BlerDCon’s Response to the Pandemic: An Interview with Founder and Con-Chair, Hilton George
“Javon, have you heard anything from BlerDCon?” a friend asked. “Nothing. Man, I was looking forward to it,” I said with fond memories playing in my mind. On May 11, BlerDCon published an official postponement to July 16–18, 2021. Although my friends and I expected a cancellation, it was still quite heartbreaking to see BlerDCon was not happening this year. BlerDCon is an annual event in which nerdy melanin-popp’in folk congregate in Crystal City, VA for a three-day extravaganza of all things Black and nerdy.
BlerDCon planned to have its 4th convention this year, with “Chocolate City” as the theme. I attended BlerDCon 2018 and BlerDCon 2019 and had a fantastic experience. It is still the only convention I ever participated in which someone can get a shape-up with a fade, see fire twirlers and a 24-hour anime showing all in one place. In March, the flood gates for the virus rapidly kicked off in the US. I planned to give presentations at Indiana Comic Con in April, Balticon in May, attend Awesomecon in May, and lastly, give a talk with a colleague of mine for BlerDCon. COVID-19 was and still is hard to wrestle with as it is a virus not only attacking and killing friends and family but forcing us to stay away from the physical venues and people close to our hearts and identities.
Also, in March, I obtained a list of conventions set to occur within the US and Canada this year. At first, the list was mostly green, indicating the con was still happening. However, there were a couple of yellows showing a postponement and one or two reds, indicating a cancellation or virtual convention. March, April, May, and June have come and gone, and this list is now majority red with some conventions in green for September through December. Click here to see the list. However, how does a convention cancellation work? What are some of the financial and political underpinnings conventions have gone through because of the pandemic?
I reached out to Head Blerd-In-Charge, Hilton George, to gain insight into how BlerDCon has specifically dealt with the pandemic and the con’s next steps. Please note, this was an hour-long conversation. Below are the main themes and questions that were brought up.
“The con will ‘cancel’ itself whether we pull the lever or not.”
The first question I posed was, “What was going through your mind once things shut down?” “Well, it did not shut down all at once. That’s the scary part,” says George. “As everybody will recall, we came into coronavirus and COVID-19 were just terms floating out there. They were not on anyone’s radar at all. Had not really hit in the US, and we’re a nation that doesn’t do pandemics. It’s not our thing.”
“Not our thing” refers to US federal agencies in place (e.g., CDC, NIH) that address viral outbreaks (e.g., Sars outbreak in the early 2000s and the 2009 H1N1 pandemic). George then talked about his convention outings at the beginning of 2020, which started with MAGFest, which I also attended. “[I] go into MAGFest happy as a clam. A little more aware like, ‘okay, maybe there is a little something extra out there,’ so maybe just be a little extra aware…but it was real casual,” stated George.
It was when Katsucon, held between February 14–16, 2020, that George and many others around him started to discuss the safety of attending at all. “At that point, I heard people actually talking about the full name: coronavirus. ‘Should we go with this coronavirus out here?’”. At the time, the White House was not saying anything about it, there was little national conversation about it, and “rooms were already paid for,” he mentioned. Despite some concerns, George attended Katsucon.
It was not until days after Katsucon that the reality of the virus began to hit home and started the conversation with other conventions about continuing with their events. As municipalities began to close down, George and other convention leaders spoke with each other asking, “‘Should we cancel the con?’, or should we just say everybody [wears] masks?’” In the state of figuring things out, he reached out to the Hyatt Hotel in Crystal City, Virginia, where BlerDCon takes place in July. “I even talked to the Hyatt…and said, ‘What are you guys doing about coronavirus?’’ The Hyatt had sent George a two-paged document related to the disinfectant procedures, as George phrased it, “Disinfecting all touch surfaces. Rails. The dirtiest thing on the planet is actually the escalator railing…It was like this robust plan. So, go Hyatt!” he exclaimed.
On February 15, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) published Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report-55 which reported “153,517” confirmed cases in the world, with the US having had “1,678.” On March 15, 2020, WHO published its 67th report, which showed globally confirmed cases at “509,164” with the US at “68,334.” This was an approximately 4000% increase in US cases. “So all the spring conventions were either getting postponed or canceled, and people were looking at me. Other cons were looking at me like going, ‘Oh! This is terrible, Hilton. This is bad news all around, however, if this thing gets under control because, you know, there still is a 50/50 shot…,” he said expressively.
Like most people, myself included, I was hoping the virus would somehow fizzle out, at least by the summer. George’s colleagues thought the same way. He stated with bravado,
“They’re like ‘If this thing flames out in the spring…and everything wraps up in time for BlerDCon, you’re going to have like five, six, ten cons that had been canceled before Blerd, and BlerDCon is going to be the biggest convention in human history because everyone is [waiting to go out].” “I’m not prepared for that.”
As days went on and the viral outbreak continued, he had meetings with his staff and other cons, while the Blerd community expressed concern. George asserted, “At some point…if the community, paranoia, or fear, or concern meets or exceeds the reality of the virus. It doesn’t matter if we have it or not. The con will ‘cancel’ itself whether we pull the lever or not.”
“Force majeure, that is basically known as an act of God.”
My next question to Hilton George was, “How come BlerDCon waited until May to change the date?” He was way ahead of me and immediately started to shed light on the contractual obligations of conventions. George explained,
“There is this term called ‘force majeure,’ that is basically known as an act of God. So if I sign a contract with a convention…there is the cost of doing the convention like, ‘How much [is a convention] going to pay for the services, the setup, the convention space…and how [is the convention] going to pay it?”
Furthermore, he shared that conventions of modest size could pay between $20,000 to $25,000, especially “if they are cleaning, setting up tables and chairs, and staging, and power.” Again, these are the upfront costs, and assuming the revenue from convention-goers will meet or exceed expectations. Poignantly put by George:
“However, the cost of [a convention] canceling, the charge and the fees that go along with [a convention] preempting the expected revenue of that facility, and that number for that is higher in hotel convention centers than stand-alone convention centers because the hotel is counting on people eating in the restaurant, drinking in the bars, paying for parking, paying for dry cleaning, room service, even the little coffee shop, bookstore they are counting on that.”
Thus, hotel conventions cost “twice or three times” as much because of the expected revenue, so to cancel would be a financial nightmare. This is where force majeure comes into play. “So force majeure is when the state, or the city, or something prohibits your event from happening,” he stated. George used a hypothetical situation of a comet hitting the Hyatt hotel, burning it down, and the Hyatt not having time to build before the start of the convention. In this case, force majeure would go into effect. Therefore, BlerDCon would not be liable for anything or have any financial obligations.
“[Convention stakeholders] was waiting for force majeure. Nobody wants to do force majeure! No hotel wants to do force majeure. No convention center wants to do force majeure. But until [a convention] gets it, canceling could be two really different propositions,” proclaimed George. He mentioned he saw the questions from the community asking why certain conventions did not make an official cancellation early on. State politics plays a significant role in this. George used Georgia as an example of being one of the last states to close and one of the first to reopen. This example highlights how state government could dictate whether a convention receives force majeure at all because the venue owners are waiting for local government officials, mayors, governors, etc. to close the area. As it relates to BlerDCon,
“People [were] waiting to hear from these conventions, and [people] were waiting to hear from [BlerDCon], and [BlerDCon] was waiting to hear from the Hyatt, who was waiting to hear from [the] corporate office, who was waiting to hear from the governor of Virginia, and the mayor of Arlington, and the CDC, and the NIH, and the White House, and [BlerDCon] sitting [there] waiting. And until [BlerDCon] hears those magic words, all we could do was kind of wait.”
On May 11, BlerDCon released a statement postponing the convention until next year, July 16–18th, 2021.
George estimated, “20% percent…of mid and small conventions are not going to survive this. They’re not going to survive this. Here’s why? [Not all] con spaces have a force majeure clause.” He goes on to mention again that BlerDCon takes place at a hotel. Thus, the contract includes a force majeure clause (among other legal matters). Some conventions take place in rented-out large areas without force majeure being a part of the negotiations. “If you’re a small convention and I know a lot of them. There are a lot more conventions than people know that are operating out of someone’s grandma’s pocket,” claimed George. Therefore, he makes the point that conventions who have had more substantial investments and revenues will survive this pandemic. In contrast, smaller conventions may not survive depending on “the size and how the financials are laid out.”
Depending on the circumstances, some conventions such as Collective Con in Jacksonville, Florida, and comic book shops such as Titan Comics in Dallas, Texas, decided to host events. George bluntly puts it, “You know, if you actually have the con, you don’t owe anybody any refunds.” Therefore, to remain open is not just about gaining revenue from one event, but ensuring the convention has a chance to exist at all in the future by avoiding any long-lasting financial burdens.
According to George, BlerDCon has an “arc of growth” and community support to survive not having a convention this year. Due in part, BlerDCon will honor badges purchased for BlerDCon 2020 next year during the 2021 event. Additionally, special guests have agreed to attempt to come back next year, and panelists are ensured a place in the schedule next year.
“Ummm, I don’t believe in it. I’m sorry.”
This exchange between Hilton George and I happened over Zoom, an online video-conferencing service that I, my friends, my job, and many others are using to stay in communication with one another. Conventions, such as Balticon, held their event through a combination of Zoom and Discord, another online conferencing and streaming software. So I directly asked the con-chair, “Why no online BlerDCon?” George boldly stated, “Ummm, I don’t believe in it. I’m sorry. I don’t know how to articulate it better than that.” He clarified his point with an example. If a famed celebrity such as Chadwick Boseman could not make it to a convention physically, then video-conferencing via Zoom would prove to be very useful. However, a convention cannot simulate other physical experiences over Zoom.
To George, if virtual conventions were just as good as a physical one, he believed such actions would have happened some time ago. “But you have to remember, “ he said candidly. “The nerd community, most of us have, if not all, have a very significant chunk our personal social circles exist in the con community. The conventions are where we connect,” George declared. The con-chair connected this point to cosplaying in which he shared that some people feel more like themselves when outfitted as their favorite character than wearing a suit at a job. George protested, “You cannot substitute that in a virtual way. If you try to do it, you ultimately will fall short.” Furthermore,
“This is what I did not want to have happened with BlerDCon in the short term. I did not want people to come to a BlerDCon virtual experience expecting the same feeling that you get in a physical BlerDCon space because I don’t think you can truly simulate that experience.”
George acknowledged that not all cons are the same. Thus some conventions may be able to pull off a virtual convention well. He pointed to San Diego Comic-Con as an excellent example in which an online environment can simulate the panels, special announcements, and overall theatrics expected from this convention. In this example, George said, “You can simulate that a little better than a spontaneous Cha-Cha Slide happening in the video arcade.” He reflected on the time an unauthorized DJ party occurred in a small room in the convention: “People were coming to me, telling me how great a time they had at that event thinking I was one of the people who planned it.” The con-chair concluded that the effort to create a virtual BlerDCon could have worked. However, the fear of causing dissatisfaction among community members would be too great a risk, especially in keeping the same positive energy into 2021.
“And I think this is what I always wanted for BlerDCon is community buy-in and community ownership.”
As the conversation came to a close, I shared with George that I believed BlerDCon was in a unique position due to strong community support. This support allows the convention to focus on 2021 with an expectation it will be well-attended. To ensure BlerDCon’s year-over-year growth George stated,
“[BlerDCon has] to promote this convention like it’s our first year. And that means we have to make sure the ideas are fresh, the themes are fresh, the guests are fresh, and most importantly, that we are still a community-based convention. And I think that this is what I always wanted for BlerDCon is community buy-in and community ownership. And to whatever degree as the person who literally owns, I can make the community feel as if they own the con, its a success for the convention and for the community.”
Music, food, dance parties, and even a barbershop were all a part of the BlerDCon experience last year. These events all come from the suggestions made by the community, as expressed by the con-chair.
Although members of the Blerd community will not be able to meet-and-greet, shout-and-stomp, and do the two-step in 2020, BlerDCon is working on a website dedicated to the exposure and “long-term engagement” for the community. Furthermore, BlerDCon is actively working on ascertaining a second venue to accommodate the explosive growth of the convention.
Of course, the reality is until a vaccine comes out, most conventions will not be held in-person. George expressed, even with a vaccine, there will still be a lot of hesitancy for folks, and people will still be wearing masks. Charmingly, George asserted, “I don’t think we are going to get rid of the virus, but with a treatment and/or a vaccine, we can survive it. And if we survive the virus, you can survive a con, and if you gonna survive a con, it might as well be BlerDCon.”
