Convention Teaspoon Report
Jul. 30th, 2012 02:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soc_puppetPersonal con report and pictures will come later, I just wanted to share some of the progress I'd made in establishing the Accessibility Department, some of the ways I still need to improve, and some minor personal teaspooning [Content Note for link: Rape, violence] I did over the weekend.
[Content Note for post: Ablism, Ageism, Binarism]
* Prior to the convention, I arranged for some lovely signs outside all of the public restrooms, asking attendees not to change in stalls and directing them instead to the official convention changing station in Cosplay Central. While they were not entirely successful, I had reports of decreased bathroom changing and that there were people actually aware of and using the changing station, which was basically unheard of in previous years. I personally directed one attendee to the changing station, so I know for a fact at least one person took them seriously.
* I laid out squares for wheelchair seating in every room I could manage. Programming One didn't have chairs until after the con was open on Friday, and I really couldn't escape to get the tape down that day, but Main Programming, Programming Two, Programming Three, and Programming Four all had wheelchair spots.
* On Thursday evening during setup, I got a couple of volunteers to help me lay out the tape for the wheelchair seating, and I pulled some personal teaspooning there. The two of them made sarcastic comments about the "Please don't change in the restroom" signs, saying that they were going to do so just because a sign told them not to, and I took the opportunity to explain about the endemic problem of cosplayers changing in the handicap stalls that people actually need to use to, oh, go to the bathroom in. Upon hearing this, they immediately took back their prior disdain for the signs.
* I also pulled a teaspoon for use of singular "they"; when I suggested it to the volunteers as a pronoun for someone whose gender they had forgotten or were unsure of, one of them said their teacher/grammar text said it was incorrect. I politely explained that a lot of non-binary people use it as their preferred pronoun, including the creator of my favorite webcomic, and not using singular they was erasing those people; they agreed this was bad, no matter what the grammar book had to say about it, so I'm pretty sure they'll be keeping it in mind for the future. All in all, some good teaspooning for an hour's interaction.
* Large print programming books were a go! They looked great, too. I personally know they were helpful to at least two people at the convention, including a returning blind attendee.
* I have no idea about the "Use The Mic" signs I made. Unfortunately for a lot of reasons, I was unable to make my planned announcement during Opening Ceremonies. I had planned during this announcement to: remind panelists to use the microphone; inform the attendees of the existence of the large print program books, "Use The Mic" signs, and the Quiet Room; pass on basic service animal etiquette; explain about the bathroom signs; and ask attendees to limit their artificial scent use. Sadly, our MC was incredibly unclear about when it was time for non-Exec staff to announce things. I wasn't even the only staff member who missed the cue; our Hotel head had to go up on stage after everyone was dismissed to talk about the special Friday surprise. I really didn't have the spoons to go up when unannounced, especially after the day I'd had at the Reg desk, though I thought about hard it. Just making the announcement would have cost a spoon or two, since I'm out of practice at speaking for an audience, but going up "spontaneously"? No. Couldn't do it. I wish I could have, but that's not the way my body chemistry/brain works.
* There were two QUILTBAG-focused panels this year, the first an "It Gets Better" panel hosted by two of our guests of honor (just one more reason why all our guests rock the world, no matter what problems I have with Dan Savage/the It Gets Better project in general) and the second called Otaku LGBTQ+A Unite or something similar. I had other things I wanted to be doing during the It Gets Better panel, but the hosts graciously let me announce the existence of the Quiet Room at the beginning of the panel and explain that it was also available for use as a unisex restroom for people who didn't feel comfortable using sex segregated restrooms. I got a round of applause there, and one of the guests (a personal favorite, Greg Ayers) said he'd never heard of a convention doing that before and thought it was really great. I didn't get near the same reaction at the QUILTBAG Otaku panel, but I'm still glad I managed spread the word a little.
* While I had some issues with one of our Registration staffers, I did manage to make sure our Attendees With Disabilities (AWD) who had an assistant helping them got their assistant's badges comped. (Said Reg staffer insisted that we had to interrogate both parties (AWD and assistant) to make sure they were really disabled and that the assistant was really there to help them and not just a friend trying to get a free ride. Really, it was at her insistence that we don't actually advertize that we comp badges for assistants of AWD and instead ask them to e-mail us if they have any accessibility needs they'd like met, so how she thought anyone could find out in the first place that we comp badges for AWD assistants without having a reason to is beyond me. I managed not to actually roll my eyes in her presence, but I probably strained something from the effort. (She also had some problems with minor badges, and how do we even prove the minors are who they say they are? We have to make them show ID! I mean, Seriously? I only ever had a student ID in Jr High, and I never carried it with me. Not every school even does that and some attendees are home schooled besides; in addition, not everyone has or can even qualify for a learner's permit, let alone a driver's license. She practically made one of our Sponsors cry from badgering her for being a minor without an ID; said Sponsor's mother was justifiably pissed off. I'm seriously going to have to make her flipping LISTEN to me on some of these issues, because this sh1t is Not On.))
* Convention staff had special wrist bands that gave us access to the service corridors, so we didn't always have to walk the quarter mile (or however long that hallway is - I really need to check that for next year) between the lobby and the Dealer's Room. I made sure these wrist bands were available to people who had trouble walking distances. Unfortunately, we didn't really have anyone available to show said AWD where the service corridors were, which basically defeated the point for a number of people. I'll definitely be doing something about that next year. Hopefully a guide/guided tour of said corridors, possibly a map.
* It was revealed this year that the con is actually short of budget, so while we still had the shuttle buses between hotels for this year, the Execs are talking seriously about canceling it for next year. I will be fighting tooth and nail to keep those.
* We'll also be getting a mobile app for our program book next year. It wasn't in the budget this year, but we set aside some funds for it for next year, so it's definitely happening.
* I also spoke at length to a blind attendee, who passed me the number of the Department for the Blind. He said that they'd probably be willing to help us arrange for braille program books next year for a minimal fee, if not at no charge. He also suggested maybe braille playing cards for blind poker tournaments, which sound like a total blast to me, and when I brought up the possibility of a tactile art show for next year, said that the Dept for the Blind could also probably hook us up with artists who specialize in that sort of thing. I'm hoping we can get a lot of our attendees interested in the idea, but outside artists could definitely help boost numbers here.
* I never did manage to contact the family friend who knows ASL this year. Stupid social phobia. I'll definitely be budgeting spoons to do that next year, though.
* Over the past year, I worked on and finally came up with what I thought was a brilliant idea for a volunteering opportunity for blind and low-sighted people (we offer a lot of really effing cool stuff for volunteers, and a lot of people find volunteering to be very fulfilling, so I want volunteering to be an option for everyone; and then there's parents and guardians who don't have anything else to do, and there's no guarantee they'll be fully sighted, so): make matching tactile charms for bag check! I then agonized over how exactly to make them, because finding as many distinct shapes as we needed for individual charms sounded very difficult and expensive, until I hit on the idea of beads. I could string a certain number on a length of cord with a number of distinct shapes, and they would be easy to tell apart by touch. I went with six beads per string and three shapes - cubes, cylanders, and stars, since those were the cheapest distinct shapes I could find in pony beads and I was doing this on my own dime. I ended up with nearly a hundred pairs of charms. Unfortunately it was all for naught in the end, as we have way too many attendees for a hundred charms and came up with a more realistic system on the fly: copying badge number onto a strip of painter's tape and sticking that to the attendee's item(s). I guess it's back to the drawing board for me next year. Edit: Peace marking! I can't believe I forgot about peace marking. I'd put money down that blind and low-sighted people can tie a bit of string onto a prop and ask people to read a statement that they will not use their props for evil. That is totally doable. (Note to self: Make sure Prop Policy is also available to read in large print and braille.) [/edit]
* I also need to double-check our video schedule, see what sort of things we have specified. I remember at least one year we noted which shows were subbed and which were dubbed, and I hope we've kept doing that; in addition, I'd love to be able to add trigger warnings to various shows, though that may require me to watch all the episodes we plan to show - which is such a hardship for an anime fan, I know! Heh.
* Whoops, forgot! It's been standard for the past few years that con staff can specify if they want their room to be feather-free or similar. As Accessibility person, attendees can also go through me to arrange for a feather-free room or an ADA room or similar. I didn't actually have anyone take advantage of that this year (I really need to bug our Webmaster to formally announce the Accessibility Department), but it's definitely an option.
I think that's about everything. I am going to aim for everything listed in Accessibility Best Practices for next year - thank Maude for available to-do lists that can also vaguely act as tutorials! - though I'm not sure how much I'll be able to arrange for. I've got my fingers crossed and will be roughing out a timeline, the latter of which should really help me get stuff done, if nothing else. Here's looking to an even more accessible convention next year!
Edit: After some deliberation, I decided to come public with which convention it is. (You could probably tell anyway by searching through my archives.) I'm on staff for AnimeIowa, which is no longer "Iowa's Best Kept Secret". We seriously need a new tagline, LOL. On the off chance that you're interested in helping out at all, let me know and I can give you details on when and where the staff meetings are. At-con volunteers are also welcome.
[Content Note for post: Ablism, Ageism, Binarism]
* Prior to the convention, I arranged for some lovely signs outside all of the public restrooms, asking attendees not to change in stalls and directing them instead to the official convention changing station in Cosplay Central. While they were not entirely successful, I had reports of decreased bathroom changing and that there were people actually aware of and using the changing station, which was basically unheard of in previous years. I personally directed one attendee to the changing station, so I know for a fact at least one person took them seriously.
* I laid out squares for wheelchair seating in every room I could manage. Programming One didn't have chairs until after the con was open on Friday, and I really couldn't escape to get the tape down that day, but Main Programming, Programming Two, Programming Three, and Programming Four all had wheelchair spots.
* On Thursday evening during setup, I got a couple of volunteers to help me lay out the tape for the wheelchair seating, and I pulled some personal teaspooning there. The two of them made sarcastic comments about the "Please don't change in the restroom" signs, saying that they were going to do so just because a sign told them not to, and I took the opportunity to explain about the endemic problem of cosplayers changing in the handicap stalls that people actually need to use to, oh, go to the bathroom in. Upon hearing this, they immediately took back their prior disdain for the signs.
* I also pulled a teaspoon for use of singular "they"; when I suggested it to the volunteers as a pronoun for someone whose gender they had forgotten or were unsure of, one of them said their teacher/grammar text said it was incorrect. I politely explained that a lot of non-binary people use it as their preferred pronoun, including the creator of my favorite webcomic, and not using singular they was erasing those people; they agreed this was bad, no matter what the grammar book had to say about it, so I'm pretty sure they'll be keeping it in mind for the future. All in all, some good teaspooning for an hour's interaction.
* Large print programming books were a go! They looked great, too. I personally know they were helpful to at least two people at the convention, including a returning blind attendee.
* I have no idea about the "Use The Mic" signs I made. Unfortunately for a lot of reasons, I was unable to make my planned announcement during Opening Ceremonies. I had planned during this announcement to: remind panelists to use the microphone; inform the attendees of the existence of the large print program books, "Use The Mic" signs, and the Quiet Room; pass on basic service animal etiquette; explain about the bathroom signs; and ask attendees to limit their artificial scent use. Sadly, our MC was incredibly unclear about when it was time for non-Exec staff to announce things. I wasn't even the only staff member who missed the cue; our Hotel head had to go up on stage after everyone was dismissed to talk about the special Friday surprise. I really didn't have the spoons to go up when unannounced, especially after the day I'd had at the Reg desk, though I thought about hard it. Just making the announcement would have cost a spoon or two, since I'm out of practice at speaking for an audience, but going up "spontaneously"? No. Couldn't do it. I wish I could have, but that's not the way my body chemistry/brain works.
* There were two QUILTBAG-focused panels this year, the first an "It Gets Better" panel hosted by two of our guests of honor (just one more reason why all our guests rock the world, no matter what problems I have with Dan Savage/the It Gets Better project in general) and the second called Otaku LGBTQ+A Unite or something similar. I had other things I wanted to be doing during the It Gets Better panel, but the hosts graciously let me announce the existence of the Quiet Room at the beginning of the panel and explain that it was also available for use as a unisex restroom for people who didn't feel comfortable using sex segregated restrooms. I got a round of applause there, and one of the guests (a personal favorite, Greg Ayers) said he'd never heard of a convention doing that before and thought it was really great. I didn't get near the same reaction at the QUILTBAG Otaku panel, but I'm still glad I managed spread the word a little.
* While I had some issues with one of our Registration staffers, I did manage to make sure our Attendees With Disabilities (AWD) who had an assistant helping them got their assistant's badges comped. (Said Reg staffer insisted that we had to interrogate both parties (AWD and assistant) to make sure they were really disabled and that the assistant was really there to help them and not just a friend trying to get a free ride. Really, it was at her insistence that we don't actually advertize that we comp badges for assistants of AWD and instead ask them to e-mail us if they have any accessibility needs they'd like met, so how she thought anyone could find out in the first place that we comp badges for AWD assistants without having a reason to is beyond me. I managed not to actually roll my eyes in her presence, but I probably strained something from the effort. (She also had some problems with minor badges, and how do we even prove the minors are who they say they are? We have to make them show ID! I mean, Seriously? I only ever had a student ID in Jr High, and I never carried it with me. Not every school even does that and some attendees are home schooled besides; in addition, not everyone has or can even qualify for a learner's permit, let alone a driver's license. She practically made one of our Sponsors cry from badgering her for being a minor without an ID; said Sponsor's mother was justifiably pissed off. I'm seriously going to have to make her flipping LISTEN to me on some of these issues, because this sh1t is Not On.))
* Convention staff had special wrist bands that gave us access to the service corridors, so we didn't always have to walk the quarter mile (or however long that hallway is - I really need to check that for next year) between the lobby and the Dealer's Room. I made sure these wrist bands were available to people who had trouble walking distances. Unfortunately, we didn't really have anyone available to show said AWD where the service corridors were, which basically defeated the point for a number of people. I'll definitely be doing something about that next year. Hopefully a guide/guided tour of said corridors, possibly a map.
* It was revealed this year that the con is actually short of budget, so while we still had the shuttle buses between hotels for this year, the Execs are talking seriously about canceling it for next year. I will be fighting tooth and nail to keep those.
* We'll also be getting a mobile app for our program book next year. It wasn't in the budget this year, but we set aside some funds for it for next year, so it's definitely happening.
* I also spoke at length to a blind attendee, who passed me the number of the Department for the Blind. He said that they'd probably be willing to help us arrange for braille program books next year for a minimal fee, if not at no charge. He also suggested maybe braille playing cards for blind poker tournaments, which sound like a total blast to me, and when I brought up the possibility of a tactile art show for next year, said that the Dept for the Blind could also probably hook us up with artists who specialize in that sort of thing. I'm hoping we can get a lot of our attendees interested in the idea, but outside artists could definitely help boost numbers here.
* I never did manage to contact the family friend who knows ASL this year. Stupid social phobia. I'll definitely be budgeting spoons to do that next year, though.
* Over the past year, I worked on and finally came up with what I thought was a brilliant idea for a volunteering opportunity for blind and low-sighted people (we offer a lot of really effing cool stuff for volunteers, and a lot of people find volunteering to be very fulfilling, so I want volunteering to be an option for everyone; and then there's parents and guardians who don't have anything else to do, and there's no guarantee they'll be fully sighted, so): make matching tactile charms for bag check! I then agonized over how exactly to make them, because finding as many distinct shapes as we needed for individual charms sounded very difficult and expensive, until I hit on the idea of beads. I could string a certain number on a length of cord with a number of distinct shapes, and they would be easy to tell apart by touch. I went with six beads per string and three shapes - cubes, cylanders, and stars, since those were the cheapest distinct shapes I could find in pony beads and I was doing this on my own dime. I ended up with nearly a hundred pairs of charms. Unfortunately it was all for naught in the end, as we have way too many attendees for a hundred charms and came up with a more realistic system on the fly: copying badge number onto a strip of painter's tape and sticking that to the attendee's item(s). I guess it's back to the drawing board for me next year. Edit: Peace marking! I can't believe I forgot about peace marking. I'd put money down that blind and low-sighted people can tie a bit of string onto a prop and ask people to read a statement that they will not use their props for evil. That is totally doable. (Note to self: Make sure Prop Policy is also available to read in large print and braille.) [/edit]
* I also need to double-check our video schedule, see what sort of things we have specified. I remember at least one year we noted which shows were subbed and which were dubbed, and I hope we've kept doing that; in addition, I'd love to be able to add trigger warnings to various shows, though that may require me to watch all the episodes we plan to show - which is such a hardship for an anime fan, I know! Heh.
* Whoops, forgot! It's been standard for the past few years that con staff can specify if they want their room to be feather-free or similar. As Accessibility person, attendees can also go through me to arrange for a feather-free room or an ADA room or similar. I didn't actually have anyone take advantage of that this year (I really need to bug our Webmaster to formally announce the Accessibility Department), but it's definitely an option.
I think that's about everything. I am going to aim for everything listed in Accessibility Best Practices for next year - thank Maude for available to-do lists that can also vaguely act as tutorials! - though I'm not sure how much I'll be able to arrange for. I've got my fingers crossed and will be roughing out a timeline, the latter of which should really help me get stuff done, if nothing else. Here's looking to an even more accessible convention next year!
Edit: After some deliberation, I decided to come public with which convention it is. (You could probably tell anyway by searching through my archives.) I'm on staff for AnimeIowa, which is no longer "Iowa's Best Kept Secret". We seriously need a new tagline, LOL. On the off chance that you're interested in helping out at all, let me know and I can give you details on when and where the staff meetings are. At-con volunteers are also welcome.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-31 12:27 am (UTC)Regarding bead tags: there's a lot of cheap plastic flower-and-star-shaped beads, as well dangles and basically a lot of other stuff that you could use to spice up those combos. You'd still have to make them ahead of time, but that's a few more options for you.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-31 03:39 am (UTC)Good to know! We'll probably be sticking with tape for the forseeable future, since our cap is 3500 and we had ~3060 warm bodies this year, and even with another two or three shapes I don't know if I have the budget or time to come up with the ridiculous number of charms to make things work, but I'll definitely keep it in mind as a suggestion for other cons who want to go the distance.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-31 04:09 am (UTC)There's also those three-pointed funny looking beads that fit together nicely, and faceted beads. There's really huge variety if you know where to look //bead nerd//
It's a really great idea, though.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-31 04:47 am (UTC)Hmm; there is a bead store downtown where a friend of the family works. Mayhap I should nose around there a while. Incidentally, I went with pony beads because I was worried about string strength and decided lanyard would be the best bet for keeping things from breaking/falling off; any chance you have any other/better string suggestions? That could really open up a huge number of bead shapes to me.
Thanks <3
no subject
Date: 2012-07-31 06:53 am (UTC)Same with the lanyard - it's tough stuff and fairly cheap, and overall probably the best decision for this kind of work. Hemp or other twine might also work, but it's a pain to string things onto without some experience. Lanyard's a bit tougher to tie and more likely to come unwound on it's own, though.
Relatedly, both lanyard and twine open up the possibility of including knots as a way of distinguishing the charms, too! It gives you the ability to leave gaps in stuff - like, circle square knot-gap-knot circle star VS circle square circle knot-gap-knot star.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-31 04:40 pm (UTC)Part of my problem with lanyard was that I was cutting it the minimal length for the number of beads we were using. If I'd cut it longer, we probably could've gone with granny knotting the two strands at once rather than double-knotting the ends closed; the former is much less likely to unravel, IMO.
Gaps! Oh wow, that would really expand our options. I'm kinda reluctant to use gaps wider than "two or three beads" for reasons I can't quite articulate, but it's got real potential.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-31 05:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-31 07:21 pm (UTC)Another thing I did with the bead charms: I did my best to make sure all the shapes were different colors. The stars I bought in a one-pound bag of rainbow colors, so with those I just sorted out the colors that matched the other two bead shapes (green and white), as well as orange, red, and pink. The idea was that people with low-vision (with color) or normal vision could more easily tell at a glance what the patterns were, because why not? I did my best to compensate for red/green colorblindness at the very least, but we really didn't get much use out of the charms, so I don't know how well that helped in the end.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-31 06:24 pm (UTC)New to me is the idea of a changing station for cosplayers, which is brilliant. (I am going to add that to the best practices wiki!)
Can you explain to me about the peace props? I'm not familiar with this.
It sounds like maybe you could use another volunteer or two to help you with access stuff, so that you don't have to do it all, because you are doing A LOT.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-31 07:12 pm (UTC)I suggested it probably about four years back, and it was implemented pretty much on the spot, but no one really knew about it until the signs this year, so I'm really pleased with them. (OMG, something I suggested is being added to what's essentially my measuring stick for con access! BRB, flailing forever.)
Can do :) At our convention, we expect all attendees to read our props/weapons policy aloud to a staffer or volunteer, to signify that they know what it says and that they agree to it. Once they've done this, we tie a piece of brightly colored ribbon or string around their prop, showing that they've agreed to behave appropriately with it. We call this "peace marking". That way, if anyone acts up with a prop, we can generally make an assumption as to whether they're acting out of ignorance or asshattery, since the follow-up is different for each of them.
Oh Maude, could I ever! I basically put everything together myself, with some help from our Hotel head (who is awesome), and switching ADHD meds right when I was starting was really not helpful with any of it.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-31 07:24 pm (UTC)THAT IS BRILLIANT!
Also, I will note in the Wiki that the changing station idea came from you. It is a wiki, after all--it's meant to be crowd-sourced! :D
no subject
Date: 2012-07-31 07:37 pm (UTC)I am seriously chair dancing here. I did a good thing! \o/
On Peace Marking
Date: 2012-08-01 03:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-01 03:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-01 03:19 pm (UTC)Plus we comp a hotel room on the night of meetings for anyone who traveled over three hours to get there, but I'm trying to avoid that whole "hard sale" thing.'Course, you know your travel and board requirements better than I do, so consider that qualified with an "If the spoons are available".no subject
Date: 2012-08-03 04:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-08-04 02:59 am (UTC)