CCI Volunteer Tweets In Strident, Aggressive Fashion Post-Ferguson Verdict; CCI Cuts Ties

God bless Rich Johnston and his team at Bleeding Cool for assembling the mini-Twitter rampage of Bill Purcell, a self-identified Comic-Con committee member and I'm guessing longtime volunteer. He certainly seems to identify that way as well. Because of Bleeding Cool, I don't have to read this stuff any more than necessary. Purcell's run of tweets happened last night during the aftermath of the announcement made in Ferguson, Missouri, and address aspects of that case in a strident manner. He also directly engages with a few members of the comics community about those tweets, his right to make them, and various aspects to his life and personality he feels superior to those possessed by others on a different sort of life's journey.

I contacted David Glanzer at Comic-Con International about Purcell's tweets. His only statement so far: "This matter has been brought to our attention and we may be able to comment later in the day."

The whole thing sounds dumb, right? It is! But this is also an interesting thing. I agree with Mark Waid when he suggests here that calling for Purcell's position or volunteer job or whatever based on expressions of stomach-turning dumbassery isn't something that communities should do as a general rule. One hundred percent. But there's a growing element in comics culture that feels differently, and I think most institutions have to account for that in some way. I also think -- and Mark Waid anticipated me here, too -- there's a line to be drawn between staking out a position, no matter how loathsome or stupid, and engaging with your customer base in a way that carries even a hint of threat, or is simply so unpleasant and bothersome and noxious so as to disrupt and distract someone from the business of their day.

Hopefully, something will be done, even if it's just to engage with the fact the con would rather not get involved with an issue like that one. I expect this kind of thing to come up one or two times a year now, for everyone, and while I think I know what I'd do here, I'm not so confident I know which strategy is going to work best for every other institution over the long-term. Hopefully it's not just forgotten.

Update: The further statement from Comic-Con's David Glanzer, as promised, later on the same day.

"There is no excuse for offensive or threatening behavior. The fact that it comes from a purported member of our committee is clearly upsetting. Even though we cannot control what an individual says, we can address issues that have a direct effect on our organization or persons affiliated with our organization. We would also like to mention this individual no longer holds a volunteer position with our association. We encourage any individual who feels threatened by these comments or others to seek assistance from law enforcement."
 
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