| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
I am trying to convince a friend to meet me at PaizoCon this year, but she has reservations.
Several years ago, she stopped going to cons due to two incidents of harrassment at other RPG cons... once as a guest, and once as a paid staff member of the con. Both incidents left her shaken, and she found that the organizers didn't have an effective anti--harrassment policy. She ended up leaving both con when they would not eject her harrassers.
Before she would even consider attending PaizoCon, she wants to see PaizoCon's official policy, and also to make sure that it applies equally to guests, volunteers, and paid staff.
Given the discussion of Bill Webb's appearance at Gary-Con, and the knowledge that he caused an incident at PaizoCon two years ago (and the resulting fallout)...
1) What is Paizo's anti-harrassment policy for PaizoCon?
2) Does it apply equally to guests, volunteers, and paid staff?
Thanks!
|
I am trying to convince a friend to meet me at PaizoCon this year, but she has reservations.
Several years ago, she stopped going to cons due to two incidents of harassment at other RPG cons... once as a guest, and once as a paid staff member of the con. Both incidents left her shaken, and she found that the organizers didn't have an effective anti--harassment policy. She ended up leaving both con when they would not eject her harassers.
Before she would even consider attending PaizoCon, she wants to see PaizoCon's official policy, and also to make sure that it applies equally to guests, volunteers, and paid staff.
Given the discussion of Bill Webb's appearance at Gary-Con, and the knowledge that he caused an incident at PaizoCon two years ago (and the resulting fallout)...
1) What is Paizo's anti-harassment policy for PaizoCon?
2) Does it apply equally to guests, volunteers, and paid staff?
Thanks!
1: Yes, there is a Code of Conduct. The link on the Paizo Con page unfortunately just re-loads the Paizo Con page.
2: Yes; last year I happened to be involved in an incident with a con goer in my capacity as a PFS HQ volunteer. This incident lead to that con attendee's dismissal. Paizo Staff were involved at every step and the matter was taken seriously.
EDIT: You can see the Code of Conduct if you click on the FAQ
Customer Service & Community Manager
|
| 7 people marked this as a favorite. |
Thank you for your questions about this Haldir and I am so sorry that your friend had to go through those experiences.
You can see the code of conduct as Leg o' Lamb mentioned on the FAQ page. It applies to every attendee at the show, and that includes staff, OPF volunteers, & guests. We already had it reapproved for this year, but I recently came across some additions I hadn't previously considered that I think would be really beneficial and I'm going to try to get those added, if not in 2019, then 2020.
Pretty much every part of PaizoCon is an evolving process and I take the feedback we get every year very seriously. Particularly over the last couple years, I think we've really improved on our ability to make continuing efforts ensuring PaizoCon is not just a safe experience, but that attendees feel safe as well. Last year, based on feedback from our attendees (staff, fans and industry guests) we were able to implement an overnight schedule for staff to be sure we had a Paizo employee on duty overnight, dedicated to being awake & available and in a known location in case anything came up. We had really positive feedback about that and we will be continuing this, with some improvements, going forward.
I do encourage people, if they have specific feedback or see something other cons are doing that is working towards making sure conventions are safe and enjoyable experience for all involved, to send me an email either at sara.marie at paizo.com or paizocon at paizo.com. I have been trying to find more time to research how other cons handle things, but I always appreciate when someone finds good stuff an passes it along.
I would be remiss if I didn't point out how much support and work a couple other people here are doing. Judy Bauer, Amanda Hamon and Adam Daigle in particular have been really excellent about meeting with me to help make safety, attendee (staff, fans and industry guests) enjoyment, and event content better every year. Tonya Woldridge has also been a wealth of knowledge and so generous with her time, talking with me about her experiences at conventions throughout the year and letting me bounce ideas off her.
I hope that your friend feels encouraged with this and if either of you have more questions, please feel free to follow up here or let me know at either of the aforementioned email addresses.
Hope to see you both at PaizoCon!
~Sara
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Thanks, Sara!
I am planning to attend, assuming that my boss approves my time-off request.
Whether or not my friend will also attend is still an open question...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
That someone is hesitant or scared to attend a gaming event where the purpose is to have fun is so disheartening. In our gaming group it is the same though and the 2 females in our group refuse to participate at local events or go to events at our local gaming store due to the fact they are made to feel uncomfortable by others words and actions. Harassment doesn't have to be overt actions it can just be simply someone being a little too nice that can make people feel awkward.