The Readers Take Denver festival was a disaster

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What do you think about Readers Take Denver 2024?
Editing help from Connor McDowell (‪@connormcdowell2‬)
Second Channel: ‪@itsAntiAustin‬
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[@itsAustinGreen]

Use AUSTINGREEN to get 55% off your first month at Scentbird sbird.co/3JdGJXR

[@rylienicole2663]

you should do a video on the CEO of Scentbird!!!👀😂

[@ember9361]

ever so often... dashcon gets invented again

[@Leahs_Dad]

They didn't learn from the ball pits

[@pinkpupbutt9299]

It haunts us all....

[@sillygo0oser]

The homestuck pfp sells this comment

[@CHiCguitar]

DashCon, TanaCon now this.. the cycle truly repeats itself.

[@pinkpupbutt9299]

@@CHiCguitar can't forget Rainfurrest ;-;

[@craighound]

the way they talked about the incident with the sexual harassment has my blood boiling. they ticked off every single box for things not to say.

[@donzobonzo4535]

"like many things, a hand on the waist has now morphed into sexual assault" had my eye twitching

[@bjam89]

@@donzobonzo4535 yeah wonder how many hand on waists he has done with how flippent he made that comment

[@withcharmtospare]

Yep clearly he outran security not to help the victims but rather talk them out of taking any meaningful action because military men?? What a sleaze

[@NeeNee_B.]

You're being totally unfair to him... he was kind enough not to mention what she was wearing!

[@raysofmariehere6441]

LTRLY said she said liked the attention.

[@Tink00]

"Nowadays any unwanted touch is sexual assault" Yeah, Diego, yeah it is. Literally, by definition...

[@jamesesparza6893]

That's actually not true, legally speaking the definition for sexual assault would be to touch somebody in a sexual manner, well assault in general requires you to cause some form of harm to the individual, as well as battery.

[@Tink00]

@@jamesesparza6893 depends on the jurisdiction

[@annegrey6447]

With all the other lies Idk if I believe they were soldiers, but if so he’d be 18+ & she’s a minor; that’s creepy even if he only “touched her waist”.

[@blisterfingers8169]

You're just asking to brush up against someone and land in jail. You're a moron.

[@Jamillah666]

​@@jamesesparza6893 wrong, delete your nonsense liar. Sexual assault is classified as ANY unwanted touch. Ive been a cop for 10 years.

[@-Vanova-]

Oh my god it’s wool and folk with books

[@jsthecat]

My thoughts exactly. How are people not able to organise an event. 😮

[@kbird6208]

At least wool and folk had so much rain people could probably hydrate

[@Xmasta420]

Dare I ask what wool and folk is?

[@kbird6208]

@@Xmasta420 it was a fiber arts festival that was horribly planned and in an inadequate and inaccessible venue during a rainstorm. Nightmare for vendor and attendees and then of course organizers did want to take accountability.

[@rebashhhh3448]

omg Lisa and Diegos posts about kicking the dancing dudes out.. its giving "and everyone clapped"

[@alyshaking]

Hahaha that was my exact thought listening to that 🤣

[@aj_12x23]

"And that dancefloor perv was Albert Einstein"

[@BasicGeometry]

It’s not even giving, SHE ACTUALLY SAID THAT (“everyone cheered”, but close enough lol)

[@cleanserene6330]

I heard that and thought, oh she's like that then...she has terminal "main character syndrome" ...it's straight out of one of her shty books, her strong stupid hubby KIKN A** and a woman 'liking' her assault, that's pure romance novel

[@TiffWaffles]

Yeah... apparently it was a foreign European man who was a little handsy because apparently all European men act like that and a bunch of military blokes that gate crashed the event. Her explanation on what happened made me roll my eyes, especially at the part where she blamed the victim for what happened to her. I definitely feel that she blamed the victim but the amount of men and the circumstances of these gate crashers being there was definitely a lie.

[@Clownkhitty]

The victim blaming is INSANE. That poor girl, imagine someone disregarding your assault by saying that you “wanted it”. Very icky

[@dismurrart6648]

Even if that was 100% accurate, his framing makes me not want him around teens.

[@Clownkhitty]

@@dismurrart6648 oh yeah for sure. There’s a point where it’s like… despite the validity of the claims being dubious, the wording is gross.

[@dismurrart6648]

@Clownkhitty yeah. Some teens are wild and some moms do overreact but we all know what a hand on the thigh means. It's movie shorthand. Also idgaf that they are soldiers. That guy is old enough to know that soldiers have a reputation in these situations but he's trying to use that as "they are heroic patriots"

[@yeoldegunporn]

An older man when she’s a teen. Like way to be TONE deaf in any room.

[@TiffWaffles]

That's horrific. There's no other word I can come up with to describe this.

[@deahdirectah]

On the accessibility part of Lisa's letter: She's a dang liar. The volunteer she claims she spoke with and scheduled a call to plan for future ADA support was my friend. She tokenized him as a wheelchair user in the letter, but she didn't listen to anything he had to say and NEVER scheduled any kind of call or meeting like she claimed. I feel like this part of the story is being overlooked in most conversations because descriminating against the disabled is commonplace and people don't think of the ADA issues as noteworthy. But my friend had reached out in NOVEMBER to press them about needing an ADA coordinator and offer to help and needs still weren't met in the slightest. All the issues with standing for hours in line and no water and limited food access, apply that to a disabled person and imagine how much worse that was for them.

[@dismurrart6648]

I went to something where Ada wasn't respected by the organizers and my friend had seizures because of that. I went to feedback to complain and the derision and disrespect of the guy at fault was enough that I'll never go back. Imo, even as an able bodied person, it is a red flag because if you don't believe in basic safety accommodations for disabled people, you aren't equipped for safety period.

[@kathleenchapman2204]

My thoughts exactly. I am disabled and could never have managed the lines and lack of food means lack of medication and that is a disaster

[@leagaillard755]

to be fair a massive indoors events that didn't even bother asking people to mask was never going to care about disabled people in the slightest - and then they went and made icky-disability-representation rebecca yaros their shining beacon? yeah, i'm surprised it wasn't worse.

[@Partyhatpossum]

I definitely noticed how eager she was to point to “well look we have our very own disabled person it couldn’t have possibly been an ADA nightmare!!”. Like…. Disabled people existing at an event that was terrible means it suddenly wasn’t terrible?😬 it’s like they were playing bingo with how to make sure the event was as non-accessible as possible tbh.

[@barbarakeyser6415]

The pointing out their disabled volunteer immediately made me know they didn't care about ADA, cause they clearly think ramps are the only requirement.

[@Nimafox]

My mom was an author at this event (she is pretty cool and I'm very proud of her), and she caught COVID from the lady running the event. Allegedly Lisa knew she wasn't feeling well and just was out and about anyway. My mom got an email notifying that they had all been exposed. Of course this is on top of the absolute mess of this convention. For example my moms books got lost somewhere in the hotel so she couldn't sell during a selling event, the speaker system at that event was so awful that even when she got the back up books everyone avoided the area next to the messed up speakers. Also she was given a terrible spot when the package she bought guaranteed her a good spot. Then after getting moved to the 2nd room, no one came over because they didn't realize it was even there.

[@bellablack1827]

that is insane

[@lutchien]

Would you be able to share her author link? I'd like to support her

[@marascales6143]

A lot of authors had books misplaced. If your mom doesn't mind, we'd love to know her author name/link so we can show support. I went to RTD to find new authors and didn't have time due to poor event planning. 🫠

[@Nimafox]

​@@lutchien My mom's pen name is Red Phoenix. She writes extra spicy romance and currently mildly spicy romcoms.

[@Nimafox]

​@@marascales6143 Her name is Red Phoenix and if you enjoy romcoms I'd love it if you checked out her latest book, Meeting My Forever. She is new to the genre so new readers would be awesome . My brother does the marketing, and until a couple years ago I did all the social media, so it's kind of a family business in a way hahaha.

[@danielx555]

This is almost as intense as that one knitting festival a few months ago, or the horrifying tales from the gastric bypass cruise.

[@Abyss0fmPf1KVp6]

The WHAT????

[@lizek3515]

I immediately thought of the knitting festival too 💀

[@rebashhhh3448]

Elaborate on the cruise????

[@BritInvLvr]

I was thinking the same thing.

[@OpposumParty87]

I NEED the story of the gastric bypass cruise WHATT?!!

[@rorybanwell4751]

The fact the woman who organised it and sent that appalling email at the end is considered an AUTHOR is absolutely wild. There were parts of that email that were so poorly written it was almost incomprehensible. Wiiiiiiiiild!

[@xanthopsia]

might as well credit the people who proofread her books as the authors LOL

[@irregularstuff5290]

I mean. A lot of popular books, especially from booktok, are basically lower fanfiction-level of writing, editing (or lack of editing) and so on. And I specify the lower end because I've seen fanfics written better and distributed for free instead of however much money these ones ask for.

[@chillarypuff]

AI could have written a better email or proofed it 😭😭

[@cjboyo]

I think she writes pulp-y romance? That’s one of the more lucrative writing niches and it’s got a low barrier to entry for “quality”

[@PlsDrea]

@@irregularstuff5290 so true lol

[@thegrimlooper]

When I was 13, “men” loved to tell me I was so mature. So grown up “for my age”. Then they start touching you “innocently”, where it’s “only weird if you make it weird” when it is, in fact, weird as all get out. As a naive person, you’d think it’s ok unless otherwise told. It’s dangerous to allow minors to think they can behave that way because there are people out there who will take advantage of this. And those who will, won’t stop teenage bad behavior because they benefit directly from brainwashing and manipulation.

[@TiffWaffles]

My mother told me when I started puberty that I am going to find myself in a position where boys are going to notice me and that it is okay to feel uncomfortable with that. She also told me that no is a full sentence and that if these boys won't take no for an answer that it's okay to put up a fight about it. She said nothing about grown ass adult men also noticing me when I started growing into a woman as a teenager. One time when I was at the public library waiting for the time for cadets to unlock their doors, a man tried to reach under my school blouse to touch me and I screamed bloody murder. The fact that men think that a young girl whose body is starting to transform from that of a child's into a woman's body gives them a free pass to act predatory is disgusting. I had more problems with grown men as a teenager (most of them in their forties, fifties and sixties) than boys who were my age at the time. It's worse when society often blames the victim for what happens to them. One of my friends was larger than I was and she had two older men oggling her chest. We had ridden our horses down to the sandbar where they loved splashing in the water before we decided to sit down on the grass to eat lunch since we had gotten hungry. While we were there a large extended family arrived at the sandbar to swim and have a picnic and two of the men that looked like they were in their mid fifties or early sixties were being creepy towards my friend. When I said something about it one of the older women literally told us that it wasn't her husband's fault that he noticed my friend and that if she didn't want men looking at her that maybe she shouldn't have such large breasts in the first place.

[@marascales6143]

So, I was at RTD2024 (the attendees call ourselves "The Survivors of RTD2024) and you did a fabulous job, Austin! You have a lot of the receipts we shared amongst ourselves because everyone had a different experience, but we knew we were apart of a failure book convention. I can't believe our experience made a KZbin video. 😂

[@honeycatacomb1191]

I was listening to this in the back ground. It took me a min to realize rtd was the abbreviation of Readers take Denver. So I kept thinking it was the public transit in Denver lol.

[@littlebirdsword]

another hour-long video about a disaster of a niche festival i've never heard of in my life??? count me INNNN

[@charlesintune]

I also love these any suggestions I'd love.

[@dianaalmeida6790]

Same here lol

[@pearlkohler5422]

A couple ladies came right from this event and sat at my bar and could not stop talking about it but I was too busy to get the tea, I’m glad I’m getting it now lol

[@rachel3620]

Hope they got some drinks to calm their nerves!!!

[@joelman1989]

Will people with no event planning experience STOP planning events?!

[@hefoxed]

So... No more planned events? how does someone gain the event planning experience without planning an event? I was on the board of a group that ran regularly small events monthly and bigger multi day ticketed events yearlyish (all volunteer, all profits went to run the group). There was so so so much work to pull off the bigger one events, which were tiny (100ish people) in comparison to this. Doing the smaller events helped but there was still a lot of learning and mistakes -- none of us had prior experience with events of that size tmk. If we didn't do these bigger events, the bigger events wouldn't have happened. The community overall enjoyed and wanted these events. I cannot imagine doing such a big event as this. People should try and either build up experience of smaller events first or get people involved with adequate experience. But that experience needs to come from somewhere and there's not always the option of getting someone involved with adequate experience for the given event. The organizers of this event seem like grifters and unpleasant AF people that probably shouldn't be in charge of any events this.

[@joelman1989]

@@hefoxed to clarify, I did mean they should stop planning large scale events. Definitely we all have to start somewhere. But like let’s start with a company retreat or networking conference first. And then try planning a large scale event, as you suggest. And starting off you definitely should have a partner or mentor with more experience because there are so many variables you never think to anticipate without experience. Event planning is one of those careers where there really is no substitute for experience.

[@cjboyo]

Honestly the better take away is “could people appreciate the labor that is required to run a successful event and stop getting in over their head like this?

[@cluttercentral]

@@cjboyo As a professional meeting and events planner, I agree wholeheartedly. It's so much more than contracting sleeping rooms and meeting space.

[@DamnedSilly]

@@cluttercentral Even amateurs with experience can do a pretty good job. Many of the mistakes made here would have been solved just by knowing what services to request from the hotel staff... services often included in what you're already paying when you book the space. Things like not having tables set up for a signing are absolute rookie moves showing you never completed the basic paperwork when you booked the space. Conference centers and hotels _want_ your event to go well because, if it doesn't, it doesn't reflect well on them either.

[@Evelyn_Okay]

The fact that this was hosted in Colorado, in a giant hotel surrounded by mountains, and it broke so many authors' sanity is kinda ironc ....

[@mrsiz218]

The shining insight…😳😉

[@jamesesparza6893]

Only if you're a horror author.

[@TheBathrobeWizard]

This is a Stephen King book, just a book where he goes into realistic social horror and comedy.

[@StargazingDragon]

I would sue for any merchandise like pre-orders or swag that was basically stolen. I've been a part of so many conventions I can't even. Most of this was literally convention 101 and as an author who does press, signings, and I'm assuming other events she should have known at least the basics. She booked things like time was gonna slow down for her. Why were they trying to put swag together the night before? OK and is this giving anybody else low key Tanacon flashbacks? It's really sad how attendees have to carry so much of the conventions still around these days. Most rely heavily on volunteer staff as well

[@kkelseym]

I'm sorry the hotel staff were tossing tablecloths regardless of people's stuff being on them?? That's extremely fucked up. I'd honestly start fighting. If you have an issue with us being over go talk to the event staff, you're not about to mess with my stuff. I'm where the event staff told me to be.

[@AkhierDragonheart]

With that, I suspect that the hotel staff wasn't being treated all that well either. Not to excuse them for what they did, but given how the organizers treated their paying customers and invited guests? No way in hell were they treating the staff even half that good.

[@averysspookshowspectacular6205]

Yeah, I've worked at a couple hotels and I get how frustrating these kinds of conventions can be, but the hotel staff was not acting appropriately at all. Tossing tablecloths and especially flicking the lights while people were packing up heavy objects...if someone got hurt they could have sued and very possibly have won against the hotel.

[@steph15036]

@@averysspookshowspectacular6205 thats what i was thinking, the lights flickering thing is such a safety hazard!

[@samanthalopilato8816]

also a weird thing for denver locals, rtd is the name of our transit service so for the first few posts i thought this was about trains...

[@rachel3620]

I used to live in Denver and wasn't really paying attention when I started this vid and got so confused about promising no lines for public transit? 😂

[@charbage9073]

SAME

[@Blueb3rryyy]

Something I’ve noticed with a lot of these niche large scale events is that they’re organized by usually only one or two people who have a passion/connection for the topic, but not the experience/education in event management. Please, I am begging these individuals to work with an event management company or consultant, put their ego’s aside, and give those who have the subject matter expertise in charge of organizing and managing the event. That doesn’t take away from the authenticity or downplay the individual’s role in the niche - it avoids lawsuits

[@kbird6208]

But profit! 🙄

[@CherryBlossomBlyue]

This!

[@mintyxx1]

They need to be like Jennifer Armentrout with ApollyCon.

[@charlesintune]

​@@mintyxx1I haven't heard a negative thing about Apollycon which means it went well!

[@capitalisa]

The influencers of niche groups need to stop signing on for events run by non event planners.

[@jamiejam4588]

The thing the organizer (Lisa Something) said about the accessibility issues was so weird. I can only assume disabled people were complaining about the lack of ensured accessibility in the space and during the events, not that Lisa didn’t stop to help them if they fell or something. The organizer saying “I stopped and helped everyone I saw and I would hope my volunteers did the same” or whatever it was seemed like it totally glazed over the real complaint. If steps aren’t taken to make sure that the facilities are accessible and the events are planned out with disabled folks in mind as well, then the convention isn’t accessible. If the space is accessible and the events are planned properly, then no one should have to be going around “rescuing” people. You can go around helping disabled folks all you want but if you’ve made no attempt to prevent and minimize incidents involving those people in the first place then you didn’t host an accessible event. It really doesn’t seem like a difficult concept to grasp. I don’t know if Lisa just legitimately didn’t understand the complaints or if she was side-stepping the real issue in order to make herself seem like she did everything she could, but either way it’s shitty. And her promising to consult one single disabled volunteer in order to fix all the accessibility problems is borderline delusional. An individual’s experience is obviously subjective and not remotely universal, so Lisa would hardly get any helpful data. This whole thing sounds like an absolute nightmare. I’m glad that the future event is cancelled. These organizers have no business hosting conventions/festivals, period, let alone large-scale ones. I hope the authors, influencers, volunteers, and attendees can sue to recoup their lost money and products!

[@victoriafisher1923]

I live in a city where in complaints to problems with unsafe driving, the former mayor said, "I tap on the windows of vehicles with drivers who are [bhaving badly]" and everyone was like, "uh, you're in charge of the city, it's not your job to tap on windows, its your job to take action to fix the problem on a citywide scale." Even supposed leaders don't get leadership.

[@3possumsinatrenchcoat]

someone commented above that the person in a wheelchair was their friend, who was ignored and dismissed even when reaching out themselves directly to offer free services for improving (read: having any) ADA accommodations.

[@jessking7737]

Not hiring or paying for event planning professionals and a team of staff to organise this festival, and then charging $300 per ticket is atrocious and proves this was about greed and money grabbing for those organisers.

[@marciab7152]

Seems like this is becoming super common. People who have no business planning these events are realizing it’s an easy money grab

[@veronicamaine3813]

@@marciab7152 the thing is it isn’t- I guarantee she lost money.

[@annajo6576]

Those statements from Laura and Diego are so 1) fake and 2) defensive. Yes, because famously, military men are NEVER sexually inappropriate...

[@williammiller3277]

A hand anywhere you dont want has ALWAYS been an assault. It didnt magically turn into one recently. Unwanted touching

[@jamesesparza6893]

No actually it would be battery at first unless in the sexually explicit location and then it's sexual assault. Now if a human being gets hurt in the midst of battery then it turns into assault and battery.

[@williammiller3277]

@jamesesparza6893 way to miss the point. Congrats.

[@jamesesparza6893]

@@williammiller3277 you literally capitalized "always" and as of right now within the united states assault is not what you claim it to be, what you claim is the following. "A hand anywhere you dont want has always been assault." This is wrong, its always been battery. You have no point because you are wrong, and it is important to call this crap out because we don't want to live in a society where someone cries assault when they get tapped on the shoulder or patted on the back. The law exists and it is important to not cloud it with none sense one liners you think sound good. Why? Victims, real victims thats why. The more definitions and interpretations outside the legally accepted ones allow perpetrators more avenue of escape, and victims less of a system to rely on for justice.

[@williammiller3277]

@jamesesparza6893 whoosh. It is both an assault and a battery. Gonna whoosh again? How bad do you wanna miss the point? It's an offensive/unwanted touching. Call it whatever you want. It is wrong and Karen was wrong. Putting your feet on someone who doesn't want you to touch them is wrong and has ALWAYS been wrong. You got issues dude. "Live in a society". Lol. Go cry to your mom about that. Assault is considered an intentional tort in tort law. A prima facie case for assault has three components: The defendant acts The defendant intends to cause the victim to fear imminent harmful or offensive contact The defendant's act causes the victim to reasonably fear such contact What does your high horse accomplish? Defending the Karen over your perceived semantics and pedantry? Throwing victim terms around? Lol. Grow up.

[@williammiller3277]

@@jamesesparza6893 whoosh

[@mxmissy]

There's a whole lot to unpack here, but specifically talking about that author who claimed her book idea was stolen is WILD. One of the things you learn as a creative is that no idea is completely unique. It's just not. Unless you time travel back to when there was no mention of this idea, you have to accept that ideas are inhernitly inspired by somewhere else. And that isn't a bad thing either! Inspiration is a good thing. It shows that something moved you enough that you wanted to take the idea and tell it a different way. The other thing is that there's a term called "multiple discovery" it's most a term for the sciences, but I can't remember the specific term for novel writing. But its essentially where the same idea can be thought of by two seperate people. And this sort of relates to the first thing, people no matter where they are, are going to have the same idea. It's inevitible. But as long as the ideas are different then it's fine. The last thing I learnt and I take to heart. While yes, no idea is original, you won't write an original book, or draw an original painting, or sing an original song. The thing that is original is it wasn't told by you. Besides, as a reader myself, we eat the same plot up. I don't care if its in a different font, I want the same themes in the story, thank you.

[@charlesintune]

THANK YOU. No one else is commenting on this because there were a hundred other cluster fires discussed but that author was rude. She didn't talk to him privately. And I'm so glad the male author had those RECEIPTS. And according to Austin she's backing down. But like, really?? If you're gonna accuse someone of plagiarism come correct with an army of documents or don't come at all. Like you said no idea is truly unique unless you're in caveman times.

[@badlydrawnavocado2569]

I saw the accusing authors response as well. She’s mostly complaining about him having a larger audience and sending them after her for “just saying their ideas were earily similar” and talking about how great her book is. I’m sure her books are awesome, but she’s absolutely either missing the point or deliberately avoiding it.

[@ReginaCordium722]

diego's "response" to the sexual harassment is so disgusting. also, kinda of sketched out by his repeated comments about them being military. that does, in fact, make it worse! absolutely horrific.

[@rebashhhh3448]

I'm so curious what she did with all that cash. 3k x $300 (minimum) PLUS who knows how much from the authors who wanted to be in the swag bags. Easily 400k coming in. Staff was volunteered, did RTD pay for rooms for all authors and influencers? I want an excel spreadsheet with the expenses I just gotta know

[@chrisz7494]

Minus costs to rent the hotel conference rooms and presumably they were eating dinner from the profits. She still got away with quite a lot

[@AdaireKrickets]

Not to mention 16 dollar beers and other meals bought?! Holy gods, this was a scam, and everyone deserves their money back for the tickets, at least.

[@marascales6143]

Ohhhh... the tea is still hot on this matter. The last count we had on attendees AND author/staff was 3700 (but we're not 100% sure). Authors paid for signing packages (starting at $450). These packages were supposed to secure a "good spot" for the signings, but we found that not to be true. Authors were also asked to sponsor not only free swag for the attendees but ads placed in the rented space (window clings and escalator cling ads).

[@kerryw2584]

Most hotel contracts for events are rates based on room sales. In other words, the facility estimates X number of attendees of the event will rent rooms through them, and the function space is priced based on that room fill. This is tracked by people who book through the room block as publicized by the event, and many events that depend on these numbers hire special firms that will cross reference hotel records of rooms sold during that time with the event's registered attendees. The rate the event gets on both hotel rooms and conference space can be discounted if the block fills, or they may have to pay a penalty if it doesn't. That is, of course, if she had anyone even remotely competent handling her contracts. The fact that the hotel was that rude at close out... This was an event with an affluent clientele. I'm sure that there were a few Karens being obnoxious in there, but they're unlikely to have been sleeping 12 to a room or flushing the towels down the toilets. The hotel should've been loving this. TL;DR: all those hotel rooms for influencers and authors may not have cost the organizers as much as you think. Ditto for the conference space.

[@QueenErrr]

I watched a video by an author who attended this event and she had said she paid her flight and hotel herself, plus $400 for a table. It's possible more well-known authors had this paid for but i would imagine many went out of pocket.

[@Partyhatpossum]

Is the book community okay….?😬seems like every day is a new drama of some sort

[@camdenhunt7565]

Lmao no also booktok has greatly affected which books are published and promoted and which ones aren't which kind of sucks.

[@brennajones8296]

No

[@neru1584]

As an outsider looking in: absolutely effing not

[@lilmorsecody]

as a former nerdy kid im kind of glad readers and bookworms no longer have the stereotype of being calm quiet timid people thanks to all this tiktok drama. authors have always been nuts since the beginning of literature and readers arent far behind

[@elijahishere]

​@@camdenhunt7565 this isn't entirely true. The publishing industry has yet to properly catch up on social media and technology (one of the many reasons the industry is suffering). Many people in publishing are old and fear tiktok and it's capabilities and therefore don't look at it lol. There's also the fact that books getting published today, were likely signed at least two years ago. So any book deals announced today, won't turn into physical products for awhile. So something being popular on tiktok RN doesn't mean it'll be popular in two years, especially because of how quickly tiktok trends change. Agents and editors that are on social media are absolutely looking at tiktok (and Twitter, probably) for pitches, Indy authors with a big following and popular titles. But those are also the things that agents and editors who aren't on tiktok look for when going through pitch letters and contest entries. Also, while publishing books that sell a lot is definitely preferred, many agents and editors spend a lot of time fighting for books that they believe in, even if they don't think they'll make a ton of money. For many it's more important to find ideas that they genuinely connect with. Essentially, I don't think booktok is as big of a factor in publishing as people think, though it is a good resource and provides a ton of entertainment. I feel like Booktok works exceptionally well for some genres and not at all for others. Source: The agents, book store owners and editors I've had conversations with over the past three years. Also, my friends with book deals/published books.

[@ButyoucancallmeKat]

I’m surprised that there isn’t more issues with the whole fake charity thing… kinda just sounds like her cat was sick so she’s using the event to pay herself back for the vet costs…

[@thejadegecko]

She just canceled RTD 25 and giving no refunds to authors/vendors....

[@IzzysTravelDiaries]

This is why amateurs have no business organising big events. In my country it would be illegal. People think putting on an event is so easy, but it's an actual profession.

[@cluttercentral]

Thank you. This is what I do for a living and there are so many details and moving parts to consider. It might not be illegal here, but boy it sure feel criminal.

[@JP-ll1yh]

Due to some weird issue I never understood, at work I started receiving a monthly magazine for event planners although my job had nothing to do with event planning beyond reserving a meeting room at a nearby hotel a couple times a year. So after a couple years of reading the issues, I had a pretty good understanding of how it's done (and how not to do it). The basics are quite straightforward - there are even Excel templates that give the framework to follow. But it's the years of experience that enable event planners to handle ANYTHING without freaking out or having the event be ruined. Too high-stress for me.

[@saintdude6032]

Bruh this is like the second time a festival became a disaster. What’s in the water that’s make this keep happening.

[@sari9645]

Greed

[@choryllis6646]

I'm sorry to say, but this is just the latest in a long string of festivals/cons that go badly. Dashcon 2014, Rainfurrest 2015, Las Pegasus Unicon 2013, Fyre Fest 2017, New York Star Trek '76...

[@theproducers1967]

@@choryllis6646 Don't forget the various failures of Burning Man '23 and Woodstock '94 and '99 XD people will always find ways to cut corners and fuck things up

[@taylorbug9]

Late stage capitalism combined with low wages. Creates a lot of cash grabs and scams. We're going to end up like China, where everything is fake or a scam.

[@CherryBlossomBlyue]

Greed, arrogance, cheapness and unorganization

[@arelyslugo4984]

I heard that preorders were done without the authors permission or consent. Many found out when readers went to their table to get their preorder and the authors had no idea. That’s just crazy.

[@SirAsdf]

How do you make something as simple as a book signing and make it so fucking complicated?

[@lutchien]

I know! It feels like they said "how can we complicate this and make everyone unhappy" and then overshot their marks

[@Partyhatpossum]

Greed🤩

[@marascales6143]

Right?!🤣🤣

[@herdingborahae]

Greed

[@amandaredd3057]

My favorite author, Kristen Ashley, was there, signing, and has talked a bit about it, too. It sounds like it was a horrendous experience all around

[@marascales6143]

I saw Kristen Ashley there and she was a sweetheart amongst the chaos. 🫤

[@adamblair138]

I was there with my gf. It was awful 😢😢. She feels super cheated

[@jellyvalencia8434]

I'm so sorry you guys had to experience that, it sounds so awful, overwhelming, and disappointing 🥺

[@LyricAndCompany]

I'm a volunteer for a convention that does similar swag bag things, and those are organized and set up at LEAST a week in advance. It's wild to me that a con would try to unpack and fill all their bags the night before con.

[@CherryBlossomBlyue]

Right! I have done several events that required swag bags and like you said those are done way in advance

[@Catglittercrafts]

I really wish people would stop promoting Scentbird. Their CEO is insane. She’s a dangerous conspiracy theorist.

[@orchdork775]

Never heard about that. Gonna have to look into it!

[@CherryBlossomBlyue]

Really? Didnt know this

[@tape-6]

in all fairness, most CEOs of most startups are insane

[@Lindzeeann2uuu]

Oooohh! Another conspiracy theory about conspiracy theorists! That’s a conspiracy I can get into. Should I take your word for it, or “ do my own research”? 😂😂😂😂

[@606Jelly]

​@@Lindzeeann2uuuI know you're probably joking, but it's incredibly easy to find out that the Scentbird CEO is, in fact, a conspiracy theorist with many wacky views. She is open online about her various opinions.

[@Swisscats88]

If you weren’t sponsored by scent bird you’d be making a vid about their crazy CEO in a blink of an eye

[@bronzergoth7598]

every once in a while someone thinks they've thought of a brand new, genius crowd control method and they are all wrong. crowds follow physics, not emailed directions

[@anissacole5285]

As unfortunate as it is, accessibility is almost never fully taken into account for people at special events like this and it’s truly really sad. It’s a big reason why I’m going into therapeutic recreation because accessibility is so crucial. I’m glad people have been mentioning it more with these faulty events.

[@melindamiller9515]

If you're truly interested in it, go into occupational therapy. Really look into the professions.

[@MorganVsTheInternet]

I have WhatsApp and I would rather jump into a volcano than use it for anything but my family group chat!

[@Lilianamarie999]

Exactly 😅

[@lutchien]

I have to use it for contacting my students and classes and I absolutely despise it

[@Nimafox]

I've worked with an author, and getting some of the older ladies who go to these cons to figure new technology is like nailing jello to a tree.

[@kay-jay1581]

What’s up is widely popular outside USA I’m from Mexico and even though mos rod my family and friends use IPhones they all use what’s up instead of just the messages app😂 I don’t love it but I don’t hate it. However I don’t se show mass texting hundreds of people is smart idea. Wouldn’t creating a instagram of Facebook account of even Twitter would be easier. Also installing some monitors to display schedules and locations sounds smarter

[@jenndoesstuff]

What an absolutely bizarre message from that Diego guy. "Yeah, I'm a hero who saved some women from sexual harassment. Also, I don't think they were actually being sexually harassed and everyone was just overreacting and being too sensitive. I think one girl actually liked it anyway." Like wtf? Just say it was handled, cool, fine, but this weird hybrid response of wanting the credit for fixing this terrible problem, but also not wanting to admit it was even a problem at all, just makes him seem insane.

[@amandaredd3057]

That poor guy! What an immature jerk this Mariah Kingsley person is. I'm rooting for this fella (Jason? Jersey something... sorry the name was up so quickly!)

[@CherryBlossomBlyue]

Right! Like how do you accuse someone of stealing your work without ever having read theirs. Like she had zero proof

[@fiskmode3666]

Calling it RTD in DENVER is wild! RTD is the name of the main public transit company here, and I imagine it would make it really hard to market a festival with the same acronym!

[@Denver0054]

Yeah I was confused. I thought RTD (transit) was sponsoring this event.

[@chelseataylor5244]

My 9 yr old heard me listening to this and was like oh that sounds terrible and I started in about the dash con incident and then that las Pegasus brony one and then a knitting and crocheting con I heard about that was a disaster and then Tana con and man I never knew how many horrific conventions I had stored in my head.

[@kbird6208]

9 year old will never ask for tickets to anything now 😂

[@OcarinaLink24]

“I personally tried to help anyone I saw who may have been in need of assistants and stopped to check on them.” Honey pie I don’t look sick until I’m about to collapse from fatigue/joint issues. You wouldn’t know to check on me beforehand and if there weren’t places to sit/ADA lines and I found myself trapped by a huge crowd when it comes on (which is sudden and unpredictable)? Collapse I would do eventually! 💁 Reminder to every single disabled people to PLEASE call (or better yet email so you can reference it in writing!) ahead and pin down every single accessibility option that will be there and once you’re there and ask for a higher up if a volunteer tells you there are no accommodations. Get in that higher up’s face and threaten to sue if they still say they have nothing. You don’t need to actually do it; I’ve never once had me pointing out how much money they’d lose in what would be a cut and dry 100% lawsuit win rate fail me. We gotta stand up for ourselves because I promise you NO ONE ELSE gives enough of a shit to do it for us. They only care enough to pearl clutch once it’s over.

[@addendumBeekeeper]

i saw RTD trending on Twitter and was so confused because that’s also the acronym for our public transit system in Denver lmao

[@kbird6208]

Nothing like a terribly managed event to make actual public transit seem pleasant and flawless

[@LilleAllen]

Fun fact: city book festivals are FREE!

[@stedydubdetroit]

1:58 lol you know when they say “so much more” there’s literally nothing more.😂

[@cjboyo]

“we have a unique system for meet and greets-“ IMMEDIATELY no. These organizers fucked up MAJORLY. The popular crowd control tools are popular for a reason. Also sharing the FAMOUS GUEST’s phone numbers? UNACCEPTABLE mistake. Those people’s contact information is SACRED because those people’s TRUST is sacred.

[@c12486]

Did any other Denverites spend the first 30 minutes of the video thinking the transit system was involved? Lol

[@Alewo2735]

I truly hope the authors that paid for anything that didn't happen, sue for fraud. Thank God next year was cancelled!

[@thepersonwiththepanels5351]

Hey Austin, another banger video! I want to give a polite, constructive piece of criticism. You went into a lot of detail in almost all sections of this video, which was fantastic, but you glossed over the section where abelism was discussed by one of the attendees. I know that most of us can pause to read, and that you more than likely intended this to be as such, but I would encourage that you be sure to discuss this point aloud in future instances of it being part of videos. It is all-too common for those with disabilities to be glossed over, and for people (not you specifically!) to minimize our experiences and trauma with discrimination. I would like to encourage you to try and be more aware of this going forward, but sincerely, I love your content and look forward to me. Best wishes and regards!

[@MicahRion]

+

[@KelpieRider]

+

[@Neomie92]

PERIODDDDD. Great feedback.

[@addaptinginthedark]

Especially since info on the screen only is inaccessible for blind viewers, on top of the segment being short. Also enjoyed the video, but didn't even know there was info I missed until now

[@blackdahlia42]

40:00 i'm gonna give even more credit and point out I *AM* confrontational, and I still couldn't imagine trying to accuse plagiarism based on such a flimsy moment. It requires far more than a confrontational attitude to make such a leap. If anything, if I heard something during a panel that made me feel it was similar to my own work, my imposter syndrome would lead me to be SURE that I accidentally stole an idea that I didn't realize i'd seen in the wild. The amount of investigation against MYSELF that i'd make would supersede any ability i'd have to confront someone until I was sure.

[@steph15036]

omg same i would be panicking about ME accidentally plagiarizing THEM the entire time!

[@alexzitro5866]

As someone who was working there during that event(a vendor employee) it was just as much of a nightmare for us to. The lights flickering thing, just know that the hotel and convention staff don’t work independently, everything we had done was at the behest of the event organizers outside of the the convention and hotel.

[@GeekishLexi]

RTD is also the name of our public transport here in Denver. I was so confused at first

[@stayathomedaughter13]

Oh my god thank you for covering this lol it was so hard to figure out what happened on tiktok!

[@axelrose8481]

god this makes Miku expo look like a picnic

[@eddieboyky]

What is it with the epidemic of people planning events who should not be planning events? I blame Tana Mongeau.

[@ginasantucci6316]

Tana definitely wasn’t the start of horrible event planning done by people who are wholly unequipped to be doing it…like that’s a minuscule drop in the ocean of awful event planning.

[@flossimoth]

Tana is far from the first - or the worst - to have fucked up planning and executing an event. I would argue that it's less an epidemic of shitty events, and more that the people attending shitty events are talking about it and getting greater reach with their info now, so we're hearing about them more than we have in the past

[@mplbooks]

As an author, sometimes I'm sad I don't get invited to cons... But this is one I'm glad to have been left out of.

[@thegrimlooper]

This was like Knotfest 2022. I was so excited as I’d never been to a Fest before. Excited to see slipknot and $B$. Drove from Minnesota to the venue. Unfortunately, we went 14 hours without water or food in like 90 degree weather in direct sunlight. We had to wait for over 2hours in a line to get into the place, and it was ona long dirt road with no shade at all. I’m paper white so I was done just from waiting to get in there. They had 1 tiny water tent but 3 huge alcohol tents. When there was water, the lines were over a hundred people long and they always ran out. We did not get water until 30 minutes before it was over, and it was a can of Liquid Death.

[@BritInvLvr]

Damn. Are Lisa and Diego writers? They don’t write so good.

[@kbird6208]

She has something like 88 books listed on Goodreads. Since it appears she started publishing in 2007 and puts out up to 10 books a year I am going to safely assume they are all terrible.

[@mymai5859]

Agree. Her grammar is terrible in her emails. There's no accountability or comprehension of what a shite fire her convention was.

[@noname-1224]

It's so wild to me that a convention that's been running for multiple years can just fall apart like this, even if there's an expansion this year. It seems impossible that someone could bungle a convention so hard unless they were deliberately trying to do so. With something like Fyre festival, it makes sense because it was a straight-up scam from the beginning. I guess I am just so baffled that this author who's been cultivating a community would just absolutely fuck everyone from authors and readers to her own volunteers and then have the nerve to be mean about it. Like, does she think people will keep buying her books if she's such an awful person?

[@pithygrapefruit]

Wool and Folk just did the same thing last year. They even had vendors selling balanced on stairs. People paid a premium because the festival was so popular. Legit people flew in internationally.

[@steph15036]

@@pithygrapefruit see that one made more sense to me bc they fucked up that festival after one of the two co-organizers left, i wonder if something like that happened behind the scenes of this? like maybe someone who was instrumental in planning the event in the past left and everything just fell apart without them

[@Nimafox]

Collen Hoover gets a lot of criticism (much of it earned), but Book Bonanza, a book convention she runs, has book signings, panels, massive swag bags, both reader and writer focused events, ect. and its always gone very well. The times I've gone were a delightful experience, especially when compared to this event. Ive gone as an author PA to Book Bonanza and the volunteers were the sweetest people you'd ever meet. There were problems, as all cons have, but they were often resolved quickly. An another note I actually attended the event back in 2018 before Colleen Hoover really popped off in the book cringe community, so I had no idea who she was. She was so sweet and passionate and excited about her work I never would have known that it was the way that it was.

[@steph15036]

aw this is nice to hear! i’ve never really heard anything abt colleen hoover besides criticism for her books being cringe, cool that she responsibly runs a fun convention!

[@whatzittooyah9182]

Yeah her writing ain’t my cup of tea but I’ve heard she’s a solid person and that her convention is pretty good.

[@dexaria]

If you’re hosting an event for readers and writers, by god!, check your official posts for spelling and grammar!

[@kbird6208]

If you publish up to 10 books a year you ain't got time for that grammar stuff 😂

[@jayasterram]

i read on threads that volunteers had to pay for a ticket to get into the event to work, it was awful

[@taylorbug9]

Whaaaaaat

[@jayasterram]

@@taylorbug9 I read on threads that one of the authors had talked to some volunteers, and they had to buy their own admission ticket to volunteer that for the event, and there wasn't much vetting for the volunteers because of it too

[@CherryBlossomBlyue]

I an sorry what?

[@emm_uhh]

If even the interaction at the dance started consesaully. You're allowed to stop it and with draw consent if they start to cross a line.

[@oliviasmith9033]

I know this is beside the point, but I find it so interesting that WhatsApp isn't more popular in the US! I'm in the UK and I've had to join WhatsApp group chats for three out of my last four jobs.

[@lilmorsecody]

haha same I'm from the UK and I use whatsapp more than regular messages. I've even had estate agents want me to use it for stuff.

[@rominalasagna4980]

Most people in the U.S. have iPhones, and while people can discuss if Apple or android is better, imessage is a MUCH better app than WhatsApp. So since most people have imessage, WhatsApp is much less popular here

[@taylorbug9]

I hate it. Nobody here uses it unless they're trying to buy drugs or cheat. At least that seems to be the only time I've seen it used in the states.

[@sari9645]

The only people I know that use it in the U.S. are people that want to be able to text friends and family that live in other countries

[@allisonhinnegan6521]

Whatsapp is what scammers use. They friend you on something else, ask you to use whatsapp and then ask for gift cards.

[@emmett4544]

i am amazed at how similar all convention scam artists are

[@graciegrace9752]

how many festivals/cons until we learn??

[@meghanhenderson8417]

I rolled my eyes so hard while you were reading Diego's post that my eyes got stuck in my head

[@kbird6208]

But you liked it so it was like totally fine your eyeballs are now stuck, right? 🙄😵‍💫😤

[@meghanhenderson8417]

@@kbird6208 wut? 🥴

[@Crabbyblu]

Readers Take Denver 2025 has cancelled and refunds processed. their socials have been scrubbed as well.

[@eclectic3454]

i’m so proud of you for hitting 100k. you inspire me to finally create content. congrats on being able to dedicate yourself to your craft, i’ll always be a fan!

[@elainelouve]

You should do a video on the NaNoWriMo drama. Or rather looks like the end of the writing challenge. There's a good recap on the r/hobbydrama, but it doesn't yet include the most recent developments.

[@jaycebechtol8448]

Its a mess. I grew up doing nano and even did it last year before i knew the drama. Its do heartbreaking.

[@xoPotatoTreexo]

A concise breakdown would be so helpful. I've been trying to keep up with what's happening but it's so overwhelming, and for someone for whom NaNo was basically a special interest every year, my brain (and heart) just don't want to comprehend it 😔

[@elainelouve]

@@xoPotatoTreexo for what I've heard, the team running the event quit. That's the last. For the events before Reddit r/hobbydrama has two posts about it. Two, because the story needed to be divided in two parts. I know, it's been hard for myself too. I started doing NaNo in 2010. It's been a tradition at this point. The major issue that started this whole thing was a mod on the kid's NaNo site was luring kids to an adult site. By which I mean p***. The higher ups wanted to cover it up, and just had a talk with the mod without firing them. But in the more recent events a new CEO for what I've understood made unreasonable conditions for the municipal liaisons, who are volunteer workers. Some of the conditions were illegal in some countries. This is part of why most municipal liaisons quit.

[@xoPotatoTreexo]

@@elainelouve thank you so much 😊 I had been following it a little bit on the subreddit but my region didn't even have MLs last year so we were all pretty out of the loop

[@froggysprite]

didn't scent bird's ceo do some crazy things?

[@Abyss0fmPf1KVp6]

So

[@froggysprite]

@@Abyss0fmPf1KVp6 just saying cause of the sponsorship 😄

[@rubydown3329]

Yea she's a weird matrix conspiracy theorist 👽

[@ashoalcraft4404]

A lot of crazy things. I'm shocked people are still accepting sponsorships.

[@froggysprite]

@@ashoalcraft4404 yeah same

[@jenncammel4850]

I cannot believe this wild event made it to KZbin lol. It was truly the most wild event I’ve ever been to but I’m excited to go to other (much different) book events in the future

[@dumbnhung]

Readers Take Denver sounds just like Fyre Festival! Lord of the Flies action but for the library crowd!

[@thisisnotphysics1857]

Dash on coded. Missed the occasion to put up a ball pit.

[@Lun4r_Ra1n]

Before four minutes

[@yeoldegunporn]

Oof. Someone should tell that Diego guy that when hand waving away a SA incident you probably don’t want to allude to belief that most SA is made up. They might be readers, but they probably need an editor.

[@ashleyferris5749]

Idk "he didn't spoke good English" made me laugh so hard

[@mintyxx1]

Does this mean there will be a lawsuit? Sounds like there should be several lawsuits here... Misuse of personal information, lack of ADA accommodations, theft, harrassment, abuse... I feel like I could go on.

[@baelise847]

love you austin

[@naomithornhill2079]

I love how events like these make firefly look competent

[@spikelike]

Would you consider adding chapters in future videos? I like skipping around to points the creator has marked for my reference

[@carysbebard3690]

Their plan to rectify the lack of accessibility by asking...just one person who uses mobility aids (and tokenisong them to boot). Not even paying them- they were a volunteer! There are people qualified to talk through accessibility requirements and support for events. They charged $300 per ticket 😂

[@bun__]

i didn't know about this before watching but when at the start it was mentioned that tickets were 300$ and volunteers are working at the event that's an immediate side eye

[@laurajordan7028]

Denver native here. To avoid confusion in future, specify that RTD is Readers Take Denver, not our Regional Transportation District. I did not, nor will I probably EVER attend this event.

[@ghoul4692]

I was hoping you'd cover this the moment I heard of it! let's goooo

[@alexandriaacord9895]

As an aspiring author myself, the whole "rising star" thing is like my worst nightmare. Being treated like a disposable newbie just because you haven't had a constant stream of bestsellers, even with a loyal audience...

[@maximumbees]

sometimes Tanacon gets invented again

[@victoryt9]

The level of gaslighting is wild. Like if five people tell you the same story and the sixth tells a different, it's always suspicious. And I LOATHE "They were military men" because I grew up in a military family and I was taught those are EXACTLY the men you are careful around.

[@kbird6208]

I've never read anything by the author who led this disaster but I'm going to assume something about the quality of her work based on this!

[@aimeekessell5022]

I didn’t think it was possible to be worst than Wool and Folk. But yikessssss. 😬

[@frankensteinlives]

I think Smaug said it best: "[The organizers] have nice manners for a thief and a liar." I know the grammar is off get off my back

[@kokokat06]

technically the grammar is fine, as long as you only apply one descriptor to each of them; like one is a thief, the other a liar

[@vicwaju6963]

47:04 i hope u start feeling more well rested!! i have similar problems w my sleep and it srsly sucks to constantly feel fatigued

[@taylorbug9]

Omg yes

[@Sweet_Tooth_Art]

Congratulations on 100k! Hope you can get some good sleep soon 💖

[@futuristic.handgun]

Congrats on 100K bud!! You deserve it!! ❤