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Apr. 12th, 2017
how not to do it part XVIIXIVIMCLVIII
Apr. 12th, 2017 03:33 pmhttp://www.pretty-terrible.com/odyssey-con-fucks-up-but-good/
The gist is that predatory harassers in Wisconsin fandom have made a name for themselves, more or less. That dude who got permanently banned from WisCon? Don't make him your guest relations director. That's a no-brainer. And when you do, and your guests start saying, hey, wait a minute, don't double down on the no-braining.
We're seeing a fascinating time in fandom as these cranky old beardos get elbowed out of the way by the the less willing to put up with nonsense & more willing to say "this is unacceptable" in a way that doesn't let fandom hide in the 'fans are slans' cave away from the scary mundanes and their sportsballs.
I've been lucky in that the harasser situations I was personally involved with were dealing with harassers who weren't entrenched in the convention power structure. We could boot their butts to the curb and the facility would issue a criminal trespass warning and that would be it. Dealing with this situation when it involves upper level staff is a whole different beast. Glad I never had to deal with it.
Sad part is that this is the first I've ever heard of "Odysseycon", which is going into its tenth year of being a thing that happens. Not the way you want people to hear about your con, guys.
The gist is that predatory harassers in Wisconsin fandom have made a name for themselves, more or less. That dude who got permanently banned from WisCon? Don't make him your guest relations director. That's a no-brainer. And when you do, and your guests start saying, hey, wait a minute, don't double down on the no-braining.
We're seeing a fascinating time in fandom as these cranky old beardos get elbowed out of the way by the the less willing to put up with nonsense & more willing to say "this is unacceptable" in a way that doesn't let fandom hide in the 'fans are slans' cave away from the scary mundanes and their sportsballs.
I've been lucky in that the harasser situations I was personally involved with were dealing with harassers who weren't entrenched in the convention power structure. We could boot their butts to the curb and the facility would issue a criminal trespass warning and that would be it. Dealing with this situation when it involves upper level staff is a whole different beast. Glad I never had to deal with it.
Sad part is that this is the first I've ever heard of "Odysseycon", which is going into its tenth year of being a thing that happens. Not the way you want people to hear about your con, guys.