TwitchCon 2022 From Fun to Boycott
For many aspiring content creators, veteran content creators, and fans, TwitchCon can easily become a destination goal. While not as impressive as San Diego Comic-Con’s attendance, which can reach around 130,000 attendees, TwitchCon North America, despite only being first introduced as recently as September 2015, has managed to build an attendance of around 28,000+ in-person attendees. The attendance numbers for TwitchCon San Diego 2022, at this time of writing have not been released yet, but if the record-breaking attendance of TwitchCon Amsterdam, which took place earlier this year, are anything to go off of, with a staggering 2.5x rough increase from the previous one hosted in Europe in 2019, TwitchCon San Diego could easily go beyond its current average. As someone who actually attended in San Diego this past weekend, it certainly felt like this was the case.
With so many attendees in one place to network, learn new skills from industry “experts”, meet their favorite streamers, and browse the artist alley/expo halls in search for the latest product to bring their stream to the next level, Twitch took every precaution to ensure the safety of all of its guests, attendees, and exhibitors… right?
Well, everyone inside the San Diego Convention Center was required to wear a mask, with little to no exception, as well as provide proof of full vaccination status against COVID-19, or proof of a negative recently taken COVID-19 test provided by a professional, before they were allowed entry into the building (and also to receive their badges).
But what about safety measures outside those needed to discourage the spread of the virus?
Injuries at the Lenovo Legion Booth
This is the question currently being asked by the internet and attendees, alike, but none more than those who participated in a gladiator-style 1v1 battle event at the Lenovo Legion exhibit.
The exhibit, Lenovo Legion, and TwitchCon, found themselves under fire this past Sunday, the last day of the 3-day convention, when creator Adriana Chechik (@ChechikTv on Twitter1) announced on twitter that she broke her back in two places, requiring surgery to get a (metal) rod inserted for support, after landing on her tailbone when she jumped into the foam pit.
Please note that this is Adriana’s “Safe For Work” Twitter account (@ChechikTv). Please be advised that the account associated with the following Tweet linked (@adrianachechik), is “ Not Safe For Work”.
Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky on Twitter), who this author personally follows as a great resource on breaking news related to Twitch, and has an absolutely amazing Twitter username, posted a tweet about the incident soon after, sharing the actual clip from the Lenovo Legion stream, propelling it even further into public scrutiny. Looking at all the comments under Jake’s post shows multiple reports, and sometimes even pictures, of other people being injured at this exhibit, with some even describing their own personal experience and discomfort/pain from participating. Adriana was not even the first person to be injured by participating, and was not the last, based on these testimonies.
Please use viewer discretion before viewing the below clip of the incident, as some viewers might find it uncomfortable or upsetting.
What Exactly Were Participants Doing That Lead to Injuries?
This event, which they called the “TeamLegion Face Off”, consisted of two participants, each standing on one of the two small platforms, in the middle of a shallow pit filled with foam squares. The participants are also each handed what I can only think to describe as “large foam battering-rams”, with the goal of knocking their opponent off their platform, and into the Pit. Attendees also had a chance to win a chance to “dive” into a “Prize Pit.” A quick search of the Lenovo Legion Twitch Channel shows that any VODs of the entire event have since been deleted, but the live-streamed event was clipped multiple times. However, there is still quite a bit of coverage of the event on the Lenovo Legion Twitter account, including both photos and videos, at this time of writing.
Accountability and Public Comments on the Incidents
Part of the conversation surrounding this unfortunate situation is that Lenovo Legion did not turn off the live stream of the event after injuries (including Adriana’s very serious injury) were suffered, and, even worse in my opinion, they failed to shut down the event after these injuries occurred, not even temporarily, to inspect the Pit, and assess if safety measures for participation could be improved to an acceptable degree. Why was this allowed to continue after even the first reported injury?
But, here, we have another important question- whose shoulders does this responsibility fall on? This author’s honest answer? I honestly don’t know.
Let’s look at the hosts, Rachel “Seltzer” Quirico (@SeltzerPlease), Rivington Bisland III (@RivingtonThe3rd), and Paola Alejandra (@pancakepow). All three hosts have impressive and reputable professional esports commenting/hosting experience and are represented by a talent agency, but was it their responsibility to help “manage” the exhibit or do anything beyond hosting/commenting? Were they given any instruction on what’s expected from them beyond “Do your professional hosting thing for us on our Lenovo Legion Twitch channel and make it fun to watch,” specifically if something like this happens? Well.. that’s between them, their talent agency (Character Select Agency), and Lenovo Legion. Currently, there appears to be no public comments from any of the hosts about the injuries, and it could very well be the case that they are legally unable to, or have been advised against, making any such comments.
Picture via @SeltzerPlease (Left to Right: Rivington Bisland III, Rachel “Seltzer” Quirico, Paola Alejandra)
Okay, but what about the Lenovo Legion staff and representatives? Nearly the same logic applies. What instruction were they given? Did they know what to do in these situations? The only fact we have right now is the fact that we don’t know what communications were happening about this, or what factors ultimately played a role in the decision to keep the event open, and what led to its arguably-late shut down at 12pm PT, that Sunday. Neither Lenovo, nor Lenovo Legion, has not made any public comment about the matter from any social media, at this time. However, in an “email statement” from a Lenovo spokesperson received by NBC News, it was shared that Lenovo was aware of the incidents of injury received from the gladiator game soft foam pit at TwitchCon, and they closed the area “for any further use” while they “work with event organizers to look into incidents.”
Via NBC News
Why didn’t Twitch just forcibly shut down the event, in the best interest of the safety of its attendees? Again, we don’t know. It’s hard to imagine this at their own convention, but did the TwitchCon management staff that could make that decision not know this was happening, at least at this severity, due to the sheer volume of events, panels, exhibits, special guests, and attendees to oversee, despite medics having to get involved more than once? Also, what would be the process of shutting it down, especially with a large sponsor such as Lenovo? When NBC News reached out to Twitch for comment, a spokesperson responded by referring them to Lenovo’s PR team, with no other apparent statement. I was unable to find any other comment from Twitch reported, nor any from direct Twitch sources. Kotaku reported that they reached out to Twitch for any comments, and that they would update their article on the situation if they hear back, with no update so far.
Via NBC News
Please do not misunderstand me here- I am not defending any parties here. My point is that we do not currently have enough verified information to make a reasonable argument of blame here. At the end of the day, the fact stands that NO ONE involved took ANY action until after multiple injuries were suffered.
What About Those Injured? Aren’t They At Fault For Their Own Injuries?
This is one take that I feel is just ridiculous, especially with the increasing number of people coming forward with their own reports of injuries and pain from landing in the pit, as well as the severity of some of those injuries.
Also, you can’t ignore the fact that the entire goal was to either knock your opponent into the pit or for your opponent to knock you into the pit, meaning at least one participant is going to end up in the pit by the end of each round!
TheGamer also reported that participants were, in fact, encouraged to jump into the pit.
Via TheGamer
Adriana Chechik, who, if you remember, broke her back in two places and needed surgery, posted a tweet that which included a clip, appropriately titled “#boycotttwitch Twitch, Amazon & Lenovo Legion should be held accountable for Adriana Checkik & others”, of this exact moment from the live-stream itself.
I feel that it is also not unreasonable for the average attendee to assume that the Gladiator Game Soft Foam Pit was safely assembled, and for that same average attendee to not know the assembly requirements for a foam pit to be utilized safely, if they are solely the participants of a very large and popular event.
What About the Gladiator Game Soft Foam Pit Made it Unsafe?
I didn’t expect to be doing research on the safety requirements of the soft foam pits used in gymnasiums, but here we are.
According to The American Gym, a business whose services include the sale and installation of “gym sports equipment”, with a specialty in Spring Floors, which was admittedly… the only resource I could find on the anatomy of soft foam pits, because, according to their article that I will be referencing, “there are no established standards or requirements set by any organization for fear of liability issues.” In fact, neither their article, nor this article written by me, is intended to be used as reference for safe installation or use of a soft foam pit. In their own words, The American Gym is providing this information “only to show the fundamental concepts of (their) common pit assembly.”
Via The American Gym
I’m not going to embarrass myself here by attempting to explain too much, so if you are really interested in the details of soft foam pit anatomy, I recommend you follow the link in the previous paragraph to the article that I am referencing.
Essentially, broken down to a very, very simple level, there are two types of soft foam pits. One has the foam cubes sit on a springed trampoline, which is separated from the concrete by at least three to five feet, with the usage of pillar blocks. The springs, themselves, are described as being six inches in length, adding on top of that three to five feet from the concrete.
The other type described involves the foam cubes laying on top of a twelve-inch “super soft polyfoam” and mesh mat, which is on top of several layers of soft foam logs that are each six to twelve inches thick.
Honestly, the pictures below can probably help you understand way better than I possibly can. I probably should’ve just started with these:
Via The American Gym
First, there was reportedly nothing between the foam cubes and the concrete base, according to multiple participant testimony online.
Second, let’s take a look at this still image from the Adriana Chechik clip. We can clearly see a man’s legs next to the ledge of the pit, and with this, we can roughly estimate its height.
To keep things simple, let’s assume the man is 6 ft/182.88 cm tall, 30 years old, and we’ll be generous and say that the pit is knee-high for him. Using this information and the DAPA Measurement Toolkit, we can rearrange the equation for estimating the height for a “Non-Hispanic White Man (US)” based on knee height, which is Height(cm) = 78.31 + (1.94 x Knee Height(cm)) - (0.14 x Age) to instead figure out what that knee height is. Plugging in the numbers and performing basic algebra, I ended up with a knee height of 56.07 cm or 22.07 in (with a margin for error of 3.74 cm as per the DAPA Measurement Toolkit), which is definitely way under any of the heights required for either of the two types of foam pits described previously. However, am I sure that I got this measurement correctly? Absolutely not. I’m not even sure if I’m using the right equation within the right context- I found it with a quick Google search. Does that knee height sound right? Also not sure about that one either. I’m a 25 year-old adult who’s 4’11”, so I have no context for what is “normal” for height.
But none of that actually matters, because we don’t really need algebra that I found on the Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre’s Medical Research Council website to see that the Pit is just way too shallow to be safe, and has none of the padding between the foam cubes and the concrete. It remains to be seen if the public will ever receive any insight on how such an error could be missed or overlooked.
Okay, But Can Those Who Were Injured Sue?
This is a tricky question to consider, but thankfully, one I’ve researched at length before. One of the arguments about the situation that’s bouncing around social media like the DVD logo screensaver is if those injured by the Gladiator Game Soft Foam Pit can pursue legal action. The vast majority of those weighing in seem to fall into one of two sides:
No, those injured can’t pursue legal action, because they signed a waiver before participating.
Yes, those injured can pursue legal action, despite the waiver they signed, because TwitchCon and/or Lenovo Legion were negligent.
However, it is statistically unlikely that everyone putting in their two-cents on social media is a lawyer (On that note, I’M not a lawyer, and this article, in no way, is providing any official, liable, legal advice here, but I DO work closely with lawyers on a daily basis, and I’m trained in research!), so let’s break this down.
First, let’s remember that liability waivers are legal contracts between you and the party that’s issuing it. That means that certain requirements, as well as how courts deal with these kinds of situations can vary from state to state. However, we can definitely look at the general requirements for a liability waiver in the United States, according to the legal resource website, Enjuris:
“The document does not violate state laws or public policy;”
“The waiver is properly worded according to contract law in the state in which it was drafted; and”
“The injury arises from risks stated in the contract or from the disclaiming company’s simple negligence.”
Also, because this is a legal contract that’s being signed, for it to be valid, the person signing must be at least 18 years old, or, in some states, have an adult guardian sign to waive the minor’s rights on their behalf.
This means that if the liability waiver does not follow the “general requirements” that are lined up above, it could very well not hold up in court. Unfortunately, it also means that if the liability waiver is worded well enough, and covers all its bases, it can be very difficult to fight it.
Despite this, there are some circumstances where, even if a liability waiver satisfies all of these “general requirements”, it can be deemed invalid. Such situations can include if you are in a state that does not legally support the use of liability waivers, or if it can be proven without reasonable doubt that the issuing party performed gross negligence. Please note that gross negligence is technically different from ordinary negligence, which is protected by the liability waiver. According to Cornell Law School, gross negligence can be described as “a lack of care that demonstrates reckless disregard for the safety or lives of others, which is so great it appears to be a conscious violation of other people's rights to safety.”
Another thing to consider is that the liability waiver only protects the issuing party, in this case, being the “Promotion Operator” aka Kairos Media Limited, and a list of other affiliated parties that is too long to list out, here. According to a blog post published by Spear Greenfield Personal Injury Attorneys, “Another situation where a waiver may be invalid is if a separate party, not protected by the legal document, caused your injuries. These cases are generally complex. One example of this would be pursuing a product liability lawsuit instead of suing the company that provided you the service. If the service used a product that turned out to be defective and caused your injury, you may be able to sue the manufacturer of that product.” In this situation, if Lenovo Legion utilized a third-party to construct their exhibit, including the Pit, people might look more closely at this third-party.
So, did their liability waiver satisfy all “general requirements”? Did Lenovo Legion exercise gross negligence by failing to shut down the event after the first injuries were observed or reported? Is there a third-party that also could be looked into here? Well, we at 8-Bit Dojo certainly aren’t qualified to answer those questions, but if you are in a situation where you do need these answers, your best bet would probably be to seek out a professional legal consultation. If you are interested in what exactly the liability waiver said, you can find it while it’s still up, here, or find the “T&Cs” post on the Lenovo Legion Twitter account.
Well guys, this one was a very long and very complex one, so thank you if you made it this far, to the end. I almost feel the need to apologize to the editor reading this before it’s published. Almost.
If there’s anything I want you to take away from this essay, it’s that this is a very unfortunate, and a very complex situation, with a lot of information not available to the public, and multiple parties involved. I posted quite a bit about this on Twitter, but I feel like this tweet, in particular, just about sums up my feelings about it all:
*In respect for the privacy of those who were unfortunately injured, including Adriana, especially so soon after this has all transpired, the author has not reached out for individual comment at this time.
