Statement from the new Acting Con Chair

The past few months have been among the most tumultuous in Arisia’s long history. After the loss of our conchair Jodie Lawhorne, two people stepped up to complete his work. In late October we learned about a serious incident involving one of our volunteers that was reported but never written down many years ago. The individual was put through our current more robust incident response protocol and was subsequently banned from all future participation in Arisia. We also learned that the acting con chairs had had knowledge of this and despite that, had consulted with this individual about volunteering for Arisia 2023. Between that information, and increasing levels of unrelated personal stress on those acting con chairs, it was determined that it was best for all parties for them to step down. Where that left us was 7 weeks out from a convention with no one in charge. I reached out to the e-board and offered to fill in the gap.

So hi, my name is Melissa Kaplan and I’ll be your acting con chair for the next 6.5 weeks. It occurs to me that over the years I’ve gone to Arisia, the con chair has always been somewhat of a mystery figure. Unless I knew them personally, I knew very little about them and their history with Arisia. The need for transparency has never been greater and so I want everyone who might be concerned or questioning to at least know who I am and what my priorities are.

I’ve been attending Arisia since 2001. For a long time Arisia was a place I went purely to escape, but over the years it grew into one of the most important parts of my life. In 2018 when the corporation suffered a leadership crisis due to serious code of conduct violations among the executive board members, I decided to join the corporation and volunteer at the convention. My first job as a volunteer was as part of our at con Incident Response Team (IRT) in 2019. I felt that given the nature of the recent crisis, it was important to become involved directly in the increasing of safety and accountability for code of conduct violations at our event. I continued that work at the 2020 event and added in volunteering for sign shop before the con, registration at the con and working con chair on duty shifts. Through all of that my first priority remained the IRT. In 2021 I also worked IRT shifts for our online event and later that year I joined the corporate committee which does followup on incident reports after the convention is over. For the canceled 2022 con, my plan was to split my time at con between the IRT and working with one of our guests of honor. My original role for Arisia 2023 was Guest of Honor Liaison and I also worked with the vaccine verification team and on our COVID policy.

As acting con chair, my top priority is addressing our ongoing safety concerns. Once again our IRT will be taking reports of code of conduct violations at the convention. No event can guarantee an entirely problem-free experience, but we can promise to be vigilant and to follow up as necessary to create a space that prioritizes the needs of our most vulnerable attendees. My second priority is minimizing COVID transmission at the con. Our safety team and all of our staff are empowered to address violations of masking policies. People who refuse to mask or attempt to get around masking rules will not be able to participate. I am also working with a COVID advisory team to implement additional measures such as CO2 monitoring and enhanced air filtration. Focusing on code of conduct and COVID mitigation serves the big picture goal of making Arisia a place where marginalized and vulnerable individuals can fully participate. To that end, I am endlessly grateful for the help of my advisor Kat Tanaka Okopnik whose value to our community cannot be overstated. Kat’s experience as a con runner and her expertise in racial and disability justice are helping Arisia to evolve with the changing face of Sci Fi and Fantasy fandom.

I hope that by telling you a little not just about myself, but about my team and our philosophy, that I can begin to open up lines of communication between the people running this event and the community at large. I want people to contact us, ask questions and offer suggestions. Most of all, I want anyone who has anything to report regarding code of conduct violations to know that your reports will be welcomed and followed up on through resolution.. If you are out there holding in your mind and heart an issue with an attendee that has not been addressed or you’re not sure if it’s been addressed, please follow the instructions below so we can try to get it resolved before Arisia 2023 begins. All my love to our community and I hope for a better future built on trust and accountability.

Incident Reporting Instructions Please email irmc@arisia.org or incidents@arisia.org with incident reports. irmc@ goes to fewer people. Incidents@ is better for a quicker response during con. At con, you can also make reports in person at the IRT desk. For anonymous reporting use https://www.arisia.org/Contact and fill in irmc@arisia.org in the email field instead of your own. Arisia will not be able to respond to anonymous reports but they will go through the same process as all other reports.

 

Melissa Kaplan
Acting Con Chair, Arisia 2023