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I wasn't going to comment on this, but it made the local news in San Antonion:
https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/San-Japan-leader-calls-himself-an-idiot-after-15319698.php
Short version:(from the article) "Responding to criticism over the lack of diversity among panelists and talent for the local annual anime event, Henkin tweeted, "We get tagged and constantly requested to book sexual predators and popular asshole divas. That's what people want to throw their money. Show up by the hundreds with cash to see (people of color) then I'll book them."
So this got leaked and people flipped. Admittedly this was a dumb, tone-deaf thing to say, it highlighted the laziness and failure to take chances on the part of the convention, and it put the blame on attendees rather than on the people making the actual decision. And it was the absolute wrong thing to say when POC are being assaulted on America's streets by the cops as they protest being assaulted on America's streets by the cops.
I do get where the con chair is coming from, he's on that awful endless cycle of having to sell a lot of tickets because they booked expensive guests and acts which will draw the crowds they need that will buy a lot of tickets to pay for the expensive guests and acts, which will... and all this means he has to listen to what the fans want. Or he thinks he does, anyway. I'm pretty sure these people would come to his show regardless of the guests he booked. They can be bold in their guest choices.
As I said here: (https://twitter.com/terebifunhouse/status/1268654129242681344) "I'm old enough to remember when we put on anime cons and invited guests because we loved the thing they did, not because they would Bring In The Ca$h Money$$$. if you have to book predators and assholes to keep your convention alive, your convention needs the sweet, sweet caress of DEATH. "well we can't invite this creator or screen this movie because nobody's familiar with them/it." Uh, that's why we're DOING this nonsense, to put this stuff in front of people that might not otherwise see it, you dorks."
Anyway, that was my response to the tweet that leaked this to the world. The leak tweet got three thousand retweets. The con chair apologized in public. Actually the first thing he did was to block a bunch of people on Twitter because he wasn't sure who had leaked the tweet. Which was not a good step. Anyway, a day later the convention released this statement:
"Dear San Antonio and our greater fandom community,
This week, our chairman said hurtful and ignorant comments on his personal Twitter account. This does not stand with the mission and vision of San Japan. We have only been successful thanks to the hard work and support of our community. We have become one of the top anime conventions in the nation because of people of color and our LGBTQ+ family.
Effective Immediately:
Dave Henkin will step down as convention chairman and relinquish control to the San Japan board of directors. The board will govern by committee until a long-term solution can be established.
(....) Please do not hold the stupidity of one man against the work of countless POC and LGBTQ+ individuals who have worked for over a decade to make this a model conference. We look forward to the opportunity to prove ourselves during our next convention."
I have to wonder if the chair vetted this statement before it went out, because it kinda throws him under the bus. It's one thing to say "I said stupid things" and another for a convention he chaired to say "our chairman said hurtful and ignorant things, and is also stupid."
Also an interesting factoid: the con chair is the sole owner and employee of the business that owns the convention. So far there has been no indication that he is going to divest himself of this business. "No longer con chair" is meaningless in a business or legal sense.
It's my understanding that the con chair has a history of PR blunders and blunt statements that the convention has to explain or walk back. Which is a problem the convention should have addressed years ago, and didn't.
What this all looks like to me is somebody said something stupid in private, and then over-reacted and made things worse, and then the organization over-reacted and made things even worse. It's stepping on rakes all the way down. Had they just DONE NOTHING, this entire thing would be forgotten about next week. Had the con chair just said "yeah, I said something stupid, my bad, I say stupid stuff all the time, sorry" and then gone on about his business as usual, this whole thing would have been swept away in the NEXT big news outrage.
But with their over-reaction, they have taken what was a mild irritation and turned it into a full-blown public relations disaster.
In contrast, last week Anime Expo took the time to make one of those BLM statements that brands and corporations have been making, and immediately got dragged by a POC who was an event host but was let go after asking why more POC weren't involved.
https://twitter.com/CheyenneTheGeek/status/1268292556900626432
I personally think this is way worse than "con chair said something stupid", but this AX story doesn't seem to be getting the traction the San Japan story does. Maybe AX has sense enough to not throw gasoline on a fire.
https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/San-Japan-leader-calls-himself-an-idiot-after-15319698.php
Short version:(from the article) "Responding to criticism over the lack of diversity among panelists and talent for the local annual anime event, Henkin tweeted, "We get tagged and constantly requested to book sexual predators and popular asshole divas. That's what people want to throw their money. Show up by the hundreds with cash to see (people of color) then I'll book them."
So this got leaked and people flipped. Admittedly this was a dumb, tone-deaf thing to say, it highlighted the laziness and failure to take chances on the part of the convention, and it put the blame on attendees rather than on the people making the actual decision. And it was the absolute wrong thing to say when POC are being assaulted on America's streets by the cops as they protest being assaulted on America's streets by the cops.
I do get where the con chair is coming from, he's on that awful endless cycle of having to sell a lot of tickets because they booked expensive guests and acts which will draw the crowds they need that will buy a lot of tickets to pay for the expensive guests and acts, which will... and all this means he has to listen to what the fans want. Or he thinks he does, anyway. I'm pretty sure these people would come to his show regardless of the guests he booked. They can be bold in their guest choices.
As I said here: (https://twitter.com/terebifunhouse/status/1268654129242681344) "I'm old enough to remember when we put on anime cons and invited guests because we loved the thing they did, not because they would Bring In The Ca$h Money$$$. if you have to book predators and assholes to keep your convention alive, your convention needs the sweet, sweet caress of DEATH. "well we can't invite this creator or screen this movie because nobody's familiar with them/it." Uh, that's why we're DOING this nonsense, to put this stuff in front of people that might not otherwise see it, you dorks."
Anyway, that was my response to the tweet that leaked this to the world. The leak tweet got three thousand retweets. The con chair apologized in public. Actually the first thing he did was to block a bunch of people on Twitter because he wasn't sure who had leaked the tweet. Which was not a good step. Anyway, a day later the convention released this statement:
"Dear San Antonio and our greater fandom community,
This week, our chairman said hurtful and ignorant comments on his personal Twitter account. This does not stand with the mission and vision of San Japan. We have only been successful thanks to the hard work and support of our community. We have become one of the top anime conventions in the nation because of people of color and our LGBTQ+ family.
Effective Immediately:
Dave Henkin will step down as convention chairman and relinquish control to the San Japan board of directors. The board will govern by committee until a long-term solution can be established.
(....) Please do not hold the stupidity of one man against the work of countless POC and LGBTQ+ individuals who have worked for over a decade to make this a model conference. We look forward to the opportunity to prove ourselves during our next convention."
I have to wonder if the chair vetted this statement before it went out, because it kinda throws him under the bus. It's one thing to say "I said stupid things" and another for a convention he chaired to say "our chairman said hurtful and ignorant things, and is also stupid."
Also an interesting factoid: the con chair is the sole owner and employee of the business that owns the convention. So far there has been no indication that he is going to divest himself of this business. "No longer con chair" is meaningless in a business or legal sense.
It's my understanding that the con chair has a history of PR blunders and blunt statements that the convention has to explain or walk back. Which is a problem the convention should have addressed years ago, and didn't.
What this all looks like to me is somebody said something stupid in private, and then over-reacted and made things worse, and then the organization over-reacted and made things even worse. It's stepping on rakes all the way down. Had they just DONE NOTHING, this entire thing would be forgotten about next week. Had the con chair just said "yeah, I said something stupid, my bad, I say stupid stuff all the time, sorry" and then gone on about his business as usual, this whole thing would have been swept away in the NEXT big news outrage.
But with their over-reaction, they have taken what was a mild irritation and turned it into a full-blown public relations disaster.
In contrast, last week Anime Expo took the time to make one of those BLM statements that brands and corporations have been making, and immediately got dragged by a POC who was an event host but was let go after asking why more POC weren't involved.
https://twitter.com/CheyenneTheGeek/status/1268292556900626432
I personally think this is way worse than "con chair said something stupid", but this AX story doesn't seem to be getting the traction the San Japan story does. Maybe AX has sense enough to not throw gasoline on a fire.
