access to the foyer, a popular area for their photography.
·         There have been no claims from the hotel of damage caused by BBYO participants.

If there are inquiries that require further clarification, please contact your DFO or refer them to David Kessel at dkessel@bbyo.org or 202 857-6567.  If you see information that contradicts these statements posted online, please contact Carly Lundy Schacknies at clundy@bbyo.org or 202 857-6691.  Additionally, please encourage your teens NOT to respond to any social media posts.

Thank you,

Matt