Hey everyone, I'm happy to announce that one of the oldest geek culture conventions in the United States, Archon, will be hosting a GamerGate panel. The convention will run from Friday, September 29th through Sunday, October 1st, though I don't yet know the exact date or time of the panel. The convention will be held at the Gateway Center in Collinsville (Illinois), less than twenty minutes from Saint Louis and just over four hours away from Chicago. Tickets are currently only $55 for a weekend pass, but you can also get one-day passes for much cheaper.
The panel will open with a discussion on what GamerGate means to us (the panelists and the audience) and how we got involved. From there we will give a presentation on the history of GamerGate and the core arguments and principles that both sides of the debate embody. Much like my Arch Anime panel, we'll encourage audience participation and a healthy back and forth about the various ideas and events related to GamerGate, the games industry and social justice in gaming.
This will be my third time hosting a GamerGate panel, having previously ran panels at Arch Anime 2016 and Natsucon 2016. A friend of mine who is neutral on GamerGate and who has argued that both "SJWs" and "anti-SJWs" have become equally authoritarian, has expressed interest in representing a more neutral perspective. I've also reached out to my friend and fellow #GGinSTL organizer, gladiatorskull, to possibly be a panelist, though if he gets involved, will likely just help with the logistics and setup.
The convention would also like me to find an anti-GamerGate panelist if possible, though I believe that may prove difficult. With that being said, I have reached out to an anti-GamerGate person on Reddit, who had previously attended my Natsucon panel, to see if they are interested. If any GamerGhazi or anti-GamerGate people are reading this and are interested in possibly representing a more "anti-GamerGate" or "pro-social justice" perspective, feel free to reach out to me.
If anyone is interested in attending, feel free to request off work, book a hotel room and/or book a flight now. Hotel rooms in the immediate area are likely be booked by now, since Archon books extremely fast and is a massive convention. You may be able to book a hotel room within 20-45 minutes of the convention center though. Assuming there aren't any super interesting panels or events immediately following the panel, we'll probably head to the bar to relax and continue the discussion with anyone interested (on either side). Hope to see you shitlords there!
>More Information:
Archon Website: http://archonstl.org/
Pre-Registration: http://archonstl.org/badge.html
Lodging: http://archonstl.org/sleepthyhead.html
Contact Me (Twitter): https://twitter.com/netscape9