Hi everyone,

I know I haven't done convention reports in years, and every year Otakon is the one that is the most stressful and most drama-filled, but this year that passed just takes the cake. I'll post below what has already been written by ~zimmay, with my additional comments.

zimmay:

I've had a lot of people asking me, "So what happened to you at Otakon?" Finni and I have been quietly mentioning some of the incident with the staff we had this year, but still keeping it hushed since we were hoping to see it resolved internally and professionally… but it doesn't seem like it's going to happen, at least not in the way we were hoping. So now we're turning to you guys, the artists of the internet, so you'll know what kind of treatment to expect from the staff if you ever want to sell your art at Otakon. It's long, so bear with me or skip to the bottom for the TL;DR version.

Around 10:00pm on Friday, July 27th, after a long first day of selling, I was asked to speak with Martin Matthews and "Dizzy", the two heads of Otakon's Artist Alley staff. They told me that my tables, (I had two and gave one to Finni as the 'secondary artist') were, "too close to being 50/50," in fanart and original art, and asked me to take down some fanart and hang up more original art. I was confused, since I had carefully planned my display to be exactly 50/50 and knew Finni had done the same, but they weren't interested in hearing my argument. I tried to show them which of my pieces were original since people often mistake our originals for fanart, and showed them how my catalogue of prints was divided perfectly in half, but they still insisted we were over the limit. They told me I had to take some fanart down and hang up more originals to be, "more like 60/40," and to have my table partner do the same. Even though I was frustrated, I did as they asked and told Finni what they said about our displays. We were both really confused at this point and weren't sure if they were doing this count by number or surface area, so she went to go speak with them to clarify the 50/50 fanart-to-original display rule.

A few minutes later I was asked by a staff member to come to their table. I was already a ball of nerves from the last encounter so I asked Finni to come with me. I'm a really passive person while she's more assertive, so I felt more comfortable with her, especially since Martin is a large and imposing man. But when we got there, Martin immediately told her to leave, saying this discussion was a private one between him, Dizzy, and me. 

After she left, Martin turned on me, claiming Finni had, "verbally assaulted," him, and that as the primary artist of our two tables he was holding me responsible for her behavior. I knew that couldn't be true, but in front of him and alone I was too afraid to disagree with him. I apologized for her and tried to explain that she has a strong personality that might come off the wrong way if you don't know her, but he wasn't listening. He threatened me repeatedly, saying, "I want you to understand how close you are to being banned from the Artist Alley right now." I continued apologize, since that seemed to be what he was after. He then held up the Artist Alley contract right in my face and told me read the third rule to him out loud. To my understanding, the rule was 'interpretation of any rules will be left up to staff.' I still didn't know what had been said to make him do this, but I read it for him despite my confusion. Martin then told me that if she were to talk to him again he would ban us both from the Alley. His last instruction was to, "keep her in line." My blood was boiling, but I managed to hold my composure and just apologized again and again since I didn't know what else to say anymore. 

After I was allowed to leave, I went back to my table to hide behind my display because I couldn't keep it together much longer. Despite all the difficulties of getting there, I love going to Otakon's Artist Alley. I work really hard and try my best to get there every year. I make plans a year in advance despite the table lottery and fly all the way out from California to attend, and I've been attending since 2008. Both of us have. It's a special convention to me because it's the only time of year I get to see all of my east coast friends in one place. And I really didn't want that taken away just because one staffer didn't like my friend's tone of voice. I felt bullied and awful.

Once I calmed down, Finni told me she did not verbally assault Martin like he claimed; she only asked for clarification on the 50/50 rule, since they had been so vague. Yeah, she asked him assertively, but there's a huge difference between being assertive and verbal assault. Verbal assault is oral or written speech that creates, or is intended to create, fear of physical harm. I'm not really sure how Martin turned a firm question into something as serious and dramatic as assault, but apparently he took it as a question of his authority and blew it way out of proportion. Offended, he sought me out in order to punish her by threatening to ban us both. But threatening to ban us when we were following his instruction and only seeking clarification was a hugely unfair abuse of this power as co-head of Artist Alley.

A lot of artists were upset for us and helped us get through the rest of the weekend by encouraging us to take this matter over Martin's head to higher authority within the convention staff. Since then, Finni has been very proactive in communicating with the Otakon Chief of Staff, and it seemed like progress was being made… but we were recently informed that the only thing Otakon plans on doing is talking with staff, rewriting rules, and updating their FAQ. 

I admit, I was hoping to see Martin replaced for this, since I'd rather not have someone willing to threaten and scare artists into submission in charge of one of the largest Artist Alleys in North America. I'm also not the only case where he's bullied or been rude to artists who were trying to follow their vague rules. But this solution is a very Otakon-like thing to do. When something goes wrong, they make more rules. Rewrite those rules. Talk with staff, make more rules. Update FAQ. Lots of talk, and no action. I was hoping to make this post with a happy resolved ending, but it doesn't seem like Otakon is willing to resolve this beyond more talk and rule-making. So artists beware, the Artist Alley staff of this convention is likely to mistreat you, threaten you, and slam the banhammer down on you and anyone affiliated with you if they think you have so much as a toe out of line.

TL;DR - Finni and I went to Otakon's Artist Alley and did our best to follow all of their rules. When the staff said we were breaking their fanart rule we followed their instruction despite our confusion. Finni asked them how we were breaking the rules and what we could do to fix it, and received no answer. As punishment for asking for clarification, the head of Otakon's AA privately threatened me over and over with banishment from the Alley. This man has thoroughly abused his staff power on several occasions, and this was only one of them. Despite calm and professional communication with Otakorp on this matter, the convention has only resolved to revise their rules. Again.

And no, we never got that question answered.

A little additional insight to the story from me:

When I approached Matthews, he had not spoken to me at all, so I approached to assertively ask how my table was in violation of the rule, and how they were calculating 50-50: by count or by surface area. He told me "It's not even a point of contention". I tried to ask how this situation was being evaluated because they didn't even speak to me, and my original pieces get mistaken for fan art all the time, maybe there was a mistake, but again I was met with "It's not even a point of contention". He said that both tables are being treated as one entity, and that therefore both tables were in violation. So then I asked how do I fix my table if I don't know how you guys are interpreting the rules, and he pointed over to where Zimmay was taking down fan arts and said that the fixes were already being made; it's done. So I said thank you, and then left. 

Immediately afterwards, two other artists, who were sitting in the vicinity, overheard Matthews talking about me, saying I was "bitching" and that they were going to reject my application outright if I tried to apply again to next year's Otakon Artist Alley table lottery.

Rules are rules -- and as artists who want to showcase their work in Artist Alley, we have to follow these rules. However, I really can not tolerate this man's rude behavior, nor can I trust his track record for fairly administering clauses such as allowing staff to have final discretion on how these rules are applied or enforced. I have been told now by Otakorp's Correspondence Secretary and Vice Con-Chair, who has seen our complaints, (EDIT: along with the Otakorp Chief of Staff, who received our formal complaint) that they are going to make the rules easier to understand and update the FAQs, and that they "hope to see [me] next year." However, nothing has been initiated to rectify this staff member's threatening and degrading behavior towards Zimmay, nor his abuse of power.

You can find my original post here: [link]

I know we are not the only artists who have been harassed or bullied by this staff member, nor was this our first time having problems with Otakon staff. However, this time the our voice needs to be heard and people need to know that this is how Otakon staff have been and are treating artists who dedicate a lot of time and money to attend and showcase their work at Otakon, and we are a part of what draws the con-goer crowd to attend every year.

EDIT: There seems to be some confusion so let me say this straight. Yes, we have already submitted a formal complaint to Otakorp, the corporation that runs Otakon. This is why it has taken a month to step forward with our story, because we were trying to resolve the situation quietly, above the influence of power that the Artist Alley head holds.

ADDITIONAL EDIT: Otakorp's Chief of Staff just emailed me back, after more than two weeks of silence, within an hour of us taking our story of harassment public to the Internet, stating that they do not tolerate behavior like this from staff members, and expect staff to treat Otakon members with respect, and that our complaints are not falling on deaf ears. Whether this is pure coincidence or really an effect of spreading our story, I truly appreciate everyone's continued support and strongly encourage those with stories of their own to step up and speak to Otakorp. I am more than willing to share their contact information for those who send me a private message either here or on Tumblr.

ANOTHER EDIT: If anyone else has also had problems with Artist Alley staff this year, please contact Cristina Odom, Otakorp's Chief of Staff with your statement. You can ask to keep your name confidential. The more support we can get, the better chances we have of making some changes within the Otakon staff. If you were too timid to speak up before, please understand that now is the time to help create some change so that we, as artists, don't have to attend Artist Alley in fear of their staff members and their behavior.

--Finni

NOTE: The Otakon Artist Alley forum is locked to those who are not registered users. You will need to log in or create an account

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Where to find me:
Twitter @FinniChang | Tumblr | Facebook | Anipan | PIXIV
ONLINE SHOP: finni.storenvy.com

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Artist Alley Convention Schedule 2012:
Anime Los Angeles (January 7-8, 2012) in Los Angeles, CA
Anime Conji (March 16-18, 2012) in San Diego, CA
SakuraCon (April 6-8, 2012) in Seattle, WA
  Fanime (May 25-28, 2012) in San Jose, CA
A-Kon (June 1-3, 2012) in Dallas, TX
  AM2 (June 15-17, 2012) in Anaheim, CA
Anime Expo (June 29- July 2, 2012) in Los Angeles, CA
San Diego Comic-Con (July 12-15, 2012) in San Diego, CA -- attendee
Otakon (July 27-29, 2012) in Baltimore, MD
Comikaze Expo (September 15-16, 2012) in Los Angeles, CA
Anime Weekend Atlanta (September 28-30, 2012) in Atlanta, GA
New York Comic Con (October 11-14, 2012) in New York, New York CANCELED


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