AnimeIowa 2014 Teaspoon Report, part 2
Aug. 24th, 2014 04:41 pmBlargh, sorry this took so long. My internet connection issues should all be sorted out now, though. On to the details! (Part 1 can be found here.)
[Content Note: Ablism/Disablism]
* Two meetings prior to the convention, a fellow staffer asked if I could make sure a ramp was included at the mainstage area in Main Programming this year. I initially responded that I'd asked for one last year, and it should still be in the hotel resume (which basically describes what we want out of our various spaces, and how we would like them set up). I then decided to double-check, because better safe than sorry, and we had just changed hotel department heads since the previous convention. Lo and behold, there was no record of mainstage needing a ramp. I made sure that the request was logged in the appropriate resume, and went to relay the results to the staffer who had approached me. I was quite happy to see the ramp ready to go when I was marking out wheelchair spaces before the convention.
* There was a bit of a problem with the head of registration.
( Gruesome details below the cut )
* Speaking of the Accessibility Policy, I didn't actually manage to get it entirely okay'd until the day before the convention, whoops. I had gotten my immediate supervisor and one exec to look over it at the second to last meeting before the con, but hadn't gotten around to e-mailing it to the other execs in the meantime. I did get three other execs to read through the policy Thursday evening and effectively sign off on it. I have also just sent a copy to this year's execs to hopefully okay, so I can get it posted on the convention's website ASAP.
* While setting up my things in the Dealer's Room, I was directed to a dealer who had expressed interest in speaking to the Accessibility Head about accommodations. I was directed to the person in question, where they asked about any "special badges" that would allow them to skip any lines, given that they had only been able to get around by means of a wheelchair until very recently andn ow still had to rely on a cane. They knew that other conventions did this, and were wondering if AnimeIowa did it and, when I said we did not, why. I did my best to explain about not wanting to make PWD "marked" or to automatically out them to every other convention attendee, though I'm afraid I did a poor job of it.
The Masquerade was also the only event that came to mind at the time that involved an actual line, and while registration frequently did, this person had already collected their badge - a Dealer's/Artisan's badge, which they got from a different location than other attendees. ((As a note to msyelf, I need to make sure that the location to pick up these badges is very explicitly clear to anyone who gets one, because having to potentially wait in line to get your badge only to find out it's the wrong line, and the right line is potentially at the other end of a very long hallway? Yeah, that can't be good.)) The Masquerade head had previously stated that they couldn't allow anyone to skip the line; given that the Masquerade is an incredibly popular event with very limited seating, I was more understanding of that than I was of the no-skipping-the-reg-line BS, though I still wasn't entirely happy with it. However, I don't believe I had actually worked out a solution as of this year, and that is entirely on me and my own biases; I haven't attended a Masquerade for probably at least five years now, and haven't enjoyed it for even longer. I will be speaking with the Masquerade department to work out a possible proxy system for PWD who wish to attend but cannot wait in line. This should hopefully clear up any issues with the Masquerade deptartment and any potential attendee grumpiness over "unfairness", or at least minimize it. Lines for autographs simply hadn't occurred to me at all, though I can probably work out a similar system for that, provided that the Guests head isn't more accommodating WRT attendees' ability to wait in lines (or lack thereof).
Anyway, I told the exhibitor that I didn't think there were any events aside from the Masquerade that had lines at AI, and I could probably work out a proxy system for that if they wanted me to. We eventually agreed that they would be skipping lines as they saw fit, and if anyone had any problem with it, that person could come talk to me about it.
An hour or two later, as the exhibitor was leaving the exhibition hall, I remembered that I had an extra copy of the Accessibility Policy on hand. I made quick work of passing it on to them, and their companion began reading it aloud to them immediately as they continued on their way. I certainly didn't want to hold them up and potentially waste their spoons if they could just as easily continue to where they were going, especially since they knew where I was and how to find me if they had any questions.
* I did hear of one person complaining that foods with citrus weren't labeled as such in the Consweet, unlike foods with dairy, nuts, any of the other eight most common food allergies, or if they were gluten-free, but being that citrus isn't one of the eight most common food allergies, I didn't think it was terribly important. Unfortunately, I don't know that I made sure an ingredients list was available for all foods this year, which is something I definitely need to make sure I do next year, because getting an allergy attack at a convention would be both horrible and completely preventable by having ingredient lists available.
And that's all I can remember for the AI 2014 Teaspoon/Accessibility Report. Overall, I had a lot of failings this year, mostly in getting things printed out on time. If I ever get my own underling, this is definitely something I plan to assign to them. I also feel like I did some good work, and am looking forward to doing better next year.
[Content Note: Ablism/Disablism]
* Two meetings prior to the convention, a fellow staffer asked if I could make sure a ramp was included at the mainstage area in Main Programming this year. I initially responded that I'd asked for one last year, and it should still be in the hotel resume (which basically describes what we want out of our various spaces, and how we would like them set up). I then decided to double-check, because better safe than sorry, and we had just changed hotel department heads since the previous convention. Lo and behold, there was no record of mainstage needing a ramp. I made sure that the request was logged in the appropriate resume, and went to relay the results to the staffer who had approached me. I was quite happy to see the ramp ready to go when I was marking out wheelchair spaces before the convention.
* There was a bit of a problem with the head of registration.
* Speaking of the Accessibility Policy, I didn't actually manage to get it entirely okay'd until the day before the convention, whoops. I had gotten my immediate supervisor and one exec to look over it at the second to last meeting before the con, but hadn't gotten around to e-mailing it to the other execs in the meantime. I did get three other execs to read through the policy Thursday evening and effectively sign off on it. I have also just sent a copy to this year's execs to hopefully okay, so I can get it posted on the convention's website ASAP.
* While setting up my things in the Dealer's Room, I was directed to a dealer who had expressed interest in speaking to the Accessibility Head about accommodations. I was directed to the person in question, where they asked about any "special badges" that would allow them to skip any lines, given that they had only been able to get around by means of a wheelchair until very recently andn ow still had to rely on a cane. They knew that other conventions did this, and were wondering if AnimeIowa did it and, when I said we did not, why. I did my best to explain about not wanting to make PWD "marked" or to automatically out them to every other convention attendee, though I'm afraid I did a poor job of it.
The Masquerade was also the only event that came to mind at the time that involved an actual line, and while registration frequently did, this person had already collected their badge - a Dealer's/Artisan's badge, which they got from a different location than other attendees. ((As a note to msyelf, I need to make sure that the location to pick up these badges is very explicitly clear to anyone who gets one, because having to potentially wait in line to get your badge only to find out it's the wrong line, and the right line is potentially at the other end of a very long hallway? Yeah, that can't be good.)) The Masquerade head had previously stated that they couldn't allow anyone to skip the line; given that the Masquerade is an incredibly popular event with very limited seating, I was more understanding of that than I was of the no-skipping-the-reg-line BS, though I still wasn't entirely happy with it. However, I don't believe I had actually worked out a solution as of this year, and that is entirely on me and my own biases; I haven't attended a Masquerade for probably at least five years now, and haven't enjoyed it for even longer. I will be speaking with the Masquerade department to work out a possible proxy system for PWD who wish to attend but cannot wait in line. This should hopefully clear up any issues with the Masquerade deptartment and any potential attendee grumpiness over "unfairness", or at least minimize it. Lines for autographs simply hadn't occurred to me at all, though I can probably work out a similar system for that, provided that the Guests head isn't more accommodating WRT attendees' ability to wait in lines (or lack thereof).
Anyway, I told the exhibitor that I didn't think there were any events aside from the Masquerade that had lines at AI, and I could probably work out a proxy system for that if they wanted me to. We eventually agreed that they would be skipping lines as they saw fit, and if anyone had any problem with it, that person could come talk to me about it.
An hour or two later, as the exhibitor was leaving the exhibition hall, I remembered that I had an extra copy of the Accessibility Policy on hand. I made quick work of passing it on to them, and their companion began reading it aloud to them immediately as they continued on their way. I certainly didn't want to hold them up and potentially waste their spoons if they could just as easily continue to where they were going, especially since they knew where I was and how to find me if they had any questions.
* I did hear of one person complaining that foods with citrus weren't labeled as such in the Consweet, unlike foods with dairy, nuts, any of the other eight most common food allergies, or if they were gluten-free, but being that citrus isn't one of the eight most common food allergies, I didn't think it was terribly important. Unfortunately, I don't know that I made sure an ingredients list was available for all foods this year, which is something I definitely need to make sure I do next year, because getting an allergy attack at a convention would be both horrible and completely preventable by having ingredient lists available.
And that's all I can remember for the AI 2014 Teaspoon/Accessibility Report. Overall, I had a lot of failings this year, mostly in getting things printed out on time. If I ever get my own underling, this is definitely something I plan to assign to them. I also feel like I did some good work, and am looking forward to doing better next year.