My friend sent me a TikTok about a book convention that happened in Baltimore, MD, called A Million Lives Book Festival. According to this website, the book convention had a vendor hall, cosplay, and a ball. This ball was titled the Lavender Romance Ball. Tickets for being able to attend the ball were $250 (as listed on the website). In the TikTok I watched, people dressed lavishly showed up to the ball. The ball was hosted in the convention center, more likely in the basement. The event space was not only not decorated, but it was clearly a convention center still. Fans were disappointed, wanting refunds, and authors lost their credibility in recommending the event to attend. We must hold conventions accountable for providing what was paid for and respecting the attendees.

I want to make one thing clear. I could never be an events planner. I think back to when I was planning our wedding several years ago. I was stressed, and felt a wash of relief when our wedding was over. I couldn’t imagine planning a convention. When discussing this, there needs to be decorum in this conversation. Fans have a right to be upset, but also, I wouldn’t wish ill will to the person who put on the A Million Lives Book Festival.

I feel empathetic to all convention goers for what they paid for, but also for authors specifically. There is a cost to table at a convention. Authors and creators rely on conventions being organized, so they can make back what they spent on a table. Authors advertised going to this convention, so, relating to something I said earlier, authors felt duped. If the convention tries to put on a second event, now there’s a trust issue where people may not attend because they don’t trust the event staff to put on a successful event. I hope that something was learned from this experience, and that when you advertise a Fantasy Ball, it shouldn’t be a non-decorated warehouse room.

Besides this event, there was another convention in the Twin Cities that came under hot water. This was a gaming convention that happened in April. While I won’t name the event, if you do some investigating, I’m sure you can figure out which event I’m referring to. After the convention, someone had posted on Facebook about their negative experience with the convention runner. I read through their post, and immediately, I was revolted. This person was misgendered, didn’t have a table they paid for, and struggled to get an immediate refund because they didn’t have said table. Instead of addressing this head-on, the convention runner tried to get their post pulled from Facebook. GROSS. It’s not your place to censor what someone says about your event. The public has every right to know how a convention is run. I have no empathy for this person because if you treat people disrespectfully, it will come out. I will not be attending or supporting this event because of the above.

Conventions are my happy place. I love being around geeks like myself and meeting new people. With that said, conventions need to be held accountable. For the book convention, I hope Baltimore gets the event that it deserves. For the gaming convention I referenced, it might be best if the convention doesn’t get renewed. There are so many conventions in the Twin Cities and while it sucks that this one wasn’t great, there are so many others to support.