jmtorres: Electric Mayhem: the Muppet Band's bus. (music)
When we went to see Lady Gaga, we got the seats still available when I went to purchase several days after sales opened, that is to say, you-are-lucky-you-got-anything, one row from the back at the very top of the arena. I was unhappy with the quality of these seats for several reasons, not limited to it really did not look like the floor was sold out, etc, but one reason was: the people I went with both have physical disabilities to one extent or another; neither uses a wheelchair so I didn't think to arrange for accommodations, but both sometimes use canes to walk and okay, stairs. You have to climb steep stairs to get to the nose-bleed seats, and it was not ideal.

The last couple of days I've been poking at tickets to see Janelle Monae, and I was looking really hard at what sections things were available in, because I didn't want to do second balcony to my friends again. There actually were main concourse seats still available online, though they were in obstructed view sections. Then I noticed there was a number to call the venue about accessible seats, so I did, partially because I had no way to tell if there were lots of steps in main concourse (not sure if this venue is steep enough, or if it ramps down at that level) and partially because, well, frankly, I was hoping for something better than obstructed view.

We currently have three tickets, one of which is a wheelchair slot we are supposed to ask an attendant for a chair for, at the back of the non-obstructed area of main concourse level (leading me to suspect: probably stairs). I am yay for getting accessible seating for my friends on the phone today! I am yay for me actually making the damn call today! I am yay for getting non-obstructed view and wondering if my motives are sufficiently impure that I should feel shame for using my friends' disabilities to that end.

Well: scratch that, actually. I am feeling some shame and wondering if it is justified, or if I should give myself permission to feel pleased about other beneficial side effects of getting accessible seating for my friends.
jmtorres: Fight Club: animated with porn insert. Inches on the reel-to-reel. (vid)
I've been seeing reaction to [livejournal.com profile] vividcon's declaration of polices, specifically their accessibility policy. It has several problematic phrasings that various people have called out.

My question, and I am aware that it is only tangentially related, is, has anyone been talking about their personal experiences as disabled people attending vividcon, and what accommodations they have or have not received from the concom? I would be interested in reading about those experiences? I am curious how much the problems perceived in the policy have been problems in practice.

This is not to dismiss the idea that the policy is problematic in its own right; if nothing else, I have read one commenter who decided not to attend vividcon specifically because of its unwelcoming accessibility policy, which means that the policy in and of itself has caused harm to the con/potential attendees. But I do want to hear about the practical experiences of people at the con, if anyone's discussing it.

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jmtorres: From Lady Gaga's Bad Romance music video; the peach-haired, wide-eyed iteration (Default)
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