Las Pegasus Unicon was a My Little Pony convention that occurred between February 22-24, 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada; it was expected to be a great event especially since there were over 10 celebrities from the show and countless community stars. However on Sunday that same week, the convention had run out of cash. Which resulted in it being closed early and causing large amounts of stress to everyone who attended. It would be an event that no one would forget, not because of how fun it was but due to the amount of fallout afterwards that would continue to affect other Brony conventions to this very day.

Author’s Note: We will be continuously updating this article due to the changing nature of this situation. We also suggest everyone take a look at this google doc, for a different take on the situation. Without further ado, let us begin.

It all began in the middle of September in 2012 when media outlets, Equestria Daily and Derpy Hooves News, had announced Las Pegasus Unicon was opening and already had three special guests attending. From there on out more and more stars from the show were invited,  both with major and minor roles, and it was starting to garner a ton of attention from all over the brony fandom. 

It was speculated that, if successful, that Unicon could be another major convention like that of BronyCon, Everfree Northwest, and Equestria L.A. However there was also speculation that there were too many conventions and that there are not enough bronies willing to make the financial contribution to sustain these conventions. However this was overlooked and most bronies looked forward to a weekend in the city of sin and vices.

Months later, on February 22, 2013 guests eagerly waited as badges were handed out.

However some red flags started showing up, for example:

• Some people who had pre-registered did not have their info passed on to the registration desk that day and caused waits to go over 2 hours
  
• There was a lack of staff members able to help out the artists and vendors in the alleys, tell celebrities where to go, or inform volunteers of what to do.
• The staff also did not pick up some special guests at the airport
• A constant misspelling of names, words, and titles of events (M.A Larsen, Vender, Daniel Ingram the “voice actor”)
• Some badges were written by hand with a sharpie instead of a proper tag.
• The staff was printing and laminating badges by hand, same with the schedule books.
• Some staff members were nowhere to be found
• There was a wall separating the artist’s alley from the vendor hall, being removed on Saturday
• In some cases Vendors and Artists set up where ever there was space because none of the staff made it clear where they were supposed to go.
• The security was not able to stop people from going to the skyboxs or any other areas that were restricted.
• The introduction of “Unicon Bits” essentially fake money that can be exchanged for real cash upset many vendors and artists.
• Vendors were told that there was to be over 2000 people coming to the convention close to 400-1000 actually attended.
• There were “meal tickets” which promised access to a buffet, this meal never showed up.
• During the Celebrity dinner Tara Strong was served Eggplant (which she was allergic to).
• There was supposed to be speeches given to the VA’s by the sponsors who bought the $5000 package instead nothing happened and a speech was made by Mic The Microphone and DustyKatt.
• All 5 Sponsors were expecting “executive suites” but were given “junior suites.”
• Some of the recording of finances was done with a crayon and spiral notebook.

On Friday (February 22), most convention goers were not getting the treatment they expected. Wait lines for registration were long and tedious, vendors and artists barely made any cash, and there were problems involving the wall between the rooms and the panels.

Later that night the concert started, however there was a smaller crowd than the musicians expected.

On Saturday (February 23), there was a larger turnout for the day and the wall between the artist alley and vendor hall was removed. This was also the time where things seemed to be under control (to some extent). 

DustyKatt held a celebrity raffle for Kiki’s Charity, raising a good amount of money.

The celebrity dinner and cocktail hour also occurred at this time, there was a fire alarm due to a clumsy waiter who went out a fire escape. During this dinner another charity event occurred raising money for Kiki’s charity. 

The convention ended with another concert. 

However, while the music was playing the VA’s agents had gathered up the Brony Media (Everfree Network, Equestria Daily, BronyShow, Celestia Radio, Depry Hooves News, and PonyVille Live) and informed them that the staff had run out of money and were not able to pay the hotel or the special guests.

As a result these two videos were released, and a plan of action was developed where all the media sites would ask for donations toward #LasPegAssist and the announce that the con lowered prices on autographs (sites like EqD and DHN have since deleted these posts), finally FinalDraft gathered other convention heads who had come and asked them to help organize the con since the current staff was incompetent.

People like CatWhitney and GlitteringPony worked through the night and had reconfigured the schedule, and rearranged the staff. 

On Sunday (February 24), this is when the convention started to crumble, and panic was ensuing. 

The announcements were made and the fire hot sales occurred but bronies were not as enthusiastic as the media heads had hoped.

The tag #LasPegAssist was also started on twitter and other social media sites.

Either way the convention continued, panels were on time, people were working to try to pay off the hotel and generally everything was running smoothly.

Untill the Rivieria Hotel had told the staff that the convention will be closed by 6:00 PM, and started double charging comped rooms. 

This sudden change had thrown the current schedule into disarray and everything had to be reorganized. 

As well the VA’s and other celebrities had started signing autographs like crazy and were trying to raise money ($3000 was made in total).

The situation gets worst as the Rivieria decides to close the vendor hall/artist alley around 3:00 PM, and stated that anything left in this room would be property of the hotel. Which lead to many artists’ and vendors rushing to get out of the room, musicians who had left their equipment in the storage closets in these rooms.

Finally, Las Pegasus Unicon shuts down at 5:00 PM an hour earlier than anticipated. 

Even though the convention shuts down #LasPegAssist starts gaining enough money to help get the special guests home safe and sound.

On February 25, one day after the convention ended people started making write ups of the situation, /MLP/ was investigating the whole situation and trying to discern whether or not it was a scam, and some celebrities and guests expressed their anger.

(https://twitter.com/tarastrong/status/306204917218033667)

(https://twitter.com/dannyimusic/status/305839372635361280)

(https://twitter.com/tarastrong/status/306206293616623616)

(https://twitter.com/tarastrong/status/306207724780277761)

(https://twitter.com/tarastrong/status/306232234292178945)

On February 26, the Las Pegasus Unicon staff made an statement on their website,

What follows are not excuses, but rather explanations for those who want to hear from ones who know.

We first wish to offer our apologies to those negatively affected by Las Pegasus Unicon. Unicon was started with the best of intentions, an attempt to provide a grand, fun event for the wonderful fandom of Bronies that we have come to know and appreciate. At no point was malice, negativity, or greed a part of our motivation. What we were guilty of was naivety. The short version of it all is that we acted upon bad advice from those we thought we had no reason to distrust, and were financially gouged by nearly every institution we dealt with. With any plan you make, allowances are made for the occasional mishap, and our plan was like this. However, we encountered not occasional, but constant negative changes throughout the stages of this convention. So many, that not only did our backups prove ineffective, but we doubt there could have been any effective backups to work, save perhaps a millionaire benefactor. Sadly, we did not have one, nor any sponsors at all for that matter. This convention was run out of our own shallow pockets, the only supplementation being the ticket sales.

 

Between last minute add-ons by the hotel/convention center employees, (on top of a 5 month swim through their lies and misdirections) equipment rental changes, un-authorized transportation charges, unmentioned union labor costs, and two dozen other unexpected last-week costs, our convention operations budget had been depleted. Now this is not to say that the voice actors and other MLP:FiM cast members had been overlooked. Contrary to some unfounded and untrue statements, the celebrities’ agents have all received monies from us - both prior to the convention and during. Exactly how much has been received by the agents is impossible to say with certainty. We have records of payments totalling in excess of $40,000 to the various agents. However, an unknown amount of cash was witnessed, on more than one occasion on Sunday, being directly removed by an agent of the stars from our cash box. Additionally, all monies raised by EFN’s fundraiser and all autograph sales went uncounted directly to the stars’ agents.

 

While at no point did we abandon Unicon, at about 2:00 AM Sunday we realized that events had escalated beyond what our experience and staff could manage, and thus effective management was transferred from us to EFNW. At this point, we were grateful for the willing assistance from our fellow Bronies and had long since discarded any thought of recouping our personal losses into a goal of giving the best time to the attendees there on Sunday. We did our best to help these more experienced folks salvage the convention, and many crises were averted with their guidance. However, when it came to monies, the hands of the stars’ agents were constantly being filled. Whether it be from autographs, auctions, or personally removing T-shirt sale money from the cash box. Due to the chaotic nature of the con at this stage of the game, and a complete and utter refusal of the agents to sign records, an exact ledger of what was received by the agents on Sunday is impossible to produce.

 

As some of you are aware, some attendees suffered from the questionable tactics employed, for whatever reason, by the Rivera Hotel upon their checkout - most notably, ignoring all payments made by Unicon towards their room comps and charging them full balance.

In regards to the generous Bronies who have been donating to fundraisers, we have never put our hand out requesting donations and have no association or awareness of how these fundraisers are operated or organized. They are not affiliated in any way with the staff of Las Pegasus Unicon. Thus, Unicon has no knowledge of the disbursement or organization behind these fundraisers. However, our suggestion for these generous donations would be first to go to the Bronies affected by the recent events, especially those forced by the Riviera to pay for their rooms out-of-pocket. Following this, helping the musicians who performed so admirably who may or may not be out funds. These recipients, rather than the voice actors, who have already received payment to their agents, should be preferentially compensated.

 

The reason that the vendor hall closed when it did was simply because the Riviera stated that, despite the convention space being paid in full until midnight well before the start of Unicon, they would be closing the doors at 6:00 PM. They then changed this to 7:00, and then finally admitted that we had paid in full for the event space. However, this confirmation from the Riviera came much too late to forestall the chaos instigated by their first proclamations. This matter we place on the shoulders of the unprofessional Riviera staff.

 

We are currently seeking legal counsel on how to proceed in an attempt to find closure with those financially impacted by the hotel situation, along with making our side of the story known to the community at large. The contact@laspegasusunicon.com email address will continue to be monitored and will respond to serious inquiries.

Sincerely,The Las Pegasus Unicon Staff

Clarification (2-26): When we say the money from EFN’s fundraiser was uncounted, we mean to say that Las Pegasus Unicon has no record of it. This does not imply that EFN did not keep apropriate records themselves.

http://laspegasusunicon.com/

They state they never “abandoned” the con, they instead transferred it over to EFNW, blamed the hotel for their negligent mismanaging and confusion, and blamed the VA’s agents for “taking” cash.

People were already challenging the claims that this statement has made.

https://twitter.com/prpltnkr/status/306594283559997440

https://twitter.com/Saberspark/status/306593444283965440

https://twitter.com/orangemeerkat/status/306608406742065152

This post spread around on tumblr stating that some Brony Musicians were still in Las Vegas and were having financial difficulties. 

It was also today that the Las Pegasus Relief Fund started and helped out anyone who was affected by the convention, a survey was released to organize a victims list. Two of the show’s staff M.A Larson and Meghan McCarthy get involved by starting auctions, and Equstria Daily creates a master post of all the auction info for the Unicon attendees.

Later in the day the auction site (forum) goes live with many people starting to offer up items to help out Las Pegasus victims.

The most interesting thing to happen that day was that Final Draft and Everfree Northwest had a Q&A in order to clarify rumors and inform people on what happened that weekend.

This is what we got out of it.

He says that the VA’s were invited but the convention did not pay the staff because they had no capital. A good $15000 was raised for the staff, able to cover traveling expenses. The agents handled the cash, the fandom media raised the cash.

People who payed founder rooms were supposed to be comp’d but instead were charged twice for their room.

Final Draft admits that the Riviera charged their incidental cards because Las Pegasus was not going to pay for the fandom media, celebrities, and founders’s rooms. They also revealed that Sandy ordered the hotel to pay for their blunders, since Las Pegasus was not going to or was able to pay the hotel.

Las Pegasus had this program with the dealers to use something called “vendor bits” as another means to pay for product. This ended up being entirely worthless, dealers were (yet again) screwed majorly.

The Las Pegasus staff did not run away but were entirely useless as the heads of EFNW, Fiesta Equestria, EQLA and CatWhitney took over business of the con.

Unicon’s claim that the Riviera and the Agents stealing money from the cash box, was a fabrication as far as Final Draft knows.

Contracts have been broken there might be lawsuits, unconfirmed however.

Kiki’s fund during the celebrity dinner is unknown at this point, hopefully it was donated to her.

Some of the vendors got their products taken from the hotel along with being rushed out.

The security staff was extremely busy and were not able to  keep track of the skybox’s

People have a right to sue the convention staff, based on contracts broken.

Final Draft theorizes that Unicon was already in debt and decided to go ALL out instead of playing it safe.

The convention was grossly understaffed.

Final Draft says that until Sandi and Eddie proves what happened and what they did with their cash, the con seems like a scam.

The staff also acted extremely unprofessionally, during and after the convention.

Sandi and her partner worked with balloon animals and animals. They own the sitehttp://www.curiouscritterscreations.com/

LPU owes the Hotel $18,000

The celebrities all stayed instead of bailing out, and helped out all the people stranded or otherwise.

The package holders were double charged for their rooms.

Las Pegasus Unicon might be a LLC, might not (needs verification).

There was a celebrity dinner that had cost a ton of cash, Final Draft asks where all the money went.

Final Draft also states that this is proof that there may be too many pony cons, especially since there isn’t that strong of a fandom willing to spend the money.

Here are two other interpretations of the stream. From The Roundstable Forums and Maguszeal on tumblr.

This post was also released on the Facebook group Las Vegas Bronies.

Keep in mind that the group is now closed, and that Anthony Gestuo is a staff member for Unicon.

On February 27, this video starts to circulate around especially since it talks about the Pamphlet advertisements.

(Tumblr user F0xybat scanned and uploaded them, check it out here)

The website LasPegAssist launches as well and becomes the central hub for helping out victims of the convention. They also state that they are not helping the convention just the convention goers and show staff that was affected. They release the timeline as well.

Everfree Northwest uploads the 3 hour Q&A from the 26th and this video proving that they were not using the cash for any personal gain and in fact sent it to the Robert Picardo fanclub.

On the LasPegAssist forums (where auctions were being held) there were more items being put for auction which included Enterplay cards, and fan-made content.

On February 28, besides more items being added to the auction forum more events about the convention had been revealed. For example this photo of the Unicon Bits spread around.

Proof that Sandi had told the Rivieria to charge the people staying in comped rooms. 

This video was released by Bronies for Chaos, besides repeating info already known by a majority of the fandom. They also reveal that the hotel says that claims made by Sandi and her staff are false and without merit.

Since the drama surrounding Unicon started simmering down towards the end of February we will just address the events that happened in March and currently. 

In March, Everfree Network released their interview with Robert Picardo and his involvement with LasPegAssist.

Kovau DaBrony interviews members of the Las Pegasus volunteer Staff.

The Round Stable releases their coverage of Unicon (mainly from the perspective of Kefkafloyd)

Derpy Hooves News writes up their own experience of Las Pegasus Unicon. Same with Derpy Squad (which he posted on his tumblr).

Cloudsdale Congress (another first year convention) makes a statement concerning Unicon, and also reveals they have terminated the contracts for two stars of the show.

The events of Las Pegasus Unicon have shocked and dismayed the entire Brony community. It is an accepted fact that running a convention is a difficult task. This is especially true of a first-year convention. The immediate aftermath has forced the staff at Cloudsdale Congress to take a sober look at itself, and readjust our business plan. The reality is that finances must be used in the most responsible manner possible while still delivering a fun, excellent convention.

We are not criticizing their methods, and ask all of you to refrain from uniformed judgements as well. While some of our staff were in attendance, at no time have we discussed buisness practices with them. The leadership of CC is working diligently in order to present responsible business practices in light of the recent events, to be worthy of your respect and trust, as well as that of Hasbro. To be financially sound, Cloudsdale Congress has had to reevaluate much of our already announced programming. We must therefore regretfully terminate the previously signed contracts for Garry Chalk and Michael Daingerfield. 

The Brony community is being humbly asked to support Las Pegasus Unicon after their misfortune, and continue to trust Cloudsdale Congress in spite of this difficult decision. It is our wish that pony conventions continue to grow and be successful, wherever they may be. We will show Hasbro that Bronies are as capable as they are compassionate. In an effort to promote those goals, we will make the most financially responsible decisions possible. In the future, if circumstances and fortunes change, we might be able to give consideration to those who donate.

Let’s work together to get everyone back on their feet, and take all future endeavours one step at a time. Cloudsdale Congress is in just one week, and we promise to bring you the best convention we can. We’ll refrain from quoting Magical Mystery Cure here. 

(http://cloudsdalecongress.tumblr.com/post/44228095319/the-events-of-las-pegasus-unicon-have-shocked-and)

They also made another statement, about #LasPegAssist

#LasPegassist

Good news everyone! 

We understand that many people are disappointed after their experience at Las Pegasus Unicon. Lots of people lost money, missed out on big events, or both.

We wish to show our full support for #LasPegassist. All those who attended Las Pegasus Unicon will receive 30% badge price at Cloudsdale Congress. Anyone that had a “Founder” status will receive free admission to the con! If you have any questions please email us atinfo@cloudsdalecongress.com.

We want to restore everyone’s faith in brony conventions, and give anyone who felt cheated of a great experience the chance to make it up. It’s sure to be a great weekend, and we would love to have you there!

(http://cloudsdalecongress.tumblr.com/post/44412055510/laspegassist)