Please Note: These are the 2012 policies. They may be updated at some point between now and the 2014 show. Until this message is removed, remember that some of the finer details might change in the interum.
General:
Our policies are not aimed at cracking down on every
misdeed, nor at creating a police state. They are not a compendium of
statutes and codes to keep you all walking in line and pissing on cue.
Rather, they are aimed at maximizing the fun, and keeping things at the
threshold of awesome.
Both our policy and our staff (including
security) have a primary objective of facilitating awesome, not putting
a cap on the fun or harshing the buzz.
Furthermore, we have no
interest in enforcing or even reiterating local/state/national law.
That's not our job, and should you break the law you'll be answering to
the police, not a sympathetic convention staffer.
With that
being said, we'll be fleshing out whatever few meager rules we feel the
need to mention here. The program guide will have a slightly more
comprehensive list of stuff, if you need it spelled out for you.
Basically, though, everything falls under our core rule of:
ALL UNWRITTEN RULES ARE TO BE ENFORCED
AND OBEYED
You
know what's cool and what's not cool. We expect you to be smart enough
to figure out the small details. If you have a disagreement with a
staffer about what constitutes being out of line, you're probably wrong
and should shut up and listen to them. If you're the type of
egotistical prick who thinks he knows better, head over to Con-Ops to
get it sorted out; don't get yourself thrown out for fighting with
someone who has no authority over policy. To restate though, the convention operations staff located in the Clark Room has final say over everything.
The Badges:
Badges are non-refundable and non-transferable. Should you lose your badge at the con, report to Con-Ops for a new one. There will be no additional charge for a new badge.
Identifying Staff:
Staff are your friends, treat them as such! We have a saying on staff that is “The only difference between staff and attendees is they pay for a badge and we work for them”. If you ever need assistance, seek out staff. Full staff will be wearing a black and red staff badge and a bright red and white arm-band. They are trained, experienced and should be able to help you with most issues. Gophers are less experienced volunteers who are not as knowledgeable but should be able to direct you if you need something. They are marked by blue trimmed gopher badges. WARNING - Not all armbands are staff armbands! Don’t badger Per-sona 4 cosplayers with questions or issues!
Any and all issues, questions, comments, complaints, etc. can be an-swered/resolved by Con Ops, located in the Clark Room.
Lost and Found:
If you find something that isn't yours, lose something that is yours head over to Con Ops as well. If you have a missing human, head to Con Ops. If you are having a crisis of faith, gender confusion, or aren't sure if your suroundings are just a construct of your deflated ego, head to Con Ops. For the sake of emphasis I shall copy paste:
Any and all issues, questions, comments, complaints, etc. can be an-swered/resolved by Con Ops, located in the Clark Room.
Censorship:
Anime
Punch considers itself an academic organization, and despite some of
our baser events we ARE a symposium of professors and students who wish
to exchange ideas, teach, learn, and experience some art. As such, we
feel that censorship of any kind would not just be inappropriate, but
insulting and unforgivable.
Considering this, no video showing
at Anime Punch will be censored or carded for. Descriptions of possible
objectionable content will be indicated ahead of time on both the
website and in the program guide, so parents who wish to limit their
children's exposure can discuss with them what is ok and what isn't.
One of the video rooms will also be "kid-safe" the entire weekend, showing nothing
with overt sexuality or severe violence.
The topics of
discussion and the language used to discuss it will not be restricted
for any panel, talk, or event at Anime Punch. It is up to the speaker
to set the tone and level of their content. Obviously, some topics are
more inclined to mature content than others. For the concerned parent
we recommend looking through the schedule of the convention with your
child in advance and laying down the guidelines. For those with
disobedient children, we recommend keeping a vigilant eye on them.
Caveat
hentai – We feel that no art should be censored. We show hentai late at
night. We do not allow anyone under 18 into the hentai showing. Is this
an inconsistency? To avoid any hypocrisy we make sure that the hentai
we show can in no way be misconstrued as art. We will show the most
vile, terrible, worthless, degenerate, meaningless trash that we can
conjure! So no fear; there shall be no children in the hentai room, but
there will be massive amounts of hilarity.
Weapons:
No
exposed live steel. If it's in a sheath, it's ok, but don't go taking
it out and swinging it around. The Anime Punch sharpness test is to put
it down your pants and jump twice.
The only thing your weapon
can project is an aura of cool. No gun capable of firing B.B.'s, airsoft pellets,
crossbow bolts, lasers, or anything else is permitted, regardless of whether or not they have ammo. Broken toy guns, or toys that are modified to not fire are fin.. Real guns are strictly forbidden under every circumstance, even if you do have a conceal and carry permit.
Lewdness:
Nothing
"pink" may show. If you want to show off your swimsuit area swing by
Con-Ops and we'll be more than happy to take a nice long look.
Otherwise, keep it all tucked in, there are children in the halls and
as we all know, children don't have sex organs. On that note, while we
don't censor what we say during talks, please don't go shouting
vulgarities in the halls. That last one isn't so much for the
protection of the youth (they've heard it), but rather because only
lame-ass douche-bags and immature brats play like that.
Additional Asshattery:
Don't do stupid shit that will piss off the hotel. Without a venue
there is no convention.
Don't
be rude or obnoxious to the normal-types. Show that we're not so
low-class as to need to be a dick to people who have done us no harm
and have been unfortunate enough to blissfully stumble into the Armageddicon.
I'm so sick of hearing 15 year old bitches going on about how they
"freaked out" some poor old woman who got into an elevator with them.
She wasn't freaked out, she was pissed off, and you're a stupid ho.
Grow up, get some class, and stop proving how tiny your metaphorical
(or not) penis is.
For parents, more info can be found at
Parent's information page.
