Attendees of Thursday's opening day of New York Comic Con had promotional tweets automatically published without permission, leading to event organizers ReedPop to release an apology on its Facebook page.
Hi all! A quick update regarding #NYCC-ID from the team:
As you may have seen yesterday, there were some posts to Twitter and Facebook issued by New York Comic Con on behalf of attendees after RFID badges were registered. This was an opt-in function after signing in, but we were probably too enthusiastic in our messaging and eagerness to spread the good word about NYCC.
We have since shut down this service completely and apologize for any perceived overstep. Please accept our apologies and have an absolutely excellent time this weekend.
- Your friends at NYCC
The controversy stems organizers giving attendees the ability to pre-register online. Fans were allowed to link their social-media accounts to the RFID (radio-frequency identification) equipped badges. As attendees entered the convention, their badges sent out autonomous tweets featuring the hashtag #NYCC; getting negative reactions from around the web.
Everyone from press to celebrities were including Star Trek: The Next Generation and The Big Bang Theory star Wil Wheaton were outraged.
"Epic fail, NYCC," tweeted Wheaton to his 2.5 million followers. "Someone better get fired for this."
On Friday night, NYCC's Twitter account also sent out a tweet acknowledging the snafu without actually apologizing or admitting any wrongdoing.
FYI - do not fret if #NYCC-ID tweeted as you yesterday! We shut this opt-in feature off so it won't happen anymore. Have a blast at NYCC!
— New York Comic Con (@NY_Comic_Con) October 11, 2013
Reedpop found itself in trouble last month as Wired reported of the organizer sharing personal contact information including phone numbers and addresses with show exhibitors before removal.
The comic convention is scheduled to run throughout the weekend.
