phew! here i am checking the kcon forums as a way to destress after a quiz at school, and finding this as stressful as the quiz!
so here is my very personal, and very clearly not-even-remotely con related, perspective on this thread.
it happens to be the case that i got involved in organizing national conferences over a dozen years ago. at that time, i had only vaguely heard of anime, from a boyfriend who'd attended high school in japan. i organized national conferences in the pacifist/anti-militarist, anarchist, and feminist communities for over a decade before i became involved in tunac and kumoricon, which were my gateways to sakuracon.
so i hope that my opinion will be understood as coming from my involvement in national conference / convention/ meeting organizing, rather than from anything specific to the anime con community, let alone the specific individuals involved.
i was very involved in voter registration. clearly i had my own personal agenda, in the sense that i was an activist--at times, even a paid activist. i was a petitioner--at times even a paid petitioner, and i and the office for which i worked, coordinated the petitioning for the 2 initiatives to close trojan nuclear power plant, back in 1992.
in that same election, the oregon citizens alliance, or oca, was petitioning to place on the ballot, a contemptible measure that would have made it very very uncomfortable and restricted to be other than heterosexual in this state. (and i happen to be other--which does relate, in that one of the things i most appreciate about anime and manga is helping younger folks experience it as natural for there to be variety in gender and sexual identity.)
i would go out petitioning in smaller areas--cottage grove, roseburg, around the umpquaa-- and people would approach me, wanting to sign the oca ballot measure.
i would point blank know that these were people who were going to vote opposite of how i would want them to vote---but i would always offer them a voter registration card.
that was not only administrative policy, but personal ethic.
i happen to therefore believe that it is totally legitimate and desirable that there be information on this forum that tells folks how to participate in the sakuracon elections. i also likewise believe that it is totally legitimate and desirable that there be offers to facilitate folks being part of said voting process--provided that the facilitators are not (a) themselves among the candidates, nor (b) providing a contingency that they will only help those who will vote in a prescribed manner.
i believe very passionately in things like the specific, targeted voter registation drives during the civil rights movement, which included things like driving folks to the ballot box. if i had the money, i'd post a thread offering to carpool up for free, anyone who wanted to be there to vote.
i believe that there is value in the cross-pollination i have experienced between the cons. i hope that continues.
it periodically would seem that there may be venom and distrust between at least one individual at each con. it is not my place to know the backstory. but it is certainly my hope that any experiences that are negative are understood as being between one person and another person, and are never misconstrued, nor allowed to flare into, dissonance and breaking of bonds between one con and another con, or collaboration across cons by folks from each con, especially as increasing numbers of us are blessed to be involved in both!
i have seen this happen in national organizing in the feminist, anarchist and pacifist communities (and among treesitters, but that was from federal agents provacateur).
there's my 2 cents; i'm sorry it's not $20; i'd love to empower folks to vote. in my own experience running the artists' den, i certainly encountered many whom i feel to be worthy of support........and others, er, not so much....
this thread reminded me that the personalities involved at the head of a con can make or break its perception of being open to new folks' involvement, which in turn can make or break its ability to evolve, or even maintain; and for me, finding and supporting candidates who are accessible and comfortable to work with is on par with finding candidates who are efficacious.
thanks for listening,
ellen.