C2E2 Panel Video 2: “Opening the Clubhouse Doors: Creating More Inclusive Geek Communities”

As promised, here is the full video for our C2E2 panel on geek communities, inclusivity, diversity and representation: “Opening the Clubhouse Doors: Creating More Inclusive Geek Communities.”* (UPDATE: The following discussion covers some difficult topics and carries trigger warnings for mentions of rape threats, harassment and cissexism.)

In many ways, this panel epitomizes the kind of experience that C2E2 has been for me – one which makes it possible for professionals who are “names” in the industry to come together with passionate fans in order to create engaging and informative dialogs that can help move geek and nerd communities forward in more progressive directions. If you had asked me back in 2010 at that first C2E2 if I could have imagined myself sharing a mic with Gail Simone, I would have asked you what you were smoking and where could I get some? And yet here we are, and I can’t express how amazingly honored I’ve been to have had this experience working with everyone on this panel. I only wish we’d had more time, because it was clear that everyone had a wealth of knowledge and perspectives to share and we barely scratched the surface. So I hope we have the chance to come together and continue the discussion soon.

I’d like to thank Mary Robinette Kowal, Karlyn Meyer, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Gail Simone, Jeff Smith, and Scott Snyder for so graciously donating their time and energy to this panel, particularly Mary, Gail and Scott, who had very full C2E2 schedules. Your contributions were amazing and I really hope we get to do this again soon because I came away from our discussion wanting to know more! Thanks again to Michael Silberman of Great Eye Films for providing the footage. And thank you to everyone who made the time to attend our panel. I hope you found our discussion enlightening and entertaining (I don’t know about you, but I’m going to be using Mary Anne’s “booger” metaphor for pointing out unintentional missteps by allies because it’s hilarious).

(L-R) Michi Trota, Gail Simone, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Mary Robinette Kowal, Scott Snyder, Karlyn Meyer, Jeff Smith

(I’ve got a busy week ahead of me – I’m teaching two pop culture classes at DePaul this week as a guest lecturer – but I do have a massive “final thoughts” post on C2E2 planned so I aim to have that up next week or so. Because if I don’t get it up before WisCon, it won’t be up until June!)

*I intend to have a transcription for this panel published as soon as I can so it is accessible to as wide an audience as possible. Thank you for your patience.