Forum - View topicNEWS: Anime Expo's SPJA Announces Youth Protection Program
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JONJONAUG
Posts: 9 |
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I've been reading posts on other forums from people affected by this stating that AX is not paying for the background checks, and that it costs 50 dollars a head.
EDIT: Also that "safety" video is funny as hell and makes corporate produced videos about workplace harassment look good. EDIT 2: Also I've been told that this is a fee they have to pay on top of the regular fees for exhibitors, and that this is being added after contracts have already been signed. |
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Bastille
 Posts: 70 |
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I wonder if that third party company has any connections to someone at SPJA. It will certainly be weird if they only accept background checks from this third party company and reject all others.
Edit: Isn't Cosplay Deviants one of the main sponsors of AX? That's going to make for a very awkward convention when one of their main sponsors would seemingly clash with this THINK OF THE CHILDREN image that AX is adopting. |
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FenixFiesta
Posts: 2581 |
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It sounds more like a variation on the "cosplay isn't Consent" than it is about "THINK UV TEH CHILDRENZ" Toss in the nature of certain States getting what amounts to as pro-discrimination laws so SPJA simply wants to remind folks that being an open bigot at there sponsored conventions isn't ok. |
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Cptn_Taylor
Posts: 925 |
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Think of the Children. The typical mantra that is spewed when corporatocracy takes over and sucks the life of grass roots events. I've never heard of such "requisites" being necessary for conventions held in Europe. Especially in France and Italy. Japan Expo and the Lucca convention (the 2 biggest europen anime conventions) are not hives of criminality or child predators. So these rules are specific to the US. It just boggles the mind.
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tenton
Posts: 14 |
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Actually, this is not specific to the US. These rules are completely unheard of any every US con. Including AX, until very recently. This is also being imposed rather suddenly, without any warning or really time to comply (the con is less than 2 months away. There are a lot of people affected by this).
I'm also wondering how Japanese guests are supposed to comply with this when all the training is in English. And will background checks even work for them? |
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samuelp
Industry Insider
Posts: 2231 Location: San Antonio, USA |
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I kind of sympathize with the convention here... I don't know the motivations for these sorts of impositions, but I suspect it all comes down to one thing: liability.
If, god forbid, something happens to a con attendee because of a vendor/guest/staff... even volunteer, and that attendee or their parents sue, the con is in deep trouble unless it can show it did everything in its power to prevent it... And the bigger the con, the bigger the target. That being said, if they are not careful about how they implement these things, they could easily damage their relationships with the vendors and guests... It also just kind of looks bad to have to have "safe-spaces" in cons in my opinion. Aren't anime conventions themselves kind of the original "safe-space" for counter-culture young people to be able to express themselves freely? |
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Utsuro no Hako
Posts: 1034 |
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Yes, and there've been a number of high profile incidents at SF and anime cons over the last few years which have led to a push for detailed harassment policies. People keep saying this is more "Think of the Children" nonsense, but when you're talking about conventions where a large number of attendees are underage, then that's actually an appropriate attitude to have. Excluding people who have a history of inappropriate behavior is perfectly reasonable. Yeah, it sucks that the cost is falling on people operating booths, but the other option is to pass it on to attendees. |
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Cutiebunny
 Posts: 1747 |
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I feel that the burden of protecting children lies on the respective parent/legal guardian who drops them off. There used to be a time when Anime Expo expected that all minors would have a legal guardian somewhere at the convention center and the convention would retain their contact information in the event that the minor needed assistance. I guess asking parents to take some responsibility for their children (and their children's friends) is too much to ask now.
Yes, more and more I think I've made the right decision to abandon Aniplex Expo. Wouldn't be surprised if they hit 100K in terms of attendance this year, and you now have to get up at 3 am instead of 4 if you want an autograph from a popular guest. |
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Mr. Oshawott
 Posts: 6773 |
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While I understand that youth safety is vital for an enjoyable convention experience, I think this youth protection system could end up hurting Anime Expo and their guests more than helping them...
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Joshua Taylor
Posts: 23 |
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If SPJA's policy about cracking down on moe, then I'm in.
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DJStarstryker
 Posts: 140 |
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I can't help but wonder if something major happened last year and/or if SPJA is trying to protect themselves from liability in case something happens in the future.
TBH, in these days of vanishing privacy and companies not being able to protect data, I would not feel comfortable giving AX and their 3rd party company my information. The $50 cost really hurts Artist Alley people (who make minimal profit sometimes) and volunteers (who make no money doing it) too. Also, background checks that are done by any US-based company will NOT work on Japanese or other non-US guests. So is this only going to be done for US-based people? I think this is going to really hurt AX in the long run, because some people will be unwilling to pay and submit to a background check. |
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sailorsweeper
Posts: 416 |
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The 50$ dollar background check on top of all the other expenses that Artist Alley members and volunteers already need to pay is a bit much and will hurt AX since there will be less of them for multiple reasons
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revolutionotaku
Posts: 886 |
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It appears that they've shut down comments on both their YouTube videos.
I've noticed that there were a lot of dislikes one of them. |
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Hiroki not Takuya
 Posts: 2514 |
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She is usually very cautious and considers AX relatively safe, but she has mentioned that all too often random creep guys try to "pull something" with her or other girls and yes, Only In America. She says she felt safer in downtown Berlin at midnight than AX or anyplace in the US. Also, last year she couldn't find a SPJA person or security guard to tell when this stuff happened and says even the security guard in Cafe21 was "partying" so she had to "take care" of a couple of creepy drunks there herself. SPJA had better staff-up the convention floor or all this will be pointless. Still, having "safe places" designated will make AX seem less safe which may hurt the show and a $50 background check will definitely hurt Artists. Last edited by Hiroki not Takuya on Sat May 07, 2016 12:17 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Hoppy800
 Posts: 3331 |
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It's too strict and too lenient in the wrong ways, the background checks aren't free (Why?, this will hurt artists and US guests), it's not covering anyone outside of the US (Again, Why?), and really safe spaces? You don't need those at an anime convention, also those won't fly outside of the west and maybe east coasts. It's a convoluted mess that will hurt any convention adopting this model.
This could actually be remedied by just having kids under 16 maybe 17 or 18 be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Safer in Berlin? Not in this day and age with the migrant crisis. I feel safer in the poorer parts of Manila or Houston than Berlin. |
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