Multiverse is over and I am considering conventions as a way to branch out and get new readers outside of the internet. (Safely, Covid is still real and I still have disorders. I've never caught Covid and have no desire to jacking up my disorders further than they already are, plain and simple.) When it comes to picking conventions, I'm pretty simple in how I pick them:
Is there diversity?: If it is just a bunch of White people, I'm not going. If it is a bunch of old White people, I'm super not going. There's a reason why their con looks like a Sci-Fi January 6 Get-Together and it's in the DNA of the convention, from the makers to the con-goers. Old people in and of itself isn't a problem but old White people being a lion share of the pictures, speakers and/or planners? There's a reason for it and I'm not interested in finding out because I can already take a wild guess to what it is. Pictures are mainly what I go by, I do look at convention pictures, the images of the ppl invited and the images of the con-runners. It's how the convention choses to depict itself so it's a good place to start. If there is diversity there but the pictures look like an informal Klan meeting for the most part? There's a reason for that and it boils down to the DNA of the convention itself. If there is no diversity to be seen, that's telling in and of itself as well. The internet exist, cons are more popular and mainstream now than they were a decade ago, and you still can't draw in people darker than bleached dry wall? There's a reason for that. Double if they are old and White, because it means the place is full of their outdated opinions and they most likely plan to be very caustic to anyone who disagrees or looks different (or just bring up that the person of color is different at every. Given. Opportunity. Even when they think they're complimenting the person of color for simply existing in their space. It's not a compliment.) That con is for them, not for me. Not interested in hanging around in the 3D space of a File 770 comment section (they're relatively nice people - but it's still hella White and that Whiteness shows in more ways than one when diversity discussions happen). The con has to do more if they want more diversity - actual diversity, not tokenism, not fake diversity where a person of color is invited and either that PoC is from the Sunken Place and/or just treated like crap and used as a emotion human shield for any accusations of racism - There needs to be diversity in the top tier/directors of the convention, diversity in the con-goers, and diversity in the guests. Otherwise, no dice.
Is there a DEI of some sort?: DEI stands for "Diversity, Equity & Inclusion". Now, mind you, I assume any White-ran space/company/organization/etc with a DEI is lying their derriere's off and the DEI they wrote is worth less than the paper it would be printed on and ignored more than anything. In other words, I assume their DEI is 100000% phony up until I'm proven thoroughly otherwise. (I get disappointed less this way.) But at least it's there so I and others can basically super nail them to the wall when they break them. I expect they ignore their DEI except to use as a cover to keep engaging in messed up behavior ("of course we wouldn't do the very thing you're accusing us of (and may even have proof). We have a DEI! It's our alibi - we mean, our promise to the world.") so when I am looking at any con, I look for it. In the code of conduct or wherever the "Con Rulebook" is. And it has to be something better than "don't be mean to each other about race, gender, [etc, etc]" because that easily can translate into "if you accuse someone White of racism or someone male of sexism, we can punish you just as harshly (if not more) as if they said it." Unless they've done some serious self work and learned about how structural prejudice works (that I'll doubt until I see it to a believable degree), I assume they're going to be stereotypical level "bringing up any prejudice is bad and we should all ignore it - and I will punish wantonly until we do. This is my space and I still own you all can run it in my vision of how I want." I'm not going to a con that has no actual safety parameters. They could get away with it in 2007 (and is currently biting them now), but all that is not the same today. Be better or be gone.
Are the past/current guests diverse?: Part of what makes a convention is who you invite. If your list of guests could pass muster at a Trump rally, that's a problem for me. There's no point in applying to be guest, there's even less point in going. Especially in your guest of honor picks. It shows in how you want your con to run, plain and simple. It isn't that you can't find authors and creators of color, we're literally everywhere. You sincerely could just spend time on Melanin Library with a pen and paper in the sci-fi section and easily come away with an invite list of over twenty in less than 10 minutes. And that's just Black authors, we haven't even touched Latin, Asian or Indigenous authors. In other words, any absence of diversity I see in the guest list I assume is wholly on purpose. And, on top of that, I look at the darkness of the invited guests. If there's colorism afoot (I see mostly or only light-skinned people of color), that means there's built-in racism occuring because the likelihood of this being completely accidental is extremely slim. Especially if the con was basically White Only prior. It isn't movement in the right direction, it's laziness and prejudice just trying to hide in plain sight. The time to pull that trick was back in the 1950s and perhaps the 1960s. Any era after that? Zero excuse.
Is the space welcoming for Black people, period?: We're not interested in being used as pawns and such for some White person's culture war, either to prove how liberal they are or how conservative they are. It seriously does not matter to us. We just want to cosplay, attend panels and have a general good time - y'know, like everyone else? We do indeed have lives outside of dealing with racism itself. Reminding us that prejudice exists is not going to make our experiences better. Try "worse" and "never want to come back" and "write scathing posts about the experience until the con shuts its doors". If the space looks like it's really for White con-goers, there's only some diversity as window dressing, it shows itself very fast. And when it dawns on you that attending cons isn't cheap, it's beyond a disgrace. It's a travesty. If there's only White and light-skinned guests, the panels are mainly for White con-goers, there's micro-aggressions abound and no one to direct it to (or all (if not most) reported incidents are basically ignored and/or buried because "it wasn't that bad was it?" or "it would make this con look bad"), it's an easy way to make me not want to go. Black people have their own spaces and do talk about conventions. That's how Dream Con exploded in population attendees in three short years. It's a Black-ran, nerd-focused convention. It's well done, ran well enough, the guests are usually Black and darker skinned instead of the other way around, the panels are inclusive for everyone (it was actually pretty stupid to see White people who attended were surprised they didn't get treated like how their spaces treat others. Not everyone is like them nor wants to be. Some people actually do just want to have fun and its wholly possible to do that without being a dick to others.) and anti-Blackness is a quick trip to get kicked out the convention, period. It's not created by people who approach diversity as if paranoid White liberals who are trying to say/do all the right things but have zero desire to actually be welcoming in earnest, as if they think Black people come from Angrylandia via a vortex or something. To be frank, no one is interested in being some bigoted jerk-off's unwitting guinea pig in their learning How Not To Be Awful. The guys of RDC World (the troupe that runs Dream Con) are younger than the average convention creator so if they can do it, there's zero excuse for anyone older. Either figure it out or hang it up.
Are the past guests not rife with problems?: I do check guests of the past. If any of them have accusations of sexual assault or worse, or prejudice (racism, queerphobia, etc, etc) and the con is: 1 ) Quiet about it, 2) Minimize it ("we got reports buuuuuuuuut you know ppl lie. This isn't court. Focus on having fun!") 3) Doesn't disinvite, then I'm not going. Safety is an issue here. Plain and simple. If the con can't handle historical reports of wrongdoing, they're not going to listen to an act of wrongdoing that occurred a minute ago and right under their noses.
Are the panels inclusive?: Panels have to be diverse in who they pick and in the topics. Laud Tolkien and Lovecraft but won't pick the messed up issues of their books apart? That's a problem. No panels for con goers of color about being a creator or how to navigate their experiences in nerd spaces or creative industries? That's not great. Panel's White and so is the subject? It is going to suck. If there are no panels that basically acknowledge the existence of a world after the Emancipation Proclamation, that's a big problem. What's the point of wasting money for the same experience public school can give you for free (especially in Florida and Texas)? The vast majority of the panels have to show blatant, genuine signs of inclusion for me to think the con is worth the trip.
Conventions should be fun, and I want to not have a miserable time as guest (or con goer). I had a pretty decent time at Multiverse, I also want to have a decent time at other conventions.
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