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The Torontoist has a great essay about the protests here: http://torontoist.com/2010/06/g20_dispatches_everyone_loses.php
Sunday, police were much more aggressive and detained hundreds of people for hours in the pouring rain at Queen & Spadina. At one point there were three separate demos going on, one at King & Bay, one at the TCMN center in Parkdale (that's us!) and the hundreds of people detained at Queen & Spadina. Actually there was a moving bicycle demo too. The Torontoist is correct in calling for an independent investigation into the behavior of the ISU and the Toronto police during the G20 - including what's turning out to be appalling conditions and abuse at "Torontonimo Bay", the detainee facilty in the former film studio on Eastern. Right now there's a protest taking place in front of Police HQ on College Street. Wonder if they'll finally get to use that sound cannon...
MEANWHILE, I have a new Zero Fighter page up. It's even clumsier looking now than it looked last night, but hey, I'll, uh, re-do it for the book. Yeah, that's my plan. No, honestly, that is my plan.
Now for the REALLY IMPORTANT stuff. A month after I emailed them, I was informed that at Con Bravo this weekend in Oakville I'll be doing a Classic Anime panel at 4pm on Saturday and Old School Classroom at 5pm on Sunday. So far my query emails about whether or not I'm going to get passes for myself and Shain have not been answered. The policy as set forth on their panelist submission page states that panellists have to purchase badges, and if panellists do 4 or more panels they will be reimbursed. MY policy, on the other hand, is that if I am providing programming at a convention, I get a free pass for myself and my wife. End of story. I am not gonna waste anybody's valuable time getting forms signed, jumping through hoops, swearing affadavits, or whatever other nonsensical red tape hurdle they might come up with. I am also not going to shell out $25 for the privilege of entertaining and/or educating an audience. That dog don't hunt.
This whole do-your-panel-and-you-might-get-reimbursed policy is apparently the Way Things Are Done up here. Polaris (formerly Toronto Trek) asked me to do panels, but they have the reimbursement policy in full effect, so I cheerfully took a big old pass. Anime North has the same policy for their panels, but the events directors at Anime North are smart enough to realize that someone such as myself with decades of experience in the field of showing stupid cartoons to crowds is a known quantity and can be trusted to deliver an entertaining experience. And thusly I entertain thousands of people in prime time slots in the biggest hall they can get, and nobody bugs me about getting my proper forms signed so they know I'm actually doing what I'm supposed to do.
In contrast, back in the day when I was running anime conventions, how you do it is this: you dream up a panel and get people to be on it and throw them a badge. If people come up with their own panel and it's deemed worthy of the convention's time, you put them on the list for a free pass. People who volunteer their time and talent to make the convention fun and interesting deserve a free badge. WORST CASE SCENARIO - they fail to deliver? They go on the shitlist and they never get a free badge ever again. In the meantime, they came to your show, they told all their friends about this convention they were going to, they spent money in the dealers room, they got a hotel room, the con is out the thirty cents it cost to print the badge. OH NOES.
Sure, this method lacks an entire level of bureaucracy and red tape, and we don't have staffers stamping the backs of badges, checking records, signing forms, and valuable time is not spent taking money from one person, putting it into a box, taking it out of the box, and giving it back to the person. If you're a fan of bureaucracy and red tape, this is a nightmare proposition. If, however, you'd rather spend time doing things involving Japanese cartoons, it works out pretty well.
It's now been a couple of days since I emailed the panels director and the volunteer director about whether I'm going to get badges, and have not heard a thing. Seeing as how they waited until a week before the show to actually inform me that I'd be doing panels, I am not expecting a speedy reply. I really don't want to spend two or three days putting together a Old School Classroom presentation that I might not use, and that might be shown to an empty room at 5pm on a Sunday (???). Which in and of itself is an interesting bit of scheduling, but hey, who knows?
And sure, it's their con and they can maintain whatever policies they care to maintain concerning the distribution of badges and reimbursements for panellists. I'm fully aware that I am asking for consideration above and beyond their typical panelist submission. But, and this is the key part: I ain't a typical panelist.
EDITED TO ADD: Two passes will be set aside for myself and Shaindle Minuk who is MAI WAIFU. Con Bravo, I salute you!
Sunday, police were much more aggressive and detained hundreds of people for hours in the pouring rain at Queen & Spadina. At one point there were three separate demos going on, one at King & Bay, one at the TCMN center in Parkdale (that's us!) and the hundreds of people detained at Queen & Spadina. Actually there was a moving bicycle demo too. The Torontoist is correct in calling for an independent investigation into the behavior of the ISU and the Toronto police during the G20 - including what's turning out to be appalling conditions and abuse at "Torontonimo Bay", the detainee facilty in the former film studio on Eastern. Right now there's a protest taking place in front of Police HQ on College Street. Wonder if they'll finally get to use that sound cannon...
MEANWHILE, I have a new Zero Fighter page up. It's even clumsier looking now than it looked last night, but hey, I'll, uh, re-do it for the book. Yeah, that's my plan. No, honestly, that is my plan.
Now for the REALLY IMPORTANT stuff. A month after I emailed them, I was informed that at Con Bravo this weekend in Oakville I'll be doing a Classic Anime panel at 4pm on Saturday and Old School Classroom at 5pm on Sunday. So far my query emails about whether or not I'm going to get passes for myself and Shain have not been answered. The policy as set forth on their panelist submission page states that panellists have to purchase badges, and if panellists do 4 or more panels they will be reimbursed. MY policy, on the other hand, is that if I am providing programming at a convention, I get a free pass for myself and my wife. End of story. I am not gonna waste anybody's valuable time getting forms signed, jumping through hoops, swearing affadavits, or whatever other nonsensical red tape hurdle they might come up with. I am also not going to shell out $25 for the privilege of entertaining and/or educating an audience. That dog don't hunt.
This whole do-your-panel-and-you-might-get-reimbursed policy is apparently the Way Things Are Done up here. Polaris (formerly Toronto Trek) asked me to do panels, but they have the reimbursement policy in full effect, so I cheerfully took a big old pass. Anime North has the same policy for their panels, but the events directors at Anime North are smart enough to realize that someone such as myself with decades of experience in the field of showing stupid cartoons to crowds is a known quantity and can be trusted to deliver an entertaining experience. And thusly I entertain thousands of people in prime time slots in the biggest hall they can get, and nobody bugs me about getting my proper forms signed so they know I'm actually doing what I'm supposed to do.
In contrast, back in the day when I was running anime conventions, how you do it is this: you dream up a panel and get people to be on it and throw them a badge. If people come up with their own panel and it's deemed worthy of the convention's time, you put them on the list for a free pass. People who volunteer their time and talent to make the convention fun and interesting deserve a free badge. WORST CASE SCENARIO - they fail to deliver? They go on the shitlist and they never get a free badge ever again. In the meantime, they came to your show, they told all their friends about this convention they were going to, they spent money in the dealers room, they got a hotel room, the con is out the thirty cents it cost to print the badge. OH NOES.
Sure, this method lacks an entire level of bureaucracy and red tape, and we don't have staffers stamping the backs of badges, checking records, signing forms, and valuable time is not spent taking money from one person, putting it into a box, taking it out of the box, and giving it back to the person. If you're a fan of bureaucracy and red tape, this is a nightmare proposition. If, however, you'd rather spend time doing things involving Japanese cartoons, it works out pretty well.
It's now been a couple of days since I emailed the panels director and the volunteer director about whether I'm going to get badges, and have not heard a thing. Seeing as how they waited until a week before the show to actually inform me that I'd be doing panels, I am not expecting a speedy reply. I really don't want to spend two or three days putting together a Old School Classroom presentation that I might not use, and that might be shown to an empty room at 5pm on a Sunday (???). Which in and of itself is an interesting bit of scheduling, but hey, who knows?
And sure, it's their con and they can maintain whatever policies they care to maintain concerning the distribution of badges and reimbursements for panellists. I'm fully aware that I am asking for consideration above and beyond their typical panelist submission. But, and this is the key part: I ain't a typical panelist.
EDITED TO ADD: Two passes will be set aside for myself and Shaindle Minuk who is MAI WAIFU. Con Bravo, I salute you!
