AMKE 2017 Announcement :(
I will not be working or attending Anime Milwaukee 2017. It breaks my heart to say but worse it breaks a 3 year streak of running and providing commentary for LOL Tournaments. It undermines a longer streak of running panels and staffing AMKE in general. Milwaukee and the Con that represents it has been a home to me for more than seven years. Seven years isn’t long to many but for me it’s the longest I’ve ever lived in one place. It makes Milwaukee something no other place has ever been for me. It makes it my home.
Like many ‘sconite Nerds, I traveled to GenCon when it was still in Milwaukee and I was sad to see it move to Indy. The emergence of AMKE filled that void and grew into something more than I ever expected. More than the simple nostalgia of a kid on vacation with a few friends rolling dice. Anime Milwaukee earned a mature and resounding love from me. It’s the first convention I was able to share with my wife*, later our son. It’s the place that I really caught the shoutcasting, tournament running bug. My first cosplay. An annual panel. The memories are numerous and great. I hope that helps express the gravity of my lamentation. This isn’t about a job or hobby for me. I’m being kept away from home for a year.
Without going too deep into it, yeah, the reasons boil down to “workplace” politics. Someone was being a general creeper and sexually harassed a number of women, my wife* included. I took a stand. Justice miscarried. Trusts broke. And time was a factor. If what transpired at and after YoumaCon had happened three months sooner, I’d have submitted a panel to AMKE or pursued other staffing positions. In the future I will. So this isn’t a goodbye, it’s a see ya next year.
For those of you looking forward to my various VGR Soapbox moments – a tradition dating back to UWEC’s Davies Center basement at the second NoBrandCon – or in need of another Your Video Game Sucks (TM) Roast, you can find me on Twitch. I rant almost nightly. As for the LOL Tournament and Casting, I’m sorry. Y’all are probably being punished the most as I’ve, of yet, not seen any evidence of my successor attempting to get prize support from Riot and furthermore I was forced to pull my real cash money prize pool offered up by a local Milwaukee business along with my services. I do have a few balls in the air regarding a local League of Legends tournament scene. Something akin to a tavern league or adult soccer league but for eSports. More on that later.
Take care in the meantime and feel free to email me at magicalmistermephisto@gmail.com or toss out a Tweet if you have any questions or concerns.
*Editor’s Note: Yeah, Molly’s not technically my wife. “Fiance of 4 years and mother to my two kids” just takes a lot longer to type and doesn’t seem to carry the same level of intimacy/respect.