Panelists Call for Increased Security at EGX Events After Alleged Harassment
A group of panelists who participated in a discussion about community management during EGX 2023 are urging event organizers to enhance security measures for future panels. This call comes after the panelists allegedly faced sexist and derogatory comments while speaking at the event.
The Incident
The panel in question, titled ‘What Does A Community Manager Really Do?’, was held on the opening day of this year’s EGX at the ExCel center in London on October 12. According to TheGamer, one of the panelists, Gemma Garner, who serves as the senior community manager at Raw Fury, took to Twitter after the panel to express her frustration, stating: “I hope the three middle-aged men who came to our talk at EGX just to make loud comments on whether or not we’re f***able and talk over us about woke culture have the worst weekend ever. Security were angels after the fact, I just wish they’d been there as it happened.”
Garner further elaborated on the alleged incident through another tweet, claiming that the individuals not only made sexist remarks but also homophobic comments about the panelists’ clothing and discussed whether they would “expose themselves”. She alleged that EGX was aware of the “violent” nature of the comments, yet did not take any substantial action apart from a mere apology.
Panelists Left Vulnerable
Garner emphasized the absence of dedicated security personnel on the stage, stating, “The incident wouldn’t have escalated had there been security assigned to the stage. This was almost entirely dealt with by event-goers, and eventually a handful of helpful security. It’s mind-blowing that the UK’s largest gaming event wouldn’t protect its speakers, particularly those that are more likely to receive harassment. Not only was nothing done in the moment, I’m disappointed to discover that nothing was done following to ensure that these three perpetrators were identified and banned from the event.”
Cassie Hughes, another panelist who serves as the community manager of The Noir Network and co-founder of Black Twitch UK, shared a video clip where she can be seen addressing individuals in the audience who were speaking over the panel. Hughes alleged that one of the individuals even made threats of sexual assault and rape.
Expressing her frustration with the situation, Hughes revealed that neither EGX security nor ExCeL security knew how to handle the situation or whom to report it to. She also expressed concerns about encountering the same individuals at future events.
Security Measures and Follow-up
Hughes stressed the importance of having security for panels and audience management to ensure the safety of panelists, stating, “They [EGX] were profusely apologetic and shocked this happened, but the follow-up seems poor, especially seeing the response time with Just Stop Oil.” Hughes referenced the recent incident where environmental activists disrupted a Tekken 7 tournament and were promptly escorted out and arrested.
TRG has reached out to EGX for comment on the matter.
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