2014·The social era·funny
DashCon
The Tumblr convention that collapsed over one weekend, and the ball pit it offered as compensation.
You might remember it as Tumbl-Con USA
It happened on television
This Moment happened away from the internet before anybody put it online. Originally published on physical.
- SourceNot an upload originally
- MediaNot held by ViralWorld
What this was
In July 2014 a fan convention for Tumblr users opened at a hotel in Schaumburg, Illinois. It went wrong immediately: the hotel demanded thousands of dollars in cash mid-event, guests withdrew on being told they would have to pay for their own rooms, and panels were cancelled. Organisers offered attendees, as recompense, an extra hour in a small inflatable ball pit in an otherwise empty hall.
It first appeared in 2014, during the social era.
The ball pit is one of the most durable images the 2010s internet produced, because it is a perfect object: an absurd, sad, entirely sincere attempt to make good on something that could not be made good. It also marks the point where Tumblr's culture — intensely close, largely young, organised around fandom — collided with the logistics of the physical world in public.
DashCon LLP was dissolved two months later and no second convention was held. A decade on, the ball pit remains a shorthand for any well-meant disaster, and an unrelated team revived the name in Toronto in 2025 — a revival that had to spend most of its publicity explaining it was not the same people.
More from 2014
- Smash Mouth All Star 2014The social era
- Darude Sandstorm 2014The social era
- Press F to Pay Respects 2014The social era
- Twitch Plays Pokémon 2014The social era
- Mutant Giant Spider Dog 2014The social era
- Unidan 2014The social era
- Tenor 2014The social era
- ALS Ice Bucket Challenge 2014The social era
- Too Many Cooks 2014The social era
The social era
- What Does the Fox Say 2013The social era
- Rebecca Black Friday 2011The social era
- Little Darth Vader 2011The social era
- Wojak 2010The social era
Related
- Ecce Homo of Borja 2012The social era
- Eyebrows on fleek 2014The social era
- Ain't Nobody Got Time for That 2012The social era
- Why This Kolaveri Di 2011The social era
- Look at all those chickens 2014The social era
- Cookie Clicker 2013The social era
- The monkey selfie 2011The social era
- The Duck Song 2010The social era
Grouped by explicit relationships where evidence exists, and by shared theme otherwise.
Behind the recordWhere it came from
There is no original upload to identify: this Moment did not begin as one. ViralWorld holds no copy of it either — what it was, when it appeared and what people called it is the record.
Nothing here is claimed to be the first publication of this Moment, because the first publication was not an upload. This Moment happened away from the internet before anybody put it online. Originally published on physical.
Not established. This index only names a creator where the evidence supports it.
- What happens
- In July 2014 a fan convention for Tumblr users opened at a hotel in Schaumburg, Illinois. It went wrong immediately: the hotel demanded thousands of dollars in cash mid-event, guests withdrew on being told they would have to pay for their own rooms, and panels were cancelled. Organisers offered attendees, as recompense, an extra hour in a small inflatable ball pit in an otherwise empty hall.