Stephen (Fluffy) Baker to be new Convention Director following staff changes from past year
The staff for Ohio’s Ohayocon event announced on Wednesday its new senior leadership team. Stephen (Fluffy) Baker is the new Convention Director. William T. is the Associate Convention Director, Xander S. is the Director of Operations, and Andrew T. is the Director of Social Media, Public Relations, and Marketing.
Ohayocon 2025 will host anime director Shinichi Watanabe, also known as Nabeshin, (Excel Saga, Nerima Daikon Brothers, Puni Puni Poemy, The Wallflower, Tenchi Muyo GXP) and American industry guest Samantha Inoue-Harte, who is currently Head of Production at N LITE.
Ohayocon shared a quote from new Convention Director “Fluffy:”
“Having been a part of Ohayocon and working the events over the past 15 years, I am excited to take on the role as Convention Director. We already have great changes in the works including a brand new senior leadership team, that will bring a fresh and fun perspective to the convention. Along with the change of location to Dayton, which will benefit the attendees by reducing costs across the board, we are thrilled to bring a new experience for those who look forward to this conference yearly.”
The next event will take place from January 31 to February 2, 2025. The event is moving from Columbus, OH to a new location, the Dayton Convention Center in Dayton, OH.
Ohayocon 2024 took place last January. However, over 91 individuals, including former senior leadership members and year-round volunteers, boycotted the convention last year following the termination of Cody Marcum, Ohayoncon’s former Convention Chair who had been with them since 2009, and Erin [last name withheld by request], the former Director of Marketing.
Talks between COVEN, a collective formed by former Ohayocon volunteers who sought to address concerns with Ohayocon’s governing body, and the CESI Board of Directors (CESI) began as early as March 2023. COVEN’s demands included fair compensation, the prohibiting of CESI board members “from receiving compensation over the average compensation value of staff leaders who do not sit on the board,” the immediate adoption of a code of conduct that everyone would be beholden unto, more transparency in budgetary matters, updated labor policies, and for CESI’s “outright purchase and ownership of Ohayoconʼs brand materials, including logo and mascot.”
There were arguments regarding topics such as finances. Ultimately, it was a logo dispute regarding the convention’s official logo at the time — a red cross in a circle with a white background — which was assumed to have violated the Geneva Conventions, and a new “sakura” logo — another red, circular logo, but with a white sakura flower in the center — that eventually led to Marcum’s termination. At the Red Cross’s request, Ohayocon modified its logo by adding a blue background, which the Red Cross approved. The previous senior leadership team later decided that this adjustment was not sufficient and opted to switch to the Sakura design, which had copyright concerns revolving around Sakura of America’s similar logo. Ohayocon received feedback regarding the design and declined its request to revert to the previous logo. According to the CESI, Marcum had changed the logo without their approval. The CESI requested Marcum and Erin provide access to the convention’s social media platforms and other necessary login information. Following their refusal, Ohayocon decided to terminate Marcum’s position, voting to remove him and former Director of Marketing Erin in October 2023.
While there is more to the full story that has been detailed here, this all eventually led to the resignation of several of the convention’s senior leadership members and boycott of this year’s event. According to Ohayocon, nine senior leadership members submitted their resignations in protest. While some staff members signed the COVEN manifesto, they were welcomed back to staff Ohayocon and are still part of the team.
Update: Added additional statements and clarifications to background information from Ohayocon. Source: Email correspondence
Source: Email correspondence
