HavenCon

HavenCon is a convention focused on LGBTQIA+ geeks and gamers, held annually in Austin, Texas. It is funded mostly by donations but also by sponsors such as Hops & Heroes Comics.
HavenCon board members include president Kathryn GonzalesFacebook post January 10 2019 and treasurer Nicholas RuggieroFacebook post January 12 2019.
Shane Brown, an organizer for the group Gay Austin Geeks, first got the idea for HavenCon when doing a panel at Wizard World Austin Comic Con in 2014. He was informed that many con attendees had wanted to check out their group's table but couldn't because they weren't out to friends and family attending the event with them. After this, Shane decided he wanted to host a "haven" for gay geeks in the area, and also to demonstrate that LGBTQ fans are a viable market for media creators to take notice of.Texas’ first LGBTQIA geek and gaming convention kicks off in Austin, Bradley Donalson, OutSmart Magazine, March 1 2015. Last accessed April 9, 2019.
==History==
===First HavenCon===
After two IndieGogo campaigns in late 2014Haven Con The First LGBTA Geek&Gaming Con of TexasHavenCon The First LGBTQA Geek Convention of Texas, the first HavenCon was held April 4th and 5th, 2015 at Holiday Inn Midtown.1st Texas LGBTQA Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Gaming Convention: Austin in April 2015, press release, December 2, 2014HavenCon Has A Successful First Year!, Facebook Over 1,100 people attended.HavenCon Radio Campaign GoFundMe
Special guests included authors Daniel Harvell and Rhiannon Frater, cosplay artist Alexa Heart, comic book writer Dylan Edwards, and voice actors Caitlynn French, Janet Varney, and Dante Basco.
This 2015 HavenCon also featured "The Big Gay Cosplay Wedding" officiated by Kenny Peters, a local ordained minister. "You don’t have to be big or gay or in cosplay" to take part, Shane said in an interview.
===HavenCon 2016===
HavenCon 2's theme was "Let Your Geek Flag Fly!". It was held April 22-24, 2016, at Holiday Inn Midtown.Post on Gay Austin Geeks tumblr, April 19, 2015Con Report: HavenCon 2016!, April 26, 2016 Special guests included Karin Weekes of Bioware, and the return of Janet Varney.HavenCon 2016 online schedule
Special events included a celebrity poker match raising funds for TransLifeLine.org, as well as "After Hours" programming to talk about more serious and adult topics such as safer sex and fetishes.
===HavenCon 3===
HavenCon 3's theme was "That's So Retro!". It was held April 28-30, 2017, at the Doubletree Hilton North. Special guests included Karin Weekes again, writer/podcaster Cody Melcher, Paul Amos from Assassin's Creed and Lost Girl, and Denise Crosby from Star Trek: The Next Generation.HavenCon 3 online schedule
Later in 2017, Shane started a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, "It's Your Haven Foundation", aiming to contribute to various LGBTQ content creators, community groups like Trans Lifeline and OutYouth, and disaster relief groups following Texas hurricanes and the Pulse shooting.HavenCon Proudly Announces the It’s Your Haven Foundation for LGBTQ+ Geeks, Gamers and Creators. Sets Live Stream Event for December 8th and 9th., press release, December 5 2017
===HavenCon 4===
HavenCon 4's theme was "A Cosmic Journey". It was held March 29-April 1, 2018 at the Doubletree Hilton North.HavenCon 4: A Cosmic Journey on IndieGogo Special guests included cosplayer Jay Justice, several Bioware creatives, Tracee Cocco from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Daniel Newman from The Walking Dead, and Tracy Scoggins from Babylon 5.HavenCon 4 online schedule
===Shane's resignation and dispute===
In the months leading up to HavenCon 4, it was said that this would be the final year for the convention, with the reason given that organizer Shane needed to take time and focus on his health.HavenCon Calls It Quits, Beth Sullivan, Austin Chronicle, January 24 2018 However, at opening ceremonies, Shane announced that even without him, HavenCon 5 would be happening in 2019, with an Alice in Wonderland theme.
On May 5 Shane revealed that he had actually left not due to health reasons, but because of disagreements with how the convention was being handled, for example email accounts not being checked regularly, hiring a CPA who was non-LGBTQ and was the brother of a staff member, etc.Facebook post, Shane Brown, May 5 2018 In June he requested that the organization cease using the HavenCon name and branding, stating in an email he posted publicly "I have recently been in talks with some of the original backers of HavenCon and we have come to agreement that the current state of HavenCon, as a brand and community organization are not what we set out to create."Founder Response, Shane Brown, July 9 2018 (Archived version) He later revoked the HavenCon team's access to the organization's Facebook, Twitter, and email accounts, and blanked the website. The remaining HavenCon staff created a new Twitter account (@havencontx, rather than the original @havencon) and stated on July 9 "the HavenCon name and assets aren’t ours to give. Legally, these assets don’t belong to individuals: when HavenCon was incorporated as an official nonprofit organization, all these assets became the property of the organization itself."Tweet by 'The Staff and Board of Directors of HavenCon', July 9 2018 Shane disputed this in a blog post, stating they were confusing the "It's Your Haven Foundation" nonprofit with the HavenCon convention, not a legal entity.
On July 26, Shane posted on his Facebook that he was giving up the fight, saying that "It's evident they have the support and I don't. So..they get to keep HavenCon..I can't keep expending the energy and wrapping myself in what ends up being disappointment around this. [...] I'm not going to wish them ill, nor will I wish them luck...they are already leaps and bounds ahead of where I was when I started HavenCon and can hopefully improve upon my 5 years of hard work. [...] It hurts. But I guess that trying to hold onto it is just going to hurt more, and so I have to let go. I'll have fond memories, and I hope others do too."Facebook post by Shane Brown, July 26 2018
===HavenCon 5===
HavenCon 5, with the theme "Be Curious", took place April 19-21 of 2019.HavenCon 5- Be Curious Special guests included Justin Saint, Tracee Lee Cocco, Karin Weekes and Patrick Weekes of Bioware, Brian Kunde of GaymerX, and authors Chrishaun Keller-Hanna and W.T. Meadows.Twitter thread, March 11 2019
===HavenCon 6===
The sixth iteration was originally planned for November 6-8 of 2020. However, on August 30 of 2020 it was announced that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the con would be pushed back to April 23-25 of 2021.Instagram post, Aug 30 2020 On January 31, 2021 it was announced that there would be no in-person convention that year, but they were planning online events in lieu.Instagram post, Jan 31 2021 However, the online events failed to happen, and in July of 2021 new dates for the next HavenCon were announced: April 22-24 of 2022.Instagram post, July 10, 2021
HavenCon did not occur in 2023.
==Attendee perspectives==
==Gallery==
File:HavenCon 4 - Vendor Hall.jpg|Art and merchandise on offer in the vendor hall at HavenCon 4.
File:HavenCon 5 - The Fey and the Furious.jpeg|Attendees play "The Fey and the Furious" urban fantasy tabletop RPG at HavenCon 5.
File:HavenCon 5 - board game library.jpg|Board games available at HavenCon 5, supported by ChupacabraCon
File:HavenCon 5 - The Art of Lore.jpg|Panel at HavenCon 5
==External links==
*Twitter posts with #havencon
*Tumblr posts with #havencon
*Video of "Bi Visibility & Representation" panel from 2015
==References==
Category:2019 Featured ArticlesCategory:Conventions in United States