ViralWorld

DashCon

You might remember it as Tumbl-Con USA

The archive has not found a surviving copy.

Famous internet fails11 of 11

2014·The social era·funny

The Tumblr convention that collapsed over one weekend, and the ball pit it offered as compensation.

At a glanceThe facts

Remembered as
Tumbl-Con USA
Spread in
2014
Began as
Something that happened offline
Where it started
physical
Format
Event
Era
The social era
Where
A hotel convention centre in Schaumburg, Illinois
Original title
Tumbl-Con USA
Origin
Not an upload originally
Available
Not held by ViralWorld

What this wasThe story

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.

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.

Why it matteredWhat changed

A convention for Tumblr users expected at least three thousand people and got about three hundred and fifty. Its consolation prize, an extra hour in a ball pit, is what it is remembered for.

TimelineIn order

  1. Made

    The convention opens. During it the organisers ask attendees for 17,000 dollars by ten at night, saying the hotel will otherwise close the event.1

  2. Later

    It ends. A panel by the cast of the podcast Welcome to Night Vale has been cancelled, and ticket holders offered an hour in the ball pit instead of a refund.1

  3. Taken down

    The organisers dissolve their company.1

  4. Came back

    An unrelated team holds a DashCon 2 in Toronto, which is considered a success.1

Why it is here: something the internet still knows by name · it got out of its own corner of the internet fast · still being watched and quoted years later

This happened away from the internet before anybody put it online. Originally published on physical.

Where it came fromWhat we know

There is no original upload to identify: this did not begin as one. There is no copy of it here either — what it was, when it appeared and what people called it is what this page can tell you.

Nothing here is claimed to be the first publication of this Moment, because the first publication was not an upload. This 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 this was built on, each one a record of its own.

More from the social eraMore of the archive

SourcesWhat was read

  1. Wikipedia — DashCon

Sources last read on . That date is about the history on this page. Whether the media still plays is checked separately and can change any day. How ViralWorld documents things

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