Posts tagged Froggy's Photos

Another mistake from Froggy’s Photos at #DragonCon goes viral.

2 years ago

by Tom in Conventions

I paid $120 at this year’s Dragon*Con to get my photo taken with the guys from Quantum Leap. Why did I spend that much? First, you should know that the photo package offered three things:

An 8×10 photo to be picked up at the show.
Another 8×10 photo to be picked up at the show.
A digital copy so I can print other copies myself.

You see, I wanted the second copy because my mom is also a fan of Quantum Leap. I have really great childhood memories of watching the show with her and the excitement we shared during each episode. We had bona fide “family TV nights” in my home when I was growing up.

Thus, a photo of her “little boy” with Sam and Al would mean just as much to her as my meeting them in person would mean to me.

The money spent ($120) is to create a memory, albeit a short one, that is captured and remembered for a lifetime. You are paying for a private moment to enjoy being “a fan” of someone and/or something.

Some of us like being public with our enthusiasm… hence me posting the photo for all to see: http://www.tomcroom.com/?p=6779

Others, though, cherish the moments as something private. The choice, though, should be left to the consumer (fan) who paid the money.

Instead of emailing copies of the digital photo copies to the paying customers, it seems the folks at Froggy’s photos took the easy way out and just uploaded them onto a Flickr account. This was NOT disclosed before buying the photos, by the way.

(Note: as I typed this post, I went to the Flickr account and found that the photos are gone and the message “This member is no longer active on Flickr” appears instead.)

Well – the account is gone, but the damage is already done.

It seems that a number of comedy/news sites including Funny or Die, Jezebel, Buzzfeed, and dlisted have all taken select photos that Froggy’s photos took at Dragon*Con featuring Luke Perry… and reposted them with less than good intentions.

WHICH LEADS ME TO ASK THIS SIMPLE QUESTION: WHY HAS NO ONE ELSE STEPPED UP TO TAKE OVER DOING WHAT FROGGY DOES?

The reason I paid for the photo through Froggy’s is NOT because of Froggy’s reputation… it was because it was the ONLY choice for getting the photo. With all the horror stories and nightmares I hear with communication issues and other problems (like the one cited in this post) you have to wonder how he keeps returning to conventions.

In short: there’s an obvious business opportunity out there for a talented photographer with some organization skills. With today’s economy as tight as it is, someone should build the “better mousetrap” for convention photography.

My #DragonCon 2010 Report, Part 1 of 3: The Good

2 years ago

by Tom in Conventions

Believe it or not, I normally don’t plan to go to Dragon*Con each year. When I do go, I’m usually only there for a day or two at the most. This year, though, I did the “full” Dragon*Con weekend experience by showing up on on the first day of the event and leaving on the last.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR ANY LURKING BOT-TARDS: A few years back, Wasabi Anime talked to Dragon*Con about having DARE! The Transformers Panel Ultimate make an appearance and we were turned down. Strangely enough, I still think Dragon*Con is a great convention… which must mean only one thing: That’s right, BotCon was a weak convention on it’s own.

Moving on… I’ve broken my Dragon*Con report into three parts: the good, the bad and the ugly. Here’s a breakdown of the good stuff that happened last weekend.

While in Atlanta, Georgia I took the time to eat at Gladys and Ron’s Chicken & Waffles. (Post regarding this coming next week.)
I ran into LeVar Burton in the elevator our first night at the Hilton and we talked Twitter while a somewhat intoxicated Joey Snackpants proclaimed in a less than subtle fashion “OH MY GOD IT’S LEVAR BURTON!”
That same night, I bought Edward James Olmos dinner at Trader Vic’s and Mr. Olmos then convinced Joey Snackpants to watch the new Battlestar Galactica. Read that story here.
My Favorite DC Tweet: @TomCroom thinks nothing says #fail more than a Power Girl cosplay with less than a B cup. #DragonCon
We went to a great Stargate panel… and (it seemed) that I pissed of John de Lancie with my question. Read this and then watch this. That aside, Christopher Judge is a RIOT and needs his own panel next year.
I spent an evening walking around with a bunch of Stargate cosplayers (including Shannon, Katie McAwesome and Joey Snackpants) and wound up at the Stargate Charity Party. While going from hotel to hotel that night, I had someone recognize me from events I host at Florida SuperCon.
We ate chicken nachos not once, but TWICE! at the Metro Café Diner.
I had my photo taken with Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell. QUANTUM LEAP AWESOMENESS.
I tracked down Paul Dini via his Twitter posts so Shannon could have him sign her Harley Quinn books. Social Networking WIN.
We went to a second Stargate panel. Going to more than one panel at Dragon*Con is extremely rare with my group… crazy!
I met Drew Curtis from FARK. I bought a book from him, he signed it, and we made fun of Florida together. Good times.
I got to see a couple of friends around the convention including “Uncle” George Lowe and Erin Gray… both great people.
After being friends with my wife and a number of the Wasabi Anime staff AND being on my Facebook, I met Brian from Making Mischief for the first time (in person) in five years.
After about two years of talking online, I met Kelly from Convention Fans in person for the first time.
I also met fellow Twitter users @SarahNFisk and @EricaDodd at the convention in person. It’s fun using the Interwebz to meet get to know new people. Even more interesting: Sarah had a a friend she was meeting in one of the hotels that night… and her friend’s roommates in the hotel were my friends Angie and Tentacle Chris. (insert It’s a Small World theme here.)
My other favorite Dragon*Con tweet: @thatDJSpider: ‘steampunk: when goths discovered brown’ #dragoncon
A record THREE panels! We went to the Battlestar Galactica one, too.
We went to the Stargate Charity Auction and Joey Snackpants scored an actual prop from Stargate SG-1.
I met and got autographs from Michael Shanks and Ben Browder. Michael and I discussed our successful marriages while Ben and I discussed the fact that John de Lancie is a “serious” man who doesn’t answer questions about fast food restaurants.
Before leaving town… we had dinner at a Zaxby’s. (I love that place.)