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How Do I Prevent Lan Party Theft?
DragonTHC writes "I'm thinking about hosting a lan party open to the public. I'm aiming for approximately 60 people to attend. I can handle all the logistics of operation. The only thing I can't wrap my head around is: how do I prevent theft at the lan party? Do I hire security guards? Do I need security cameras? I don't know the people who will attend, and I don't know if they're trustworthy enough to not steal other people's equipment. What do I do?"
Suppose somebody gets hurt? Are you ready to handle a big personal liability lawsuit?
I would NOT do what you are describing.
Delegate "security" to a dozen or so people you do know.
If you haven't been down-modded lately, you aren't trying.
Sacred cows make the best hamburger.
...stating you are not responsible for lost/stolen/damaged equipment.
"Useless organic meatbag" -HK-47
Hire a security guard, but if you want to intimidate lanparty geeks you need to have him dressed up as Arthas or something. Make sure the "steel is real" when selecting a weapon to go with the costume, geeks can tell 440stainless vs polished aluminum a mile away.
As long as you only have paying visitors and computer geeks nothing will get stolen, all of them have their own equipment to think about, no-one want to risk being kicked out with their "rig" being thrown at their head. On campzone (a 1700 person outdoor lan) im more than comfortable to leave the tent and visit a nearby pool or restaurant. Only a few small items like sponsor flags, and a mobile phone have ever been stolen.
Your better off not trying to do anything to secure anything short of your own equipment. Just post a sign at the door that states that there is "no security" and that every individual is completely responsible for their own property.
20th century Marxism is not progress...
How can you steal from them without them finding out?
Cowboy Neal.
Handcuff them to the table, and when they want to leave, you can escort them out.
Go crazy and stick a RFID tag on everything, from cables and mousepads to GPUs and go big brother style ! =) Or, just make sure to remember all the participants to watch their equipment, so it becomes their responsibility and not yours, as it always is.
Stick one of those on the network, and people will be too busy downloading that to bother about stealing stuff.
A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
I'm trying to come up with words to describe how epic this fail is...
I can handle all the logistics of operation. The only thing I can't wrap my head around is: how do I prevent theft at the lan party?
Since security is part of "the logistics of operation", I'd say you can't handle all of them.
If you're that worried about security, make it invite only, then only invite people you trust. Simple.
You can't expect to prevent theft at all in any kind of party.
So be sure to either invite only your friends, or make everyone responsible for their own stuff, like every other party out there.
"Hegelians, who love a synthesis, will probably conclude that he wears a wig." - Bertrand Russell
Post signs saying you will record video. And do it (assuming you have a large rectangular space, 4 cameras to get a 360 degree view should be easy to set up, and relatively cheap). Record video capturing the face and ID of each person attending, at a bottlenecked entrance. If you have a venue with a parking lot, notify everyone that there will be videotaping of the parking lot, and again, do it. If you have the budget, hire a professional to do the ID checking. This should pretty much make any theft a non issue to prosecute. Be sure to post a disclaimer that you're not responsible for items lost/stolen though.
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
Most computers and many monitors have Kensington cable lock slots. They won't deter the professional thief (nothing short of a security guard will), but they will give the casual thief some pause, and that's your main worry.
Make sure the cable is looped around something that is relatively solid and unmovable.
Don't worry about theft. You can't ensure that there's none. Just don't give the people any false sense of security. Let them keep an eye on their own things. Let it be known that everyone is responsible for their own equipment.
Just duct tape everything down, so it can't be removed without a lot of effort.
I tagged the article "lotsofducttape"
This signature was left intentionally blank.
Do just like any other 'public' place would do - put up cameras and have them record however much space you can get away with. Let the people know, too. That will take care of half of them, the other half will (hopefully) be able to be reviewed.
Or, you could just walk around with a fully automatic AK-47 airsoft rifle. Hell, do that anyway. Nothing like sniping an unsuspecting gamer from the top of the stairs. And getting it on camera. =p
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
Businesses have an accounting factor called "inventory shrinkage" which really just amounts to "theft". People will steal from time to time, not many actually do it, but some do, and so thefts will happen. You can increase security to discourage it, but you can never make a full guarantee.
Thus, you can increase security in practical ways, but eventually increasing security stops being practical and can even fail to increase actual security. After that, resign to the fact that theft happens. You may increase ticket prices to compensate for the expected loss of a router or two. If it doesn't happen, consider it a credit to the next lan party's theft compensation.
Just place machine gun nests at strategic locations and make sure to have plenty of dogs, preferably Rottweilers.
Seriously though, this does this question have anything to do with technology? Do the same things as you do when you throw a regular party, i.e. trust people who come not to steal stuff and to keep track of their own stuff. Or ask couple of friends to keep an eye on things if you are really paranoid
Negative moral value of force outweighs the positive value of good intentions.
It's 11 years closer to coming out than it used to be...
Require all participants to wear a neurotranciever. The Borg may find it efficient for communication but it can also serve the purpose of monitoring everyone simultaneously. Just remember, thought crime isn't illegal yet.
Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
If it's overnight, don't let people leave during the evening hours (with equipment). Tagging items is possible, but your only good chance is to have "easy to peel off" stickers, which would allow easy fraud... Making sure everyone is on their toes for their own stuff is a mighty good tactic. If everyone is constantly vigilant about their own stuff, theft will go down (using your audience as security guards). You'll need at least a few security people if your going have 60 people. That's a fair few people, and all it takes is two of them to get pissed off, and you could have chaos on your hands. With just a few people that inspect everyone leaving, you could prevent a whole heap of theft. One of your strongest paths will either be the classic fear mongering, or strict entry/exit requirements. One LAN I went to had "cards" that everyone got, and on them labeled our gear (we had to pre-register).. and you weren't allowed out with gear, unless it was on your card. And when you left, they crossed it off.
Host it at a local hotel conference room or banquet room. Rent it.
Everyone knows that DRM is really the only answer for preventing theft in today's high-tech society.
Find an internet cafe' and see if you can rent it out. Most cafe's will let you for a fee.
Have everyone pitch in a few bucks and you should be fine.
Theres a place that lets you do that here in Dallas.
The greatest revenge in life is massive success.
Draft a legally binding waiver and require all participants to sign it without modification. Plus insurance (as the other poster said). Plus take reasonable security measures.
Some friends of mine did this ~10 years ago, and I helped out a bit.
Either you (or possibly your venue) will need insurance.
You might need to hire a police officer (check laws for this one).
We had a checkpoint at the door. We had an engraving pen there, and all CPUs and monitors were *required* to have your driver's license number engraved on them to be brought in, and we didn't allow any equipment to leave without checking. All other equipment (kb/mouse/headphones/etc.) was "at your own risk." We also offered to engrave anything else they had if they wanted us to, but didn't require a check to remove it.
First off, make sure that everyone knows they're responsible for their own equipment and not to leave it unattended. Period. Put in cameras, bouncers, whatever you want to minimize the chances of theft, but don't rely on them. I know it sounds like a cop out, but a party situation just has too many variables to control effectively.
"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much." - Oscar Wilde
I've done quite a few LAN parties now; big & small. They started with me and my flatmate housing 8 mates in our living room, battling out various incarnations of war. Then slowly it grew into many more people until finally it got too big; too dispersed, and the original spirit of the gaming sessions was lost to clusters of people doing their own thing; with little cohesion in the group.
Now, when we do LAN parties, it's 8 people max, and people everyone knows well. 8-way battles with mates + pizza & vodka + drinking games == some of the best nights I've ever had.
throw new NoSignatureException();
Make sure the people coming know that they are responsible for their equipment. I for one never leave my gear unattended. Either me or one of my friends is around are stuff at all times.
Also you'll need to make it apparent that ANY theft what-so-ever will result in the police being called.
Otherwise it's from my experience at most LAN parties people keep an eye on each others gear.
This is news on Slashdot? Seriously? Really? Wow... Must be a slow day...
No, it has been 11 years since its announcement.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure it's any closer.
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
for chaps who are willing to do a little security duty.
Their job would be to control the entry at the signon and the exit while the party. They should write down serial numbers and names (ids) of all equipmen brought to the party which is bigger than what fits in a pocket, i.e. desktops, laptops, switches, tfts etc.
Make it clear that anything smaller is to be carried with the owner and that there is no guarantee that the aforementioned security measure is sufficient or can even prevent theft.
And of course, provide holes in desks where people can fixate their kensington locks.
This is plenty for opportunity thieves, you can't do anything against organized actions which wouldnt make regular people uncomfortable anyway (like cameras, too much security standing around, police, body searches, etc)
A poster above suggested a waiver... which never hurts.
But to me it would depend on the space you are using.
A lan party local to me uses one big room with all the users in it. Then if you restrict access to the area to only people playing plus have limited ways in or out it gets rather difficult to sneak stuff out.
Plus for the most part people will be near their computers, playing them. It is some what common sense to ask you neighbour to watch your stuff when you take a washroom break or something.
As for security guards I think they would be useless unless being used to keep the site closed to playing/paying people only. A security guard is not going to know that Jim Bob has two computer cases in that rubbermaid he is carrying. The security guard gives the illusion of security, not real security.
I can tell you from personal experience that you will have little to anything to worry about with regards to theft of another's belonging... depending on the size of your town, most of the gamers will all know each other, in fact, there will probably only be 2-3 major groups of friends that will come... On the other hand, while you're not worried about theft of property, I can relay to you a personal story here: My computer repair shop in SE Missouri used to have LAN parties ALL the time... at least every month or two... the biggest problem we found? We would accidentally leave sales information (companies we were going to contact, sales leads, etc)... apprently, we had several individuals who were coming over, going through that information when no one was looking and then telling their employer or their their friends who owned a competeing computer repair business... It's hard to walk out with physical items that don't belong to you, but it's very easy to walk out with information...
Just tell people to keep an eye on their shit
But GPL-porn would probably be made by the same people that release software under the GPL......
Must...burn...imagination....
A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
Have a naked lan party! Nudity leaves the participants with nowhere to hide stolen items... well, almost nowhere.
...only they have to worry about people stealing *children*, so count yourself lucky. :) So do hospital post-natal wards, for that matter.
On the way in, they put a uniquely ID'ed bracelet on the kids and the parents. There's only one way out, and on the way out a staffer checks that kids match parents. It's a nice way to reduce the amount of security needed.
they aren't - good locks make people honest
the important thing with any type of "physical security" is that it be highly visible - i.e. one guard standing at the entrance will probably just irritate people (and not prevent any theft)
even if you hire a security guard and use security cameras (but that is probably overkill) it won't prevent someone who is motivated from stealing something
whatever level of security you decide to use - make sure people understand that you are not responsible for "items lost or stolen" and that they should not leave small/valuable items unattended
and of course IANAL ;-) so I don't know what level of implied liability you are taking on...
It ain't what they call you. It's what you answer to. http://mylyceum.us/
Use the old caning rod on one of the gimps and claim that he stole a 32meg jump drive from you. That will keep them all honest.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
I have organised and been to many LAN parties, although none as big as yours. I have never had anything reported as being stolen. Geeks are geeks and generally will not leave their PC for too long. I would trust the people who come, but make them aware that everyone is responsible for their own gear/lives. If you are really concerned have them sign a disclaimer.
i wouldn't have anyone over to my house who may steal from me in the first place. if you can't trust your friends not to steal from you, then maybe it's time for new friends.
secondly..i have a moderately sized home (3000 sq ft) and i wouldn't dream of having 60 people over unless it was an emergency.
Is it 5:30 yet?
I can help you out. When are you thinking of having it? What's the street address?
- You should hire the Hells Angels and pay them with beer. Make sure you announce it nationwide and let everyone know that event is free. Then you let someone film a doc about it. Oh, and make sure you have everyone stand out in the hot sun all afternoon before it kicks off. And don't forget to make it easy for everyone to have easy access to drugs an alcohol.
My humor is probably your flamebait
Why are you worried about other peoples property, just state as part of the sign up that you can't be held responsible.
Hold the event at a licensed event center or hall. Doing this should ensure that you don't have to worry about someone getting hurt. If something happens they sue the event location (who has insurance). Talk to the venue about what they are willing to cover in case something happens. Also have a disclaimer on your tickets / sign-up sheets that explain you are to be held harmless in the event of an accident.
If you are still worried about getting sued for someone getting hurt seek Event Liability Insurance you can track down numerous places that sell it by googling for "Event Liability Insurance". Or even easier call your normal insurance rep and see if they can recommend someone. Most good car / home / renter insurance reps can get you to someone who can help.
I'm not a lawyer but if you follow these tips and do some 5th grade math you ought to be able to have fun at your event and make a couple of bucks for your time!
Didn't work out too well for the 'Stones.
You, sir, need a business entity of your own, such as a LLC - to do this deal. You need to rent space (hotel ballrooms at older hotels are great venues - rooms to rent, bathrooms aplenty, their own security and restaurant or something like room/ballroom service available) and delegate security.
Depending upon what state you are located in, you might want to impose a "no concealed carry" on the participants and their guests. Unless you like the idea of some fool with a pocket rocket deciding to trade the virtual for the real. Ever see what a .357 can do to a telephone pole? A .44? Both rounds will shoot right through an engine block. Imagine a row of gamers at a long table - how many can YOU take out with one round?
You also need liability insurance. You will be asked for a waiver when booking the site.
Oh yeah, medical emergency numbers and hospital locations are absolutely necessary.
It's quite simple. When you sit down. Ask the guy to your right and to your left to watch your shit. As long as one of them is honest then your stuff won't get stolen.
I would implement a simple SQL server and a still camera.
As someone checks in take a picture of their driver's license, case and their monitor.
When they leave with gear type in their name and check the photo. Then hook a webcam to the computer and point it at the LAN party. Tracking 60 people in a room is pathetically easy.
Then just lie and say the parking lot is under surveilance.
every person entering has their gear tagged by you. anyone leaving must match the tag of the stuff no EXCEPTIONS. no bags allowed people will be frisked.
Really simple. people not wanting a tag will be refused entry.
It's not rocket science.
I say post a sign, if your stuff get's stolen, it's YOUR FAULT, you being here means you agree to this.. and let your patrons deal with it.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Simple. Wait for someone to actually steal something then make an example of them. Piking their head at the door should do nicely. Although there might be some local ordinances against it, possibly some heath codes too. Might want to consult a lawyer or a constable just in case.
Supporting World Peace Through Nuclear Pacification
You don't need to haul your computer around accross town just to play online games. LAN parties are of the pre-broadband era.
Get one of your more burly friends to serve as a security guard. Pay them in whatever way you see fit, but do make sure you pay them.
At the LAN parties I went to, I didn't see much of a theft problem. The LAN party's equipment, I don't even know where it was.. the tables all had an ethernet cable stringing up to plug into, but switches etc? Who knows. As for other people's stuff, just make it their responsibility. At the one I was at people were so busy gaming, they wouldn't have a chance to go stealing.
After, say, 2AM: No equipment of any sort goes in or out. Have someone awake (its a lan party ffs, people will be awake) and vigilant towards anyone walking out the door with any equipment.
For liability: make everyone sign a no-liability form.
When I first saw the headline, I thought he meant how to stop people from stealing the SOFTWARE and files that are available on other peoples computers... I guess I'm just stupid, because I've never seen hardware walk at a LanParty, but we usually know each other, or at least everyone knows the host. That is usually the deterrant. But, Just me I guess....
--- Relax, that mass muderer is just trying to reduce our carbon footprint, one fetus at a time...
Slow news day at slashdot?
Having organized parties as large as 2000 people, there is one thing that will pretty much be true with a party of every size : You cannot possibly guarantee that there won't be any theft at all and maintain a decent party atmosphere (let alone keep inside the budget).
You should, under no circumstances, assume liability over your guests' equipment. They need to know they are responsible for their own stuff, and that you will not be held accountable if somebody steals it. If they cannot watch their equipment for the duration of the party, then that is not your fault.
You can, of course, offer a "lockbox"-service -- i.e. offer to keep their hardware secured in a cage or some such which is guarded 24/7; This is pretty much the same model as wardrobe at theaters. You take their bags/hardware, issue them a ticket, and do not release the bags/hardware without that ticket. Make sure you inform yourself on what liability you are taking on (if any), possibly restrict it to a maximum value, and consider insuring yourself against theft thereof. If you do this, make absolutely sure that the station is manned 24/7 (we usually do this near the reception area). Think about policies and procedures for when somebody loses their ticket (they will.)
If you provide the network/power infrastructure (and you usually do), think a bit about how to secure it. If you rent your equipment, inquire about theft insurance. It may well be worth it, depending on what your equipment costs. The most probable time switches, routers, etc. get stolen is when everybody is packing up (at the end of the party) -- it's chaos at that point. Keep an eye on your stuff. We usually devise a monitoring system; if your switches are managed, you can keep pinging them once a second from a central station. If they don't reply two or more times, an alarm goes off (loud, obnoxious, flashy alarm, with the equipment name, number and mapped location on the screen, in red). Make sure you have people in place who can follow up on that stuff, fast. If there is only one exit, it may be easier to check for your "bigger" stuff; smaller stuff is easy to hide in bags, and searching bags is not only really, really timeconsuming, but also kills party atmosphere, potentially lands you in legal hot waters, etc.
Do not assume that people will leave via the designated exit/entrance area. You will most likely HAVE to have a secondary fire exit (or more, depending on the size of the venue). These cannot be blocked or barred. When people leave at the end, they may also use these. Equipment near there is rather high risk. Have people there.
Security "guards" (i.e. guys hired for that specific purpose) are nice for FEELING secure, but they don't actually do much. LAN-party goers don't usually end up in fistfights, and you don't want guards roughing up your guests. It doesn't, of course, hurt when some of your organizing team (you do have a team, right ?) look impressive in person :>
Security cameras don't usually have high resolutions and are easily avoided. You can make pretty nifty time-compressions of them though for the after-party videos.
If you want, you can devise a ticketing/sticker system for high-value items of your guests ... I.e. when they check in, give them 3-4 stickers for their equipment and a token to be kept secure (an armband, a badge, that sort of stuff). They affix their stickers to their equipment, and on checkout, you check the stickers against the badge. If you go this road, do keep an eye on speed. Wireless handheld barcode scanners can help. If this process is too slow, your team and your guests will grow frustrated at checkout and eventually not bother with it anymore.
You mention that you do not know the people who are coming. Do you also not know who is coming ? If not, make it a requirement to sign up on your website. Throw in some nifty stuff for that (seat selection, etc.), and people will do it. That way at least you'll have some personal information to identify people with.
Use a UV-readable marker to mark peoples' arms with a sekret sign (of the beast!) and a random number, and then mark their equipment same-wise. Then, nobody gets out with a boxen who 1) isn't marked on the arm with the sekret sign + number, and 2) has equipage marked the same.
Isn't perfect, but tis l33tful.
=^..^= all your rodent are belong to us
Lots and lots of tazer guns. Preferably two per person so they can duel wield them.
Instead of hiring those securities. Why not just ask the attendee to be as the security guards based on some simple rules?
For example, in your case, you can randomly divided 60 people into 20 groups with 3 people in each group. One group will check around the whole party about certain interval, say 10 mins, and then switch to the next group. So every player will have get up and take the security responsibilities in every 190 mins (about 3 hours). It is also a good way to force them have a short break to move their fat legs. Also you can make a similar rule based on match results.
...is about the only sensible advice on this thread.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
I've been to dozens of LAN parties, and I've never lost any equipment. In fact, I usually end up leaving with more equipment than I came with.
There are 0x40000000 types of people: those who understand 32-bit IEEE 754 floating point, and those who don't.
I used to do the computer tournaments for a gaming convention.
We had staff members who were security for the con but no specific precautions taken for the computers. For a couple the years we setup on the main floor and then started doing the computer gaming in separate room we could lock when not in use.
Computers, monitors, CD cases, and power strips had stickers with the owners name on them.
Between a staff member being present and self-policing we never had anything stolen.
Speaking as someone whose worked with folks who host a 120+ person LAN party every 6 weeks, there are really only 2 ways to prevent it:
1.) Only invite folks whom you know and trust.
2.) Don't have a LAN party.
But, beyond that, try to organize your folks who are coming into groups who know each other, or can at least work cooperatively outside what's going on in the LAN. That is, if you have groups of folks who know one another, then while some are napping or off getting refreshments, someone they knowand trust is there to guard their loot. That's about the most straightforward way, because you won't know everyone, but hopefully everyone there will know a few other folks. And if they don't, maybe you can create some new groups of friends.
More than that, you DO need to have some sort of hold harmless paperwork that everyone agrees and signs, so you're not left with the liability issue. I mean, let's say no one steals anything, no one hurts themselves, what if someone innocently brings in a virus or malware or keylogger that gets spread through the LAN. Sometimes, CYA is the only way to do things.
Just my $0.02. Good luck, either way!
Awk! Pieces of eight. Pieces of eight. Pieces of seven... ERROR: General Protection Fault. [Paroty Error.]
60 people isn't very many.
I would just tag all equipment, and institute a curfew 10pm and later no equipment is to leave the main room. During the day tags must be compared.
Rent a space outside of your home! You can rent office space, meeting space at hotels, etc, etc. Everybody coming is requesting to bring a small "donation", that would cover the cost.
Sign: "Anyone caught sealing is subject to a Severe Ass Whoopin"
I read this question as: How do I prevent theft at a public event?
Answer: You can't. It's more than likely going to happen. All you can do is limit your liability.
Just because it's a LAN party and the majority of attendees will be "nerds/geeks" you can't expect them to be 100% honest. They're still people!
Ave Molech Setting
I'd be more worried about some unscrupulous script kiddie getting in and running a packet sniffer to get usernames and passwords of the folks playing any MMOs at your lan party.
I do however, like the idea of having participants sign a release saying they're responsible for their own equipment.
I have hosted a large lan party a few months ago and got people to sign waivers. They were responsible for their own thins and removed liability from my side. Also, when you have thousands of dollars of equipment, people are VERY careful with their things anyway. I experienced no incidents. Good luck with yours!
What do I do?
Answer: move to a country where nothing would be stolen?
How many escape pods are there? "NONE,SIR!" You counted them? "TWICE, SIR!"
I had a friend set up something like you want at a hotel convention room/ballroom. He got a discount because he worked there, but it worked out fairly well. They had tables and chairs there, after a little bit of setup everyone plugged in and played. The only tricky bit was managing the power of all those machines. We had to distribute the load on various walls to prevent breakers from flipping.
Really, it's the same while your camping... The real question is: who's desperate enough to steal your smelly sleeping bag?
When I take my daughter to the local "run and pipes, play games, and eat pizza" restaurant, they stamp our hands to match. I also fence, and before each tournament, we get a stamp applied to our gear after it gets certified. You could do a combination of these with gear and users. Get some cool logo stamp with a number sequencer. Give each attendee a card and stamp the card, and then stamp a sticker on the major components. When you leave, they have to match up the card to the gear. PITA. Some might complain of getting stickers on their gear. Some might think its pretty cool.
No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife between the shoulder blades will seriously cramp his style.
10mm Auto rounds.
There are over 36 million lines of COBOL code in the world, and they are all raping children.
I guess what I'm saying is, geek hierarchy is strong. Invite lots of friends, and they'll help. Most gamers would just appreciate the opportunity so much that they wouldn't dream of abusing it, lest it never happen again.
that's just it. No matter how far away it is now...
eleven years ago, it was eleven years further.
DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
I help run a LANparty in Cape Town,South Africa. We cater for 600 people and this is a monthly event, and open to the public. First things first, right of attendance reserved, and enter at your own risk. Also, tell people to be aware of their surroundings, keep small valuables on your person at all times (wallets, cellphones, etc). Keep your case closed (not necessarily locked), and when in groups, try and get people to sleep in shifts, so someone is always awake to look over things. As far as being public is concerned, yes it is, but those people who come to LAN have heard about it either on a local lanparty website or word of mouth, so that already narrows down the attendance "awareness" of people to those who are interested. Yes, things like cellphones have gone missing, harddrives went missing, a handbag disappeared (yes GIRLS do attend our functions, and yes the bag was recovered) but in all cases it was due to negligence of the owners of said things. Just make people aware of these things (use a PA system, or just a headset and BIG speakers) to let people know the houserules. Works for us, should work for you. YMMV on local laws though... BTW it also helps that 2 of our regular attendees are cops ;)
and maybe if more practiced one we would not have these kinds of problems.
Hwo is this LAN guy and why is he having so many parties?
Don't invite people you don't trust. Failing that try living a little. Having a great night probably is worth a bit more then some mobile that will be worth fuck all in a year's time.
Don't invite assholes to your parties.
The joke was that, if it never comes out, it's not any closer.
As in, we're no closer to the release of the next version of A+ than we were when it was released in '92.
Too deep?
Hire a local motorcycle gang to keep order at the Lan party.
Have them bring their pool cues, in case they get bored during the event and want to shoot some eight-ball.
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
Just have everyone sign a non-liability agreement saying you are not responsible for any damages or thefts to them or their property. I've signed these numerous times at LANs.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I have serious doubts if you can do anything besides talk loudly to the person and attempt to document them leaving.
If a person chooses to leave, you really can't stop them. You can ask them to stop, you can threaten them with bannanation if they refuse to submit to a check, but you can't use force to stop them or even get in their way. You may have some limited recourse as part of a citizen's arrest if you're sure they've actually stolen something.
Putting hands on someone trying to leave could get you arrested or shot.
That assumes that the days/years remaining until release are finite. Infinite - 11 is still infinite.
If you believe everything you read, you'd better not read. - Japanese proverb
Wishful thinking doesn't solve real problems. His "attitude to life" isn't what will prevent theft or defend against lawsuits. His attitude didn't create thieves or lawyers, why would changing his attitude make them disappear? It's not his fault the US is filled with lawyers and thieves.
That goes for both the LAN guy and the commenter guy.
In the US, you need to protect yourself from lawyers and thieves. No one else will do it for you and the lawyers and thieves protect each other.
Stating that they are liable for their own losses and injuries. Post the policy prominently in every place in the house as well.
Stop hosting lan parties, and start having sex. It's much better for you. No stealing to worry about, just the occasional outbreak of genital warts(they have cream for that). good luck.
Yup, somebody is going to lose something. Hopefully, it will just be their virginity. No, wait, that's important. Hopefully it will just be their wireless mouse.
But somebody will lose something.
Just remember... if everybody at the poker table has a gun, one thing is certain. Somebody is going to get shot. Have a doctor, ambulance, or insurance policy handy. Trust not the lawyers.
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
When I was hosting large parties I had everyone fill out a checklist of what they brought in and then it was checked by staff at the desk to verify it before they were allowed to setup. This list was also checked before they were allowed to leave as well. Combine that with placing staff members at the end of every row, or scattered evenly among seats alot of the would-be thieves chicken out. That was the point, to try and prevent the petty thieves because honestly at a LAN thats all you can do. People who are going there with thoughts of stealing stuff will, those who look at something while there and say "hmm can I take that" will probably not.
One thing I also recommend is bumping admission fees up by 2$ per person. They wont notice the difference but it helps to start your "replacement fund" and over a few LAN's you should have a nice chunk of change to be able to replace anything that gets stolen.
Arrange seating so that small groups are seated together... this way they can watch each others' rigs. They can get to know one another and identify strangers.
Have all Computers face inward, with only a single accessible entrance for each group from behind.
Less points of entry, means less points to watch.
Have every attendee register all equipment on a master list (paper and pen) upon entering. Ensure when people leave they have everything they came with and nothing more, and show contents of all bags. Have a roll call before people leave to demonstrate they have everything of theirs that is on the list. Provide some sticker labels or black magic markers to label some equipment that may not have serials. Announce that you are not responsible for items lost or stolen but are doing this to be very helpful. I agree with teh contracts ideas if you have time. Registering alone will discourage theft. Checking bags on the way out will further deter. Ensure you have IDs for all who attend so to track down anyone who may not have checked out properly. Generally, guards may not be necessary because anything stolen may be cheap enough to handle through small claims court and not worth the expense of guards or extra burdens. Those without drivers should bring a student ID or parental/guardian verification which is good for any other legal reasons.
Stamp everyones hands, and compare it to what they take out.
Oh, and armed guards for those that try.. A few dead bodies on a stake out front will be a grand deterrent.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Or they could use something nerds are really afraid of, girls.
Or soap. Or sunlight.
My first thought is, you really haven't provided much information.
1. Where is this being held? A house? YOUR house? The yard? Local Park? Rented property?
2. Are you charging for the event, if so how much?
No offense to you intended, but this is really the sort of question I'd recommend in a forum dedicated to small business, not technology.
We'll give you all kinds of ideas about the techy side of the party, but when it comes with how to host a mid-size event involving real live people we're going to come up a little short.
My solution for you? Make sure you invite one really hot chick and make sure she shows up first. Most of the party won't be able to muster the courage to even come to the house, the rest will be too busy staring at the skimpy outfit to think of stealing anything.
Hell, I'm a lot older than Taco, but my user number is higher than his...
there are 3 kinds of people:
* those who can count
* those who can't
I can't believe someone hasnt suggested this yet... make your guests sign a waiver! It will simply state that whatever happens to their crap isnt your fault, and you arent liable to be sued for injuries, lost property, or any of that other crap. Also solves issue of minors attending, they need their parents to sign.
How about you tell ppl to create small "groups" with ppl they trust and have those groups seperated by some kind of barriers? The goal would be to have large enough groups so that nothing is left unattended at any moment of the day(though this could be problematic during the night) but still small enough to make stealing hard. It would probably require more space and more organisation but I would feel more secure knowing that my stuff is always being "watched" by ppl I deem trustworthy.
Have you accounted for the massive power draws of 60 graphics cards all trying to crank polygons out as fast as possible?
Your power bill may be more expensive than liabiltiy or security.
Each person gets a ticket with a barcode in it, and each device (keyboard, mouse, monitor and so on) gets a sticker with the barcode. Sticker can be on the mouse/keyboard cable for example.
Place 1-2 guys at the door with barcode readers checking everything that exists the building.
If I were to arrange such an event, this is what I'd do...
First, I'd rent out a hotel conference room. They're going to have a more suitable power infrastructure (and room to host) than anything you're likely to have.
The rules should be short and clear: no alcohol, theft, or violence will be permitted whatsoever. Everyone is responsible for their own gear. Nobody underage will be allowed (or look into how you'd have to handle the 'underage' angle legally and allow underage people - but I'd say the immaturity level would be too high to make it even worth it). Also, people with money are less likely to steal, and as kids typically don't have any moment of their own, they're more likely to be culprit.
Importantly, I'd contact a bonded/insured security company and contract for a security guard to be at the door (and/or to police the area). He'd be responsible for checking people in and out - verifying their age, having them register themselves (and their gear), and so on and so forth. The presence alone will deter casual theft, and along with the "you're responsible for your own stuff" should cause people to be cautious enough for you to not worry about it.
The other thing I'd suggest is that you organize the LAN party so that it's planned, not just a bunch of people at the same place playing their computers. 8-11p is CS:S and WoW, 11p-2a is (whatever, I don't game), and so on and so forth.
Finally, see if you can't lease out a gaming center nearby. I know of a couple in very small towns, and I can't imagine any reasonably sized town doesn't have one these days. They can take care of the specifics for you, and you'd likely not need people to lug their shit then.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
As WOPR says, "What a strange game. The only way to win is not to play."
Picture- much faster-- take a picture of the face, take a picture of all the serial#'s/devices...
move on..
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
If someone is determined to steal something they are going to do it no matter what you do. Therefore, it seems that if you really want to minimize it the best thing to do would be to educate the attendees. So why not do something like appoint someone as saftey cop or whatever and have that person go around and whenever someone is away from their computer have them put a sticker on the monitor saying something like, "Your shit just got stolen!" so that when they come back they will know that their stuff could have easily been taken. If you wanted to get really into it you could do something like every time someone's stuff got caught unattended their MAC was banned for an hour or something. Doing things like this would ensure that everyone kept an eye on their stuff and make it harder for a thief.
http://www.popularculturegaming.com -- my blog about the culture of videogame players
(posting as AC in case some fool decides to cause some trouble at one of my events.)
I'm part of a large-ish team (10 people) hosting LANs for between 120 and 250 people. We've been hosting events every 6 months for the past 6 years.
The closest we ever came to a theft was when a sponsor marquee went missing. Turns out this marquee was of a very expensive foldable design and cost almost $2k. We put an announcement out on the PA and 5 minutes later we had the marquee back. The guy who took it thought it'd be OK to souvenir it. Whatever, he owned up in the end.
We had another guy tell us some people were going to turn up who were not his friends but came from his school. Apparently they had a reputation for vandalism. When the group of 6 arrived, one of our organisers simply told them it'd be $5 each if they wanted to stay and watch. They sighed and left.
Apart from that, we've had... nothing. 6 years of fun and nothing close to what you're stressing about.
It's more important to run a high quality event: create goodwill up-front so no-one leaves with a grudge. Don't forget that if someone's attending a LAN, they've got disposable income (therefore aren't desperate to steal/sell goods) and their personality is reasonably social (or soon will be - I admit to learning lots of my social skills from lanning). Make sure your venue has one entry/exit (unlock a second door but have it alarmed - this will pass your fire safety check). Have a roster of staff by the door so someone's always there. Say goodbye to people and talk to them as they leave - it's a great way to add to your atmosphere (you can even give out leaflets about your next event) - you will notice if someone's acting suspicious. Check if your insurance covers theft (it probably won't, but if it does - great.) In other words, take reasonable precautions but don't pull out any hair.
I'll add that I've gone to hundreds of other public LANs besides the dozen or so I've run. The only thing that's ever happened is 2 PCs (not mine, but people in my group) went missing overnight at a 1000-person LAN 5 years ago. The people whose PCs were stolen had gone home overnight without telling us. If I leave my desk I get a friend to watch out for my stuff - but they are rarely watching properly. Someone could come up and take my stuff, but they haven't yet. I leave out my phone, my DVDs, my cordless keyboard and mouse, mouse-pad... the list goes on. It hasn't been stolen at a LAN.
If this will be your first LAN party, go smaller. Get a feel for the check-in dynamics and such. Then grow.
If you've got a few smaller ones under your belt, and you want to go big, read on.
First, indemnify, indemnify, indemnify. Require all attendees to sign a waiver which says they will not hold you accountable for any equipment harm or theft or any personal harm or theft. Ensure that each person knows that they are responsible for their own equipment and actions, and can leave at any time.
Second, if you're asking for money, clarify the refund procedure. I suggest establishing a no-refund policy, then bending that policy on a case-by-case basis.
Third, hold the LAN in a secure, very public location. I recommend a church or community center for a 60-man LAN, then a firehall once you break 100.
Fourth, establish clearly defined, binding rules which outline attendees' expected behavior. I recommend taking a look at the rules contained in the Pittco information sheet, published by the Pittsburgh LAN Coalition (disclaimer: I wrote it and am an organizer of its Iron Storm events).
Fifth, tell every attendee that security is their responsibility when they sign up and when they arrive. Advise them to bring as little equipment as they can. They should consider locks (barrels, the more numbers the better) for their case and they should put their name on everything. They should also backup their data before coming to the LAN.
Sixth, if someone comes to you and says they think that something has been stolen, ask them to ask the people around them if they've seen it. Some people immediately think that something has been stolen when perhaps it is underneath something or fell onto the floor. If a lot of people have left the party and/or it's near the end of the party, tell the person to post a lost and found request on your forums (you do have forums, right?) and to remind you so that you can send something in a mass email (you have all of the addresses of your attendees, right?).
Seventh, remember that most people who come to LANs aren't going to want to steal anything because they're going to be busy guarding their own equipment. Do not allow spectators. If you must, require that they be escorted, or that they check-in with you every so often. Also, use wristbands to keep track of who checked-in. If someone doesn't have a wristband or a staff T-shirt (consider that after an event or two), you have every right to tell them to leave. Call the cops if you have to. Just do not use force—you are not certified or licensed to do such things in public places and you will open yourself to legal trouble.
Eighth, post this question at forums for MillionManLAN, EverLAN, Lake Effect LAN, Pittco, Noreaster, and some of the other larger, non-corporate-sponsored LANs. They'll give you good advice, and you'll even draw some people to your event!
Colin Dean Go a year without DRM
The best way to handle this is don't. There's a lawsuit a mile wide with your name on it if you do. If you want to have a LAN party (I have them quite often) have one with people you can trust. You are just BEGGING for trouble if you go through with this.
Pax Vobiscum
Just warn ahead of time that the party will be videotaped. Also, make scans of everyone's driver's license or ID on entry. If you advertize videotaping or monitoring, its a substantial deterrent against theft regardless of the reality of the coverage. If you back that up with authenticating in meatspace, then you should be really wiping away the motivation for a thief to steal. Set up a visible camera on the main entry point which for overall security should be the only entry and exit point, and follow up with coverage on your main and secondary assets. Might seem like big brother to your attendees, but its protecting them as well. Make it invite only and make sure the host enforces a list.
1.Invite only
2.Scan licenses
3.Reduce egress to single entry and exit
4.Video egress point
5.Video assets
I think the easiest way would be to log each person's items as they come in, and sticker each item with that person's ID. On exit, each item is checked with both the sticker and the master log. Anyone who's logged list doesn't tally with the equipment they're carrying out gets stopped and checked, publicly.
Also, having the sleeping area away from the gaming area ensures more security. It makes it that much more difficult to sneak things away, and as there's usually some people playing all the time, people coming in and just moving things around will be noticed immediately.
I have been to many large scale lan parties, and some of the techniques that I've seen are:
1. Waiver - Though I'd agree with a lot of the posts that say it's a sad world if you need this.. the fact is that you need this. Say up front that you are not responsible for lost, stolen, or damaged equipment (hardware or software).
2. Lockdown - I have been to lans that kick everyone out at a certain time (2am-7am) to a sleeping area and lock the doors to the room the computers are in. This may not work with your attendees though, depending on how late/early they game. This helps a little against people picking through your gear while you're sleeping.
3. Barcodes - I have seen lans that will take a quick inventory of your major gear components (tower, monitor, laptop) at check-in, and issue you barcodes. They then check the list when you haul something out to make sure that you didn't walk out with someone else's laptop or tower. The barcodes could be either on the equipment itself, or on your attendee badge. People who rsvp ahead of time can submit the inventory list online and get through the line faster. This could also be done by manually typing in serial numbers, but a barcode reader is faster and not terribly expensive. (It's cheaper than getting sued.) It won't prevent someone from swiping your headphones, but it's a start.
4. Room Security - If possible, make sure that your room only has one entrance/exit (not including fire escape routes), and place your staff member's table near it. Hopefully you'll see anything that's obviously wrong.
All that being said, I've still heard stories of ram being stolen out of servers, while the server was on and had people connected to it. (I don't know if that's true or what damage it may have done to the thief or server.)
Why have a lanparty with 60 strangers when one can have a lanparty with 10..15 friends?? me and my friends have always made lan parties at my house with usually 10 people, you can walk around the house and leave your visitors by themselves if you want, because you trust them. No security cameras, no james bond super agent crap :) just having fun.... ...unless you don't have any friends, of course :)
I have been a part of a group that pulled off a few public lan parties. We had around 60 to 70 people at each one and never had a single problem with theft. Most of our attendees didn't stray very far from their rigs. We did require that people register in advance or when they arrived so we knew their name and handle. I would recommend you require people to be 18+ or be with someone who is. When they register, have them sign a disclaimer if you are really worried about a law suit.
Here's a radical idea, host the party at an internet cafe... that way you don't need to worry about insurance. You'll probably need to pay for internet or someting.
Make sure that all tables have security wires, and instruct people to secure their equipment using Kensington Locks. Almost all computer equipment is equipped with a Kensington slot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kensington_Security_Slot
You might even resell locks and make a small profit.
This is honestly the first time I've ever heard these things mentioned when it comes to organizing LAN parties.
The purely logical side of me wants to say, "Hey, yeah... nice advance planning. I never even considered the idea of maybe looking at insurance for such an event."
But the practical side of me? It thinks "WTF is wrong with people today?!?" I've been to a number of LAN parties hosted at people's homes, and even hosted a couple myself. Everyone I've ever met at them was MORE courteous and considerate than average. The closest thing to a "theft" I ever saw was a situation where someone accidentally picked up and packed up another person's Ethernet cable. I think that got sorted out when another individual offered to just give the guy one of his to keep, for free, since he had plenty of them at home anyway.
The way I see things, sure ... ANY time you have some sort of party or get-together involving multiple people, you have a "non zero" risk of something bad happening. Maybe someone will fall down a flight of stairs and break an arm? Maybe they'll plug a defective network card or cable into your gigabit switch and fry the thing? But like the parent post says, you can't even get out of bed in the morning and do anything useful if you're scared of everything.
Ultimately, I'd feel FAR safer around a bunch of avid computer gamers willing to drag their expensive computer gear over to my house than the random mix of individuals drinking at the corner bar. (You have to remember, they're all taking a certain amount of risk coming to some "stranger's house" with their equipment in tow, too. The host isn't the only one putting himself out there.)
These things used to be fun when almost nobody had broadband. These days it's rather passe.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
I host a frequent LAN by the name of Lannage -- shameless plug. The last event had about 60 attendees. We have everyone sign a form that says they are responsible for their stuff. The form also contains general rules about the event, should we decide to eject someone, we can point to the form and show them why. (This hasn't happened yet and we're going on #8). The form is on the site, which you're welcome to gank... I believe I ganked it from someone else who issued approval of gankage.
I also recently came back from QuakeCon where they make a strong effort to prevent theft (register all equipment, and check in/out every time you enter/leave with any equipment). It's a good idea, but things like flash drives and other such small equipment is almost impossible to prevent unlawful removal. It's also a bit overkill for a smaller event.
#1 way to prevent it would be get to know all your attendees. Welcome them all. See what they are bringing in. Yeah, it's a bit tough, but if you notice Guy A walk in with the sweet Lian Li water-cooled system, then Guy Z (who was sitting on the other side of the room) walk out with said case, you might ask what's up.
Logic is flawed
At Quakecon you register all of your stuff before you come in the door... and you get an official (and detailed) piece of paper with everything you are bringing in (ie, Samsung 3245 monitor, silver logitech keyboard, black Microsoft laser mouse, etc.).
If you are leaving with any hardware you have to show your paper stating that you brought it in.
You have to combine this with "someone" standing at the door checking the sheets... and going through people's bags so they can't just walk out. This doesn't have to be a security guard, it could just be a volunteer. At Quakecon they have a combination of both real (off-duty) Cops and Volunteers.
Finally, as others have mentioned... make sure there is only _one_ way in and out of the area with hardware in it. Lock all other doors and put up signs saying that there will be penalties for opening any non-official doors.
In the end, if someone really wants to steal someone's shit... they will do it. Ultimately, people have to watch their own stuff (and their friends, etc.).
I've been to quite a few LAN parties both big (over 3,000 people at Quakecon) and small (down to 10 and around 100 or so) and really haven't had issues. A friend of mine did get his crappy mouse swiped at Quakecon in the middle of the night... but that was one incident in 6 years of going there.
Good luck on the LAN party! They are a lot of effort, but the payoff is huge. The one piece of advice I would give is to not go overboard on the "extras". Let people focus on the gaming... I've seen too many medium sized LAN parties that try to have a bunch of other activities going on (DDR tourneys, scavenger hunts, etc.)... and it really detracts from just playing games. Further, it helps to state up front that there are a number of games that are for suggested play, and keep that number low. What you are aiming for is 4 or 5 highly trafficked games so the servers stay full...
Friedmud
If everyone comes with a friend then their buddy can watch the equipment while they help themselves to the Cheetos.
Although, I supposed it begs the question: Do people that attend LAN parties have friends in real-life?
My H&K P7M8 loaded with 9mm HP. steal from me and your mom can come and visit you in the ER
I could use a new video card. Where and when is this party?
You will need a copier, printer, and some labels. And a person to man (or preferably woman) the door.
Register every guest by ... all you need is for them to not know what this will be in advance]
1) Copying their driver license
2) Writing the number of items (N) they brought with them on the copy (which you keep) and having them sign next to the number
3) Printing out their name on N labels along with a unique graphic "seal" that you've designed/downloaded/etc. [this is low security
When they leave, have your door-person find their registration sheet, and check that
1) They are taking out the same number of items they brought
2) All the items have labels with their names (and your seal) on them
Give your guest their registration form back so that there are no privacy issues.
A simpler approach might be writing the number of items they brought with them on the back of their hand with a sharpie.
As people arrive, kill them. That way, no one will steal anything.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
"You have to combine this with "someone" standing at the door checking the sheets... and going through people's bags so they can't just walk out. This doesn't have to be a security guard, it could just be a volunteer. At Quakecon they have a combination of both real (off-duty) Cops and Volunteers.
Finally, as others have mentioned... make sure there is only _one_ way in and out of the area with hardware in it. Lock all other doors and put up signs saying that there will be penalties for opening any non-official doors."
Until someone pulls the fire-alarm and then people scramble for the nearest exit. If a fire alarm is pulled, you can't stop people from exiting the building through any available entrance, and you can't make them wait for an inspection. So, all the thief has to do is grab some gear, then pull the fire alarm (or maybe, the other way around).
Since you're inviting a busload of people to your residence, you need to worry about more than simple theft. You need to worry about liability issues.
What if someone trips and falls down the stairs after catching their foot on that torn piece of carpet you haven't replaced? What if someone lights a cigarette in the kitchen and sets off an explosion thanks to that little gas leak you didn't know you had?
Most people with homeowners or renters insurance have some amount of liability coverage. If you don't, get it. Stuff happens. Do you want to be at the mercy of UPS when their driver slips on your front steps, breaks her leg, and UPS proves you were violating several local building regulations?
As for the LAN party, you might try getting each attendee to sign a statement releasing you of liability for the loss of their hardware. Yes, it pretty much says "You can come to my party if you promise not to sue me," but there you go.
Remember, the value of such releases and even of insurance is not so much to protect you financially in case of a suit, but to ward off suits in the first place. Fighting a lawsuit is expensive and time-consuming even if you win.
-- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
You can't really lock the other exits. If you do, you are probably violating fire code in almost any place in the United States. A locked exit means someone burns up (maybe) in a fire. You can put signs on the other exits saying "Use only in emergency", and you can even alarm the other exits (this is pretty common in public halls, I think), but you cannot actually lock them to prevent them from being opened.
Dual theme it as a bondage party.... could get interesting!
Engineering is the art of compromise.
What worked for me (when hosting a bunch of 80+ machine lans) was using stickers and little wrist straps. On arriving each machine had a sticker attached to it, and a matching wrist strap was given to the owner. We had someone at the door checking every pc as it left that it matched the wrist strap. I've done this at 5 different lans now of various sizes and only had one person trying to leg it with someone's machine. When choosing a venue try to find a place with alarmed fire escapes - some video coverage is a good idea too.
come to the dark side, we have penguins.
People in Finland don't being suit when someone is negligent and causes them harm? How charming.
-- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
"Since you're inviting a busload of people to your residence, you need to worry about more than simple theft. You need to worry about liability issues."
I don't think the person who Asked Slashdot mentioned anything about where this was being held. Since he/she is aiming for 60 people, I *highly doubt* it's going to be in their residence. Where are you going to setup that many computers in the average house or apartment?
So, that probably means some sort of public meeting hall (in a civic center, hotel, library, etc). In that case, the liability is pretty much all carried by the hall, and not by the organizer personally.
And the lesson for today, Grasshopper, is that people lie. And that they change their minds.
-- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
You would think that is the case, but even in areas where there is broadband connectivity, that doesn't always make for a good gaming experience. I pretty routinely play Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory on public internet servers. I can tell you from experience that even servers that I have a pretty decent connection to (average ping 50ms), I get a lot of 'spikeyness' - which is to say the ping might suddenly jump up to 100 or 200 briefly here and there - even if that lag spike lasts less than a second, it can really badly impact the game for you.
I'd love to play ET at a LAN party someday, and see what the experience is like.
volunteers!
Feed em, give them a little responsibility, keep em happy, keep an eye on them, listen to their comments and complaints.
They will make the whole event more fun and efficient. The will function as free publicity for your next event.
I didn't read through all of the x-hundred responses, but was surprised that none of the top ones suggested renting some space at a VFW hall or something.
In my years of event planning (I've produced many large car shows), I indemnified myself and my group with a rules of the show and 'not responsible for theft or darwinism' type of language and had all participants showing sign upon registration. While I'm not a lawyer and don't know if I was truly protected, I can say that the overall mentality of the crowd shifted to being more responsible from the year we began having people sign something compared to years prior. We had some thefts, damage and a fist fight or two, and no one ever held us accountable. In that case, we also signed up for event insurance considering the nature of our event, based on said events happening and comparing notes of nightmare stories other car show promoters shared with us.
If you use a VFW hall or something like that, you're starting out with a sanitary environment - what's there to steal? Some tables and chairs? Or maybe a few pictures of old guys and ugly plaques? You also keep your home sacred and clean - just in case you get some whackjob that ends up with a crush on you or has an axe to grind for whatever reason...
You can't worry about everyone else's crap - that's their responsibility.
Eric?
It is no longer uncommon to be uncommon.
One, I've been to a number of parties in private residences where more than 60 people showed up. Obviously, you have missed a lot of really good parties.
Two, Why would you assume that that a public or commercial venue would blithely assume liability? More realistically, the contract between that facility and anyone who rents it would specifically make the venue immune from such suits.
-- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
For this sort of reason I have a bundle of two d-cords and an ethernet jack at each location, tied together with a wire tie. Stops me from losing 3-5 d-cords and a stray ethernet every time. This does nothing for theft, but stops someone from attempting to pack a cord into their bag when it's tied to other things, at least one of which is usually still plugged into the wall.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
Hold it somewhere else.
-- Programming with boost is like building a house with lego. It's a cool but I wouldn't want to live in it
...to a lawyer. This scenario has LIABILITY written all over it.
Once you get that taken care of, look into Kensington-compatible locks.
There's no failure quite as dissatisfying as a complete and total solution to the wrong problem.
Like a conference, have cable lock and lockers, for these people to secure their laptops and lockers to lock other gear in.
Firstly, you need public liability insurance for the event in case someone electrocutes themselves or trips on a case of bawls or something. Secondly, you need a guy on the door at all times to act as a security guard/receptionist. It doesn't have to be a professional, you can ask for volunteers to do a couple of shifts on the door, but they do need to know what to do in case of emergency and have a working phone. I suggest having two people on the door so it's less lonely and so there can be someone on the door at all times. Thirdly, use a very simple asset tagging system - everyone coming in gets a festival-style wristband marked with a number. Their computer and monitor get marked with a sticker bearing the same number. Anyone carrying hardware out of the venue gets their numbers checked - if any of their credentials are missing, the police get called. Make sure not to publicise the location of the event and only provide details to registered participants.
You made me feel young again!
How much is your data worth? Back it up now.
there is a big difference between a small (say 10 machines) lan party hosted at your house made up entirely of people you know and a 60 machine lan party open to the public and probablly hosted at a venue (hosting one that big at home is going to be impractical)
note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
Quakecon has cops from the local Dallas DFW precinct.
Every large LAN ever held without some form of physical security has suffered losses to theft.
One was even shut down and put out of business because people decided to walk off with the most expensive stuff there, which was owned by the event organizers.
It looks like your UID 555-950 is only 6 digits, Like mine but a little younger
(if it's real... Girls used to give me 555 #'s and it was allways fake, even when I'd call em on it)
How much is your data worth? Back it up now.
Trying to comment on another story and it won't work.
I used to go to events like this every few weeks when I was 15-16, and theft was never a big problem. Actually I remember only a single case of a monitor disappearing. The thing is: At any point in time there will be people around the equipment and a potential thief will not know who owns what or who is a friend of who and therefore watching their equipment, so just walking off with something would be a pretty bold move.
This was not in the U.S. though, so I don't know about insane insurance and liabilities.
You could always hire out an exsisting lan network at a local computer shop or games outlet. we have two local shops who hire out lans for partys. If you plan to hold them all the time the owner might give you a good deal for hiring out the whole place after hours etc. ...or make them bring their own laptops and pc's and lock your stuff up with just the network cables out and the wireless network turned on.
then they cant take your stuff..
why not talk to the local school about using their computer lab. if your too old, get your kids to organize it for you.
sprocket2cog.
Disallow certain people from attending.
You know who I mean.
wink, wink
I am the director of a bi-monthly LAN party for 50+ in Dayton Ohio. Check out our site www.nexuslan.org. Feel free to use the feedback option on the site to contact me with questions will be happy to tell you how we handle things. Renegade Director NeXus LAN
Take it from a well traveled American...
That's just as much of a stereotype as saying that all French people stink.
Kind of gets annoying after a while.
This should discourage theft as they know you know who they are.
a video like this one will make your lan party unforgettable :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EJXTh4HMAE
and the back of the ticket should have a small disclaimer stating that you will NOT pay for damaged equipment :D
i agree wholeheartedly
------ no thanks... I've quit
Snipers in the parapets!!
Just make everyone sign a waiver saying it's not your responsibility to look after them or their junk, if you're that concerned. If a tree falls on a noob in your driveway, does a noob sue?
Well here in Texas, my kids have been going to lan parties for years. They are a blast, and 60 is not a big number. Your biggest problem will be power distribution.
Theft problems are pretty easy to monitor. Limit regular access to one entrance, but do not block off emergency exits.
We have had up to 20 people in our garage lans in the past. More than that will probably require that you rent someplace. Your local church, VFW, American Legion all rent out their halls, which has a nice side effect of having all the tables and chairs you will not have to rent, besides being insured.
To see some pictures and nice layout of the NOC for a lan party of 200 that happens every few months visit http://www.ghettolanparty.com/ They have a nice setup, network, power, and they are in and out fast. Setup takes about 2 hours and breakdown about 3, including cleanup.
Plan the event in advance. Send invitations and advertise the upcoming event widely. Why stop at 60 people? Make it 200 people. Sell tickets. Higher entrance fee at door. Hold it at a hotel banquet hall, paid for through the collected fees. Provide snacks. Have the hotel provide a bar. Make clear that all those attending are responsible for their own equipment.
McCain/Palin '08. Now THAT's hope and change!
They're very thorough and dedicated and they tend to dispense final and non-reversible solutions to trouble. Any trouble. Hundreds of testimonials available from individuals in sunny locations overseas, including government officials.
In the future, all restaurants are Taco Bell.
True, but in the future, you can also get anything at a Taco Bell. The Taco Bell company already owns Pizza Hut, KFC, A&W, and Long John Silver's, and some restaurants already sell multiple Yum! brands.
Hmm?
The worldwide mortality rate of 9.5/100,000/year
Except for the fact that you are TWO orders of magnitude off. The worldwide crude mortality rate is 9.6 per 1000 per year, not 100,000.
The
I didn't read the whole thread, but here are my suggestions: 1. Have a mandatory liability disclaimer for anyone who wants to participate. They sign, or they don't play. 2. Have a Chuck E. Cheese's-like 'hand stamp' - Use a changing/number rubber stamp, and stamp each player's hand along with their equipment (on a sticker, or whatever). If the stamps don't match (or if there is no stamp on the equipment), they don't leave with it, and they can work it out later. Just a couple of things off the top of my head (although looking just above, I do see an 'asset tagging" suggestion, which is probably close to the same thing).
I have been part of a running team of local LAN parties for a good 8 years, the most recent event, a merger between two large LAN parties, received over 150 guests and was hosted in the sports hall of a large school.
Typically most of what is important has been said already and that is get insurance, that's what it's there for. Not just for theft, we did have an electrical fault one day which ruined 10 computer PSUs as well which we were liable for. This was covered under insurance. It's just some extra paperwork and not an extra cost. The insurance payments should be absorbed by the cost of the tickets.
One area that seems largely overlooked is some kind of service level agreement. Ours was printed on the website with a tickbox which people had to read, and just in case it wasn't it was also given to people to read on a piece of paper at entry. Basic things that should be part of the agreement:
- Your stuff is your issue. Don't leave your iPhones and expensive headphones on your desk, if you need to leave put them in a bag under the desk or take them with you.
- We reserve the right to search people's bags. Standard store contract here. People are much less likely to steal something if they can't stash it.
- We reserve the right to evict people without refund at any time for breaking the rules. The rules incidentally also covered OH&S things like don't run, don't swing on chairs which don't have a tilt base, etc.
These should give you a good start for that issue, but generally tell people what is expected and what will happen if they misbehave.
We did have a theft of some Sennheiser headphones 2 years ago. Fortunately someone saw the guy who took them, we found them in his bag, and we kicked him out of the hall, dismantled his computer, and took it out to him.
With 15 admins, one of which looks like he could have eaten a lesser man, there was no need to hire security.
Even if it is a total fake.
Webcam the event from several angles. Publicize that the event will be webcam'd and that you'll make webcam footage immediately available after the event for all to edit into their own movies. It is not a "security" camera -- it is a feature -- a way to capture the event.
/completely/, but people will definitely think twice & they will have fun at the same time.
You may not stop theft
Done.
I'm an admin (well, past admin at least) for a large LAN party in South Australia called Valhalla. At peak, we had a little over 600 people attend. Generally we tend lose a few powerboards but the switches are locked down with a padlock and a relatively thick steel cable, after we had one or two swiped. All the core routers and game servers are in the centre of the hall where the admins set up, right next to the help desk. No-one's gonna steal anything from there without someone seeing.
My suggestion is to keep your switches and routers locked down and keep the rest of your expensive gear within view of your admin team (I think ours consists of about 20 people all up). No-one is going to take a router or a server without a huge uproar of "hey what happened to the network???"
Homonyms are fun!
You're driving your car, but they're riding their bikes there.
When they leave, repeat the procedure and compare the photos. It would be ideal if you can print out a copy of the photo on 8.5x11 and have that filed in alfa order.
To further ease this, if you could get a large scale to put the table on, you can write the total weight of all of their possessions and when they check out, the weights not matching would be an indicator that something is amiss.
Why not just open up your wireless network and let people bring their own stuff? /whippersnapper
Waiers that say it's not your respnsibility...
Property tags on everything of value with the persons name or initials or something to ID the items...
Knowing what people bring in you can limit what they take out... but it should still be the owners responsibility to keep an eye on their own stuff...
This is by far the lamest thing I've read at Slashdot. I'm starting to wonder if this site is worth my time.
Why can't the partygoers be responsible for their own equipment?
Also, haven't you langeeks heard of the internet? You can play with complete strangers there too, and I don't need to disconnect all my equipment, haul it down to some stinkfest and sit next to some guy that won't shut up about how awesome anime is.
Modding me -1 troll doesn't make me wrong.
By having a WAN party...
If you have any friends, get one of them to host the lan party. You show up as an attendee and try to steal as much as possible. Where and when is this lan party, I could use a few things myself.
Rules & Organization Depending on how big, structured, and organized you would like these LAN parties to, I would suggest writing up some basic rules and what will happen if the rules are broken. The reason I say this is because if you don't know these people personally, there's always a good chance of one party crasher showing up, who'll go out of his way to cheat & hack at games, cause damage to personal computers, causing general mayhem, or even possibly becoming violent. When I helped run one small LAN party, we required that everyone's machine was subjected to an AV scan before hooking into our network. We had a small boot CD with an AV scanner on it and just ran a quick scan on their hard drives. Could've been more thorough, but it stopped several people from bringing machines in that were infested with propagating worms. And for the most part about 98% of the individuals didn't mind the scan at all. Of course we didn't have very many people, only about 25 - 30 so I can't really see this being feasible at all if you're planning on more than 50 people attending. But that's just one of the realities we must remember as far as security is concerned. There is always the chance a virus may become propagated across the network, and always the chance some 'script kiddie' tries to break into other machines on the network too. Best thing is to just make people aware of the virtual security aspect, and make it clear that it's not your responsibility if their machine gets hacked, virused, or data loss occurs.
Simply solved, put a sign or two up that state your name or whatever "are not responsible for lost or stolen property." now your no longer liable for that. As for injury/accident you can get event/temp insurance to cover you...
h) Cowboy Neal (No, I really am Cowboy Neal!)
Their they're doing there hair.
What about chain of trust a-la PGP keys? You invite twelve mates, who invite a few of their mates. Everyone must know everyone else. That way you don't have to know them to trust them, because you "trust" the chain.
Me failed English...
FreeBSD over Linux. If my comments seem odd, this may explain...
You fucking jerk! My parents don't have a basement!
you can not handle the logistics of the operation.
The Computer Club and Anime Society at my college jointly host gargantuan lan parties every semester. We're talking about taking over the entire gym. Everyone registers their gear beforehand, puts their name on their stuff with label makers and masking tape. All the consoles are setup in clusters so that one official/trustworthy club member can keep an eye on the wired controllers and gear. Wireless controllers have to be checked out and the user must leave his/her college ID (or comprable ID for non-students, since the event draws a good amount of locals as well) to use a controller. I've been a part of 6 of these and only once has anyone's gear gone missing, and even then it was only a few Xbox 360 controllers.
Another thing to note is if you've got a large group of people you don't know, watch out for assholes. We had a few groups put bets down (without our knowledge and far from our approval) on a Halo tournament and when the losing group welched, a fight almost broke out. We suspect that the people who we escorted out may have taken the controllers as souvineers, but we can't prove anything...
This sig is false.
This is honestly the first time I've ever heard these things mentioned when it comes to organizing LAN parties.
Any sizable party that has not thought about these issues is foolish. Very foolish.
The purely logical side of me wants to say, "Hey, yeah... nice advance planning. I never even considered the idea of maybe looking at insurance for such an event."
Any party open to the public really should have it. Yes, 99% of them go fine without a hitch. Do you really want to play the numbers and land on that 1% where everything (literally) crashes and burns ?
But the practical side of me? It thinks "WTF is wrong with people today?!?" I've been to a number of LAN parties hosted at people's homes, and even hosted a couple myself. Everyone I've ever met at them was MORE courteous and considerate than average. The closest thing to a "theft" I ever saw was a situation where someone accidentally picked up and packed up another person's Ethernet cable.
Home parties are usually a bit different. You know the people. You trust the people.
I think that got sorted out when another individual offered to just give the guy one of his to keep, for free, since he had plenty of them at home anyway.
Ethernet cables will go missing. Sometimes you discover an extra cable in your bags once you get home. It isn't malicious, usually. There are only so many colors of cable.
The way I see things, sure ... ANY time you have some sort of party or get-together involving multiple people, you have a "non zero" risk of something bad happening. Maybe someone will fall down a flight of stairs and break an arm? Maybe they'll plug a defective network card or cable into your gigabit switch and fry the thing? But like the parent post says, you can't even get out of bed in the morning and do anything useful if you're scared of everything.
Naturally. But let's say that somebody DOES fall down the stairs at your party open to the public. Let's say he's been courteous and nice all party long. Do you really want to bet on him not wanting his medical bills paid by you ? Do you really think his insurance might not get that idea ?
Is it your switch or did you rent it ? If you rented it, are you willing to pay the major bucks to buy a new one ? What if it's some more expensive equipment ? What if you fry the 5 brand-sparkling-new Alienware top-of-the-line computers by making a cabling-mistake ? (This stuff DOES happen at lan parties, especially if you don't have a certified electrician on hand that'll install your power distribution. Oh, and I hope your power distribution does not consist of an outlet and "letting people do their own thing" -- I have seen a party at a school in which they had 20+ people in one room, daisychaining the power off of one outlet for all of their equipment. One guy in there even had a water heater on it somewhere. Thankfully all that happened was that the cable from the outlet to the first multisocket melted. Nothing got fried, no fire broke out. That could have been a LOT worse.
Are you really prepared to take that chance, a chance that could, quite possibly, ruin you for the next dozen years or so, for a LAN party ? I'm not.)
Ultimately, I'd feel FAR safer around a bunch of avid computer gamers willing to drag their expensive computer gear over to my house than the random mix of individuals drinking at the corner bar. (You have to remember, they're all taking a certain amount of risk coming to some "stranger's house" with their equipment in tow, too. The host isn't the only one putting himself out there.)
Certainly. But if their equipment dies a death that you are ostensibly to blame for, they'll want to get it rectified. Or their parents. Or their insurance. If it's their limb that breaks, they want to get it treated. If it's their stuff that gets stolen, they may want to look for a scapegoat.
This is a non-issue if these are your friends and you trust eachother. Otherwise, you will run into assholes every now and then.
I remember a local LAN event I used to attend got the boot from its usual venue because they left a bar fridge unlocked there...and well...lots of missing spirit bottles and a lot more nerd rowdiness than usual.
I usually get half cut at most lan parties, but the sight of an unwashed mass of socially inept introverted nerds intoxicated en masse is terrifying.
I have a low ID, but I signed up for /. when I was 5, so......
I hold very few opinions. I hold information based on observation and fact. If you wish to disagree, please use facts.
uid 327 ?!?! What, are you like a bacteria from the Archean?!?
I hold very few opinions. I hold information based on observation and fact. If you wish to disagree, please use facts.
Remind me never to play Quake at YOUR family's house!!!!
I hold very few opinions. I hold information based on observation and fact. If you wish to disagree, please use facts.
do something more productive, like go out with girls.
lockable cubicles for each attendee with solid roofing.
Oh wait, then that would be like playing at home over the internet.
Don't be concerned about someone's PC being stolen, I'd be more worried about their wallets, mobile phones and likewise - things that fit nicely into a bag and that can't reasonably be checked. Over at WALAN we use stickers that uniquely tag the user's gear to the person's wristband. We then check people's gear on the way out. It helps stop the theft of PC gear, and helps give the patrons peace of mind, but again - your main concern should be small gear. Until you establish a regular, familiar crowd - you should consider discouraging spectators, this will reduce foot traffic and the chance of small items being stolen.
A lot of really stupid stuff has been written here, so here's my take on the problem. Here's how we do it in Norway, where there's a lot more computer parties than in the US. 1. Get volunteer people that do not pay an enterance fee, put say 3 people per shift as security/misc people for 6 hour shifts, man 24/7. Get enough people so that they only have to be on the job 2-3 times over a weekend. 2. Everything at the party is at your own risk, there are no insurances etc, theft prevention measurements etc. 3. Get some cheap plastic bracelets ala concert bracelets to tag those who are paying participants, and check for these at enterance. 4. If possible/affordable buy t-shirts with party logo and loads of advertisement from local buisnisses and hand them out to crw only as a means of "payment" for their volunteer work. Keywords here are: non-drug/alcohol, youth, educational, buisnisses love that. 5. Invite local small computer shops to have a stand at your party, they might sell some stuff, and it's exposure for their business to their core audience. They might also donate old hardware as prizes. Mice mats and fans etc make great 3rd place etc. 6. Throw some creative competitions, graphics, wild compo etc. These are great for getting money from local authorities and businesses. Avoid mentioning first person shooter due to terrorist scare, play the 'artistic youth' card well. With all this in place, it will be an easy job to get volunteers and sponcors for the party.
Rest in peace Malin "looxn" Kristiansen. We miss you...
... and where and when is this party again?
Use your head, can't you, use your head,
You're on earth, there's no cure for that - S. Beckett
If you intend on doing this frequently, consider forming a limited company. Obviously the benefit is for limited liability.
I'm not familiar with the US position, and Wikipedia seems to be based heavily on that of the UK (with some US mixed in there as if just to ensure it isn't a solid reference for either). But here in the UK I've seen people simply walk away from situations that could have been a long and frightening process of losing everything they owned, or worse.
Bear in mind however that it won't let you walk away from everything. Director's have duties, which are largely aimed at people abusing the system, plus things like elements of health & safety may pass directly (consider the principle of corporate manslaughter).
There is also a financial and paperwork cost. You can buy an "off the shelf" company very cheaply, and while you have to file accounts and other forms, you might have an accountant gamer buddy who can help you out.
You might see if you can get a couple of the Dorsai Irregulars to help out with security. They are located here http://www.di.org/
They do security for sci-fi cons and even furry cons. I imagine they might be willing to work at a big lan party as well if you can find any members in the area who are willing to work at it.
--Won't that be grand? Computers and the programs will start thinking and the people will stop. - Dr. Walter Gibbs
I'm sure that the rate of registration in the first months was a small fraction of the rate of registration today. So Mr. 431 may well have signed up 6 months after the site went public and your assumptions about free time goes out the window.
However, 19 is probably a good lower bound for a person who would be interested in reading and posting on Slashdot. So if you know how long ago an account was created, add 19 to get a lower bound.
For one real data point: UID 32307 is 35 years old. I was in my first year of grad school when I heard about Slashdot. It's not so much that I had more free time there, but I was surrounded by people with interest in computers and the social impact of technology.
If you have a girlfriend, or a friend that is a girl, looks good in a bikini, you could tell her that she could make some money at this party if she took care of everybody there, meaning she brings sandwiches, juice pop, chips etc...all things one might consider to be essential at a party...then she could take care of people as they need, one bathroom, one person needs her to look after their things when they are gone. She only need be trust worthy, no one else, and as for everyone else, tell them they are responsible for their stuff no one else, they might ask her to watch their stuff if they go to the bathroom, other then that they keep their things with them.
This whole thing is baffling. Here's why:
1) A LAN party? Are you serious? Is it 1998? Don't they have broadband where you live? And Skype? Who the hell still does LAN parties?
2) You're going to let 60 people you don't know into your house, along with thousands of dollars of equipment that sucks a lot of power, and you're worried that someone is going to swipe your Bed Head (theft's a lot less awesome when it's happening to you)? There are many, many failure points for what you are proposing; theft actually seems pretty low on the list.
3) Finally, even in the olden days when I used to organize these things, we stopped doing them in people's houses years before we stopped altogether. If someone lives in a complex with a clubhouse, check that out. Or hell, rent a conference room at a local hotel. The former works great because they usually have kitchens with fridges, etc.
Silliest question ever.
I'm a little late, but I thought I would pitch in.
I'm "Ash", the "Director of BYOC" of the largest Bring Your Own Computer event in North America: QuakeCon. (http://www.quakecon.org)
1) A waiver. You'll want to provide it in advance of the event, not just on site. Not only is it ethically sound to allow attendees to read the terms they will be agreeing to in order to attend in advance, minors can't sign legally binding documents and they will need to have their parent/guardian sign it. You could use a variation of the waiver on www.quakecon.org (or if it's down now, you can email me and I'll send it to you). It was put together by id Software's legal team, and is probably a fine example.
2) Check-in, Check-out. Standard operating procedure for a LAN party dictates that you take record (however you prefer: text, image, video) of the "big ticket" items that an attendee brings into the event such that no one but the original person can leave with those items. Emphasis is on "big ticket", don't bother tracking mice, keyboards, Nintendo DSes, etc. Let people bring a backpack or whatever to bring those items in and out with them if they so choose.
3) Bag check. Gotta check the contents of bags coming in and out, every time, see (2).
4) Establish a single entry/exit. It's just too costly (in money or, more likely, volunteer hours) to maintain multiple entry/exit bag check points. You should only use a single egress/ingress. Of course, there will be fire doors all over the place that you may not lock. That's fine, there are two solutions. Sit a volunteer at the door to watch it, or (best ever) buy a cheap "door alarm" from an electronics store and fasten it to the door. You can't block fire exits, but you can most certainly have alarms on fire exits. We cut our security budget by a ton using these things, (the idea actually came from Sgt. Mike Bradshaw, our outstanding law enforcement partner.)
5) Do you have sponsored network hardware? If so, then don't allow anyone to bring network hardware into the event. Do you provide patch cables? Then don't allow anyone to bring patch cables into the event. Anything else requires some sort of tagging/identification system and it's likely not worth your time.
6) Prizes. If enough prizes/freebies get given out at your LAN party that it's an issue, give the sponsors a certificate to hand out with the prize to certify ownership for the bag check guys.
Of course, it would be easy to talk for pages and pages about the challenges of LAN party logistics, but those are probably the enough to get you through.
Good luck, have fun!
-- Travis "Ash" Bradshaw
DO NOT USE YOUR OWN PROPERTY. Rent a venue that has proper insurance. I like the Thunderguards Motorcyle Hall, personally.
MAKE EVERYBODY SIGN A WAIVER. Get a big scary guy, preferably with fresh bruises and fake blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth or eye, to staff the table where the waivers will be signed. If anybody asks him about it, he should say somebody tried to get in without signing and had to be stomped. Said guy has been taken to hospital, of course.
DON'T BRING ANYTHING YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO LOSE. If your life will be diminished by losing that switch, laptop, jacket, or cables, don't bring it.
Following these simple guidelines should let you have a fun time without stressing out. Keep in mind that you'll not be playing any LAN games, because somebody will have to be dealing with the inevitable emergencies that the public bring to any party (blown circuit breakers, burst colostomy bags, alcohol poisoning, you name it).
Show everyone your gun collection before the games begin.
Need an automatic screenshot taker? Try here.
Here's what I would do, off the top of my head. Might need some tweeking.
When someone wants to enter, they must lay all of their belongings out on a table and a digital photograph will be taken of them with their belongings. these photographs will be stored on an isolated system. Serial numbers of belongings would also be included.
Nobody walks out the door with anything not in their photograph. If people trade things while there, they must both show up together when trying to leave so this trade can be verified by whoever's at the door.
It might be worth requiring photo id, or a parents photo id to enter, in case anyone wants to do a "smash and grab" type of thing on the way out.
Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
Don't host it at your house (rent out space to host it), and require everyone to sign release forms...that should get your legal bases covered and people won't be stealing shit from your house...just keep a good eye on your equipment and advise everyone else to do the same.
I heard they still do security, although you might have to put up with them selling dope on the side.
Peace, or Not?
You, and your friend, sit near the only entrance / exit. Keep an eye on everyone that is coming and going. If someone that is not part of the LAN trys to enter, or someone leaves with equipment... question them. At worst you delay a person trying to steal equipment allowing the equipment's owner a longer time to notice something is missing.
ID them at the door and have them sign in and out ... also a webcam at the door would be good to record faces coming and going.
630+ posts. Well it's kind of hard to steal something if you have no place to hide it, so NAKED LAN PARTY! Have guest strip at the door and place their clothes and everything else in a garbage bag. Label the bag with the person's name. The person gets a name badge. No badge, no bag, you go home naked.
I mean, really, are you a geek or not? Just make everyone play from home (or their parent's basements as the cases may be), use a VPN as needed. It's not like you gonna have gurlz there, right?
When those around you are loosing their heads while you are keeping yours, maybe you've misunderstood the situatiuation.
440 stainless only makes weapons fit to hang on your wall ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMuZoGVz9tc
We held a multi-day LAN party for nearly 100 people. This was an open LAN and also during PSU's dance marathon weekend. In otherwords, there were thousands of people going in and out over the course of the LAN party. One of the method's that we used was to control the entry and exit points of the LAN. When people arrived, we had them enter the serial number of the more expensive portions of their equipment. Mice and Keyboards we ignored, but Cases and Monitors were checked in. When you wanted to leave, you had to go by our desk again and sign out. It was obvious if someone was leaving with a tower or monitor, so it was simple to check. We also had Gamecubes setup with projectors. For those devices we locked the gamecubes in an AV cabinet and wrapped the controller's cords through a padlock to prevent people from walking with the controllers. I think the worst we encountered were a few lost dongles from the Xbox controllers (not stolen, just lost in the shuffle and found much later). So, padlocks for the console controllers, registered equipment, and checkpoints at entry/exit chokepoints. I don't believe that we had anyone report any stolen equipment which was quite amazing for an open lan at a major university.
Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
GET A LIFE!
Put up a sign in several areas (including in the invitation)... - WARNING... Enter at your own risk...we will not be liable for stolen property and bodily injury...so play nice :p
Also don't forget to lock down the jewelry, the liquor cabinet, and so on. And don't just put some necklaces between mattresses or in a cup on the window sill over the sink.
Same for money, (real) silverware and silver dishes, gold-plated stuff, valuable stuff just sitting around in the basement or other places people don't go often.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Here's my idea. Buy some white labels and write numbers on them, then list these same numbers on a spreadsheet and print it out. When people come over put one sticker on each expensive piece of equipment (computer, monitor). Then have the person write down on the sheet what the equipment is and sign their name. Tell everyone that noting can be taken home without a sticker on it and it being signed out. This method is not completely foolproof but should be good enough to prevent most theft. The only downside I can see is it would require a door guard the whole night.
If someone tries to kill you, you try and kill them right back
...hired the Hell's Angels. Depends on how l33t ur gamerz are, though.
"If god did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him" --Voltaire
BYOS
bring your own sticks!!!
the things that are likely to walk are the controllers.
secure the consoles if it is a console lan party (halo 3) for instance
Just make it a "Wear Thongs/Fundoshi and Thongs/Flip Flops" event...
http://www.google.com/search?q=fundoshi&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
Now, you have FUN AND BROTHERHOOD
(In Japanese, "doshi" means "brotherhood")... Now the nerds/geeks can get their things on...
Also, see:
http://www.sqart.org/doshi/index.html
Or, if thongs and fundoshi are too ... risque, then wear:
http://www.doshifiberart.com/portfolio/portfolio.htm
Have a LAN & Fiber Party...
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
I host from time to time a higher limit poker game. We have had as many as 100 players with $30K cash in play. My security has always been pretty simple. I pack heat. I let everyone know that I carry a gun AND that they are encouraged to carry a legal, licensed weapon. Now imagine you are a bad guy reading the invite to that poker game and think to yourself, one or more (likely many more) of these guys carry loaded guns. Does that sound like the kind of party you want to crash?
I help run a large LAN party gaming day thing at my college every year. About 1250+ people show up including the general public. Every year some $2-500 worth of goods are stolen. But here are some good tactics- make sure everything is taped down- TETHER those wireless devices if you have any, or people apsentmindedly just walk off with them. Are they bringing their own games? Keep track of whos they are and whos computer they are going into.
Most people will keep track of their computers but frequent things that go missing are LAN cables, routers/hubs controllers, and individual games. And the way it happens is mostly accidental. Someone decides to go home and packs up their stuff and leaves, except maybe one of those lan cables wasn't theirs, or that hub, or that controller. they thought they brought it and they forgot it, or they are actually stealing. Who knows!
Security can only do so much, the amount of paperwork required to actively keep track of and sign in and sign out stuff can stifle the atmosphere. Have people try to keep track of the stuff they have and report if anything goes missing immediately instead of waiting for everyone to go home when its gone forever. These sort of things are pretty safe though so ultimately its mostly about being prepared. (with the AMOUNT of stuff at our things the fact that only $500 or even less getting stolen is actually pretty good, and its usually all in controllers for us.)
The best tip is to know its going to happen stuff will get lost, or broken, or stolen and you should be able to pay people back for it... keep that as part of your budget.
...there's a simple solution. It's called a waiver. Each attendee signs a piece of paper on the way in waiving their right to sue the organizer. This includes damages from theft, disaster, or stupidity.
We got those, and also promised each of our players that we'd keep an eye on things, but that they needed to secure all of their valuables. Computers and monitors aren't easily walked away with, and they're also easily secured with a security cable, so we recommended that as well.
Just make sure that you're not responsible, and make sure your attendees know it, and things will take care of themselves. We ran 600+ attendee LANs with this in place and never had any trouble.
Half of the comments in this thread are offtopic. (+1)
$signature_views++;
People get raped and murdered but your faith in humanity hinged on a fender-bender?
Quack, quack.
As long as you follow it through with ample threats and occasional knee-cap breaking.
Oh, and look up your local Hells Angel chapter. I hear they provide excellent security.
Quack, quack.
TWICE as fun...
Quack, quack.
How to Host a LAN Party
Quack, quack.
Just single out the biggest baddest dude in the place and beat the everloving crap out of him. Then say he looked like he might be thinking about stealing something before casually walking away and popping open a beer.
ANd when you CatcH AnyoNE out of LIne, DeLIVER them the UlTiMatE PUNishMENT:
Put them in (on a gurney outside of) the MoCuMo (MObile exeCU MObile)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-06-14-death-van_x.htm
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
Yeah, my comments were intended to be more for a case of a LAN party held at someone's home or condo. When you're talking about something huge, at a public facility, lots of different rules apply. A lot of the messages posted here WERE talking about LAN parties held in homes though.
I will say though, if a party at a school had 20+ people daisy-chaining their gear off ONE electrical outlet, it sounds like the school had a defective breaker in their box! I know from previous experience, a typical circuit will safely handle no more than roughly 4-5 systems running off one outlet, tops. Beyond that, and you consistently just trip breakers or blow fuses.
And like a guy from Sweden said already about much of this other stuff, "Only in America!" It might be true that some asshole will try to sue you because the computer he voluntarily brought to your LAN party broke, and he feels you're somehow to blame for it. But frankly, I'll take that chance. If they *really* want to be THAT much of an ass, I'll see them in small claims court and bring all the evidence I can put together to show the ridiculousness of such a claim. (I know for a fact, you can't even get a computer repair facility to put something in writing stating a power surge/lightning strike was a "conclusive" reason for a system failure. The best they'll do is write an opinion stating it was a POSSIBLE cause of failure. So good luck getting proof my "defective switch" or what-not killed your PC.)
What I would personally do is post someone at the entrance (if there are multiple entrances, have them covered as well) and make a log of everyone that comes in and what equipment they brought (and have a sharpie and possibly some stickers to put on equipment). I would also require them to sign a log book that states that "the signed below agree that any lost or stolen property is not the responsibility of the party holder." The list of equipment is to make sure that no one can say "that guy stole my thingy!".