Read on Twitter
Thread. I’ve been chewing on things we can do to save the scene for the last week, with an increasing sense of urgency. It’s become clear that nobody is coming to save us, and we’re going to have to create entirely new standards in order to move forward.
I want to share some thoughts, starting with the most immediate needs. These are, obviously, one persons opinions. I’ve tried my hardest to prioritize the whole community instead of catering to the urge to center oneself in this kind of work. And I’m v interested in commentary.
This is something I feel will have to be built by a lot of people with a lot of talents. I have ideas, but I don’t have a developed skill set in creating this kind of programming in full, SO PLEASE TAG WORKERS, FANS, AND PROMOTERS where applicable.
First, we need a better way to communicate. I am not sure if that is best done with a message board, a Discord, a Slack, or what. We can’t organize on Twitter. Too much noise and too many eyes, not that this should be secretive in any way, just... not on Twitter.
I would like for us who are able to compile as many educational resources as possible. Does this sound pretty level 100? Yeah, but think of how many people were kept in the dark and in isolation because they literally did not know they had been harmed in a way that should be
discussed. How many of us didn’t realize we were raped until weeks or months or years later? Creating a Resource Guide for survivors, and creating a Guide for allies is paramount. This can be basic educational tools from websites, it can be relevent essays, zines. Too many
sexual assault guides are Police heavy and rely too strongly on hospitals and authorities. We know how ineffective this is. What if we did the work to match survivors with local and regional programming to encourage them on a path forward? What if you could
talk to a confidential ally who could help you locate a sliding scale clinic in your city if you can’t already afford therapy?
I am of the opinion a *Universal* Code of Conduct should be adopted by multiple promotions who are all willing to hold ourselves and each other (!) to a certain standard. Keep the language and expections the same company to company. I know my east coast folks would largely
be on board, but I still have yet to figure out whether or not other regions would be willing to engage in this kind of work. I would like to be optimistic and I would like fans to maintain high expectations.
We need to get properly trained in some shit! I propose mixing our own DIY workshops with professional certifications for things like event security, mental health first aid, victim advocacy, bystander intervention, you name it. We know our business better than anyone
else, but lord knows we have some major blind spots and an overall lack of *collective* experience in individual change making.
We need to diversify our company staffs. I plan on running an informal Zoom training in the next week to describe what I do for Culture (and Branding) with PTPW, because I think it’s a model that should and must be brought to other promotions. We don’t have HR in this biz. We
need SOME degree of it, and I don’t see many promoters enforcing this without some degree of convincing us all that this is indeed a good idea.
These efforts cannot come exclusively from workers. It has to be a whole community effort, and yeah, sorry to those who cringe, but that absolutely involves fans in some way. We have to properly organize because I’ve learned over the last few months that nobody
else is going to save us. We just aren’t taken seriously enough by the broader culture, and we won’t ever be if we wait around for that kind of approval.
