When the Harasser Is On Staff
T. Aaron Cisco of Twin Cities Geek is here to remind you that the return of in-person conventions means the return of in-person problems, in “An Open Letter to Convention Organizers Regarding Race and Sexual Harassment”.
I’ve written in the past about positive ways to interact with your fellow attendees who differ from you in order to ensure a pleasant, enjoyable con experience for all. But those articles were mostly focused on interactions among attendees, and—though the recommendations are equally applicable—they didn’t specifically address another frequent form of convention interaction: encounters attendees have with volunteers, staff, and special guests. It’s somewhat heartbreaking that even now, after all that we’ve been through over the past few decades and especially over more recent months, we still need to have some of these conversations. But it’s better to address these issues head on than to let them continue to fester, spread, and irrevocably taint the experience of convention life.
Cisco relates three personal stories as examples, two about encounters with racial bias, and one where a friend was stalked by a member of staff.
The staff, he points out, are the face of your convention:
If you have a staff member who has been accused of engaging—or proven to have engaged—in harassing behavior, whether it’s unwanted touching, stalking, or lewd and otherwise inappropriate comments, they need to be ejected from your convention immediately (and, depending on the offense, reported to legal authorities). Even at fan-run conventions where the staff is entirely composed of volunteers, the rule still applies. Volunteers may not be monetarily compensated, but for the duration of that event, they are professionals—and more than that, they’re professionals who are some of the most visual and recognizable ambassadors of the con brand.
Cisco concludes with a call for every convention to be prepared to deal with harassers on staff or suffer the inevitable reputational damage.
In Brief
Astronomicon 13 (Rochester, New York, USA), originally scheduled for the end of October, is skipping this year and will return on November 4-6, 2022.
Tokyo Comic Con, originally scheduled for December 3-5, is also skipping a year and will be held next on November 25-27, 2022. (English report at Anime News Network)
Westercon 74 (July 1-4, 2022 in Tonopah, Nevada, USA) is adding Kevin Andrew Murphy and Myrna Donato as guests of honor thanks to a grant from the Utah Fandom Organization.
Comic-Con International’s museum, originally scheduled to open last year, now has a “soft opening” planned for November 26, says the San Diego Business Journal.
A bid is forming to bring the World Science Fiction Convention back to Dublin in 2029, reports File 770. Dublin last hosted the Worldcon in 2019.
Event Calendar
Weekend of October 8-10
Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, Sitges, Spain
7th Irish Discworld Convention, virtual (was to be Cork, Ireland)
EstelCon 2021 (J. R. R. Tolkien), Orduña, Spain
WPAFW 2021 (anthropomorphics), North Park, Pennsylvania, USA
Motor City Furry Con, Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA
Alamo City Furry Invasion: Fire and Furry, San Antonio, Texas, USA
Lair Con (RPGs), Terrell, Texas, USA
Too Many Games (video gaming), Oaks, Pennsylvania, USA
Tsubasacon (anime), Charleston, West Virginia, USA
Banzaicon (anime), Columbia, South Carolina, USA
Anime Fiesta, McAllen, Texas, USA
Animasia (anime), Bordeaux, France
Made in Asia (anime), Brussels, Belgium
UK PonyCon 2021 (My Little Pony), Nottingham, UK
Fallcon XL (comics), St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Comiccon de Québec, Montréal, Québec, Canada
Comic Con Scotland, Edinburgh, UK
Alabama Comic Convention/My Hero Convention, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Powerhouse Comic Con, Pleasanton, California, USA
Grit City Comic Show, Tacoma, Washington, USA
Sci-Fi Valley Con (media), Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA
Fantasy Basel (media), Basel, Switzerland
Big Texas Comicon, San Antonio, Texas, USA
The Tomb of Monsterama (retro media), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Weekend of October 15-17
ICON 46, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA
ArmadilloCon 43, Austin, Texas, USA
VCon 2021, virtual (usually Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)
Can*Con 2021 (Canadian sf), virtual (usually Ottawa, Ontario)
Anime Banzai, Davis, Utah, USA
Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, Sitges, Spain
Viking-Con 40 (gaming), Kastrup, Denmark
Phantasm 30th (RPGs), Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
BETACON 10 (gaming), Carbondale, Illinois, USA
Effing-Con (gaming), Effingham, Illinois, USA
Spiel ‘21 (boardgames), Essen, Germany
Wauke-Con (comics), Waukegan, Illinois, USA
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, Kendal, UK
J-Popcon (anime), Copenhagen, Denmark
Chizu Con (anime), Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Tokyo, OK (anime), Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
WasabiCon (anime), Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Heroes Made in Asia (anime), Gorinchem, Netherlands
Geek Days Caen (media), Caen, France
Motor City Comic Con, Novi, Michigan, USA
MetaCon (media), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Indiana Comic Convention, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
MagicCon 4 (fantasy media), Bonn, Germany
Bedford Who Charity Con 6 (Doctor Who), Bedford, UK
Weekend of October 22-24
BuchmesseCon, Dreieich, Germany
Sirens (gender and fantasy), Denver, Colorado, USA
Atlanta Game Fest 36, Alpharetta, Georgia, USA
GaelCon (gaming), virtual (usually Dublin, Ireland)
CincyCon 2021 (gaming), Hamilton, Ohio, USA
LAN All Night: ZombieLAN (video games), Dallas, Texas, USA
Biggest Little Fur Con (anthropomorphic), Reno, Nevada, USA
Sci-Fi-London 21 (film festival), London, UK
MEX (anime), Berlin, Germany
Anime Nebraskon, Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA
Anime Fusion, Plymouth, Minnesota, USA
Another Anime Convention, Westford, Massachusetts, USA
FedCon (media), Bonn, Germany
Hal-Con (media), Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Baltimore Comic-Con, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
FicZone 2021 (media/gaming), Grenada, Spain
TR25 (Tomb Raider), Derby, UK
TFcon Baltimore (Transformers), Baltimore, Maryland, USA
VoltCon! 2021 (Voltron), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Weekend of October 29-31
SpoCon: Revamped, Spokane, Washington, USA
Astronomicon, Rochester, New York, USA
BristolCon, Bristol, UK
Les Utopiales, Nantes, France
Hallowcon 2021: Gambler's Nightmare (fantasy/horror), Dalton, Georgia, USA
The Surrey Steampunk Convivial, Epsom, UK
Ohio Valley Filk Festival (music), Worthington, Ohio, USA
Dragonflight 41 (gaming), Bellevue, Washington, USA
EuroQuest 2021 (Eurogames), Pikesville, Maryland, USA
Golden Leaves Con XI (anthropomorphic), Hasliberg, Switzerland
Furry Blacklight 9: Space Travel, Tremblay-en-France, France
Anime Halloween, Schaumberg, Illinois, USA
Oni-Con XVII (anime), Galveston, Texas, USA
SNAFU Con (anime), Reno, Nevada, USA
LumiCon (anime), Tampa, Florida, USA
Manga Barcelona (anime), Barcelona, Spain
Destination Tokyo (anime), Monthey, Switzerland
Anime Weekend Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
DerpyCon 2021 (anime), New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
Yunicon 2021 (anime), Schwechat, Austria
Youmacon 2021 (anime), Detroit, Michigan, USA
SMASH! (anime), Sydney, Australia
31st Festival of Fantastic Films, Manchester, UK
All-Con (media), Dallas, Texas, USA
Soda City Comic Con, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
Fan Expo Denver (media), Denver, Colorado, USA
Fanboy Expo Knoxville (media), Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Cherry Capital Comic Con, Acme, Michigan, USA
Music City Multi Con (media/video games), Lebanon, Tennessee, USA
Weekend of November 5-7
ArmadaCon 2021, Plymouth, UK
IceCon 2021, Rejkjavik, Iceland
World Fantasy Convention 2021, Montréal, Québéc, Canada
Pulp Adventure, Bordentown, New Jersey, USA
Corflu 38 Concorde (fanzines), Bristol, UK
Carnage 24: Lost in the Carnage Triangle (gaming), Dover, Vermont, USA
Midwest Gaming Classic, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Retro World Expo (gaming), Hartford, Connecticut, USA
BottosCon 2021 (gaming), New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Hexcon 2021 (gaming), Trondheim, Norway
AmberCon NW (diceless RPGs), virtual (usually Troutdale, Oregon, USA)
PAWCon 2021: The Home Furront (anthropomorphic), San Jose, California, USA
NekoCon 23 (anime), Hampton, Virginia, USA
Kumoricon (anime), Portland, Oregon, USA
Anime Destiny 2021, virtual (usually Berkeley, California, USA)
FACTS (media), Ghent, Belgium
Comic Con Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden
CoosaCon (media), Rome, Georgia, USA
Akron Comiccon, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, USA
CONjuration (Harry Potter), Atlanta, Georgia, USA