Fucking BayCon is at their goddamn "real name" bullshit again!
Name and Identification Policy
The BayCon Science-Fiction Convention is a community effort. As such, we do not sell tickets or admission, instead we sell memberships to individuals who are interested in experiencing what goes on at BayCon and in becoming part of our community. As a member based organization, we require our member's real names and addresses for our records. We reserve the right to require you to show us a photo ID with your name and address before registering you as a member.
This policy does not prevent you from using a fan name or nickname, although it is also our policy that if a fan name is given, the real name will also appear on the member's badge. If you feel this would cause a problem, please come to the Registration desk and ask to see the Registration Department Head.
They just don't fucking get it, do they? I don't fucking want to wear my goddamn name around a hotel for a weekend. I'm not a goddamn hotel employee, I'm not a prisoner, a criminal, or a terrorist, and my real name is not your goddamn business, regardless or whether you call yourself a "business" or a community, and I DO NOT want to be labelled with my real name!
Very few people at conventions know my real name (I wish I could wipe the minds of some who do), and it is unique enough that stalkers and such could use it (yes, from my badge, along with the city of residence), to find me and interfere with my professional life, get me fired, harass me at home or work, and possibly try for identity theft!! It's been tried before! I wish my real name was Jane Smith, then I wouldn't be as worried, but it's not!
To those who suggest that I "change my name", "suck it up, it prevents 'terrorism'", "you're just being paranoid|irrational|silly", or whatever else, GET A FUCKING CLUE!! It's MY name, most of the time I like it's uniqueness because it is memorable in a professional context, and I should be the one who decides if I have to wear it around a goddamn hotel during my leisure time, not some pompous ass prattling on about "member based organization" and "community". You fucking don't need my goddamn real name to accept my membership or admit me to your little community, Mr "MyWayOrTheHighway" Siladi!! Get it through your fucking thick head!! I've been adamant on this for over ten years, and your sanctimonious little "policy" crap is not going to make me willing to wear my name just to make your fascist ass happy!!
Thing is, I'm not the only one made uncomfortable by this, I'm just the only one willing to bitch about it. This aiding and abetting of stalkers and privacy abusers has got to stop. Twenty years ago nobody gave a rats ass about real names on badges and in databases. You could use whatever pseuodnym you wished, and as long as you weren't trying to defraud anyone (by pasing hot checks or use someone else's credit card), it was fine. That is still the state of the law. Pseudononymous speech is still protected by law, and so is freedom of association without mandatory identification.
It's bad enough that the government is making us a database nation, and can "sneak and peak" into computer records and files without telling anyone. Do we have to have leisure organizations enabling, and even aiding and abetting this trend???
Even if I hadn't had problems in the past, even if I didn't know others who are at risk as well, I would still be pissed off.
I shouldn't have to "show my papers" to attend a fucking SF&F convention!!
[Edit: I also don't want to be in yet another file drawer or database that can be stolen, sneak and peaked, or otherwise compromised. I trust fandom, but not that much. Also, other people besides me could be harmed if my real name and pseudonym were casually linked for all to see. Part of how I protect the privacy of others is by guarding my own.]
The BayCon Science-Fiction Convention is a community effort. As such, we do not sell tickets or admission, instead we sell memberships to individuals who are interested in experiencing what goes on at BayCon and in becoming part of our community. As a member based organization, we require our member's real names and addresses for our records. We reserve the right to require you to show us a photo ID with your name and address before registering you as a member.
This policy does not prevent you from using a fan name or nickname, although it is also our policy that if a fan name is given, the real name will also appear on the member's badge. If you feel this would cause a problem, please come to the Registration desk and ask to see the Registration Department Head.
They just don't fucking get it, do they? I don't fucking want to wear my goddamn name around a hotel for a weekend. I'm not a goddamn hotel employee, I'm not a prisoner, a criminal, or a terrorist, and my real name is not your goddamn business, regardless or whether you call yourself a "business" or a community, and I DO NOT want to be labelled with my real name!
Very few people at conventions know my real name (I wish I could wipe the minds of some who do), and it is unique enough that stalkers and such could use it (yes, from my badge, along with the city of residence), to find me and interfere with my professional life, get me fired, harass me at home or work, and possibly try for identity theft!! It's been tried before! I wish my real name was Jane Smith, then I wouldn't be as worried, but it's not!
To those who suggest that I "change my name", "suck it up, it prevents 'terrorism'", "you're just being paranoid|irrational|silly", or whatever else, GET A FUCKING CLUE!! It's MY name, most of the time I like it's uniqueness because it is memorable in a professional context, and I should be the one who decides if I have to wear it around a goddamn hotel during my leisure time, not some pompous ass prattling on about "member based organization" and "community". You fucking don't need my goddamn real name to accept my membership or admit me to your little community, Mr "MyWayOrTheHighway" Siladi!! Get it through your fucking thick head!! I've been adamant on this for over ten years, and your sanctimonious little "policy" crap is not going to make me willing to wear my name just to make your fascist ass happy!!
Thing is, I'm not the only one made uncomfortable by this, I'm just the only one willing to bitch about it. This aiding and abetting of stalkers and privacy abusers has got to stop. Twenty years ago nobody gave a rats ass about real names on badges and in databases. You could use whatever pseuodnym you wished, and as long as you weren't trying to defraud anyone (by pasing hot checks or use someone else's credit card), it was fine. That is still the state of the law. Pseudononymous speech is still protected by law, and so is freedom of association without mandatory identification.
It's bad enough that the government is making us a database nation, and can "sneak and peak" into computer records and files without telling anyone. Do we have to have leisure organizations enabling, and even aiding and abetting this trend???
Even if I hadn't had problems in the past, even if I didn't know others who are at risk as well, I would still be pissed off.
I shouldn't have to "show my papers" to attend a fucking SF&F convention!!
[Edit: I also don't want to be in yet another file drawer or database that can be stolen, sneak and peaked, or otherwise compromised. I trust fandom, but not that much. Also, other people besides me could be harmed if my real name and pseudonym were casually linked for all to see. Part of how I protect the privacy of others is by guarding my own.]