AVFM Conference Open Thread: One journalist says he was molested; another was called "whore" by AVFM PR rep

If anyone feels compelled to discuss the AVFM conference, do it here.

I’ll post links to any articles and blog posts and interesting tweets and pretty much anything of note I see about it; if you run across any, feel free to post them in the comments and I can add them to the post.

Here’s the live audio stream for the conference, which is off the air. And the video stream, which isn’t working at the moment. Apparently they’ve packed up for the day. (Friday, that is.)

There was no protest, as the organizers of the earlier protest called for a boycott

The official twitter hashtag is #icmi14. For some wonderful Janet Bloomfield PR professionalism, see @JudgyBitch1 and @icmi14.

Highlights so far:

A Detroit MetroTimes reporter says he was literally molested at the conference:

An older man came up to me and immediately complimented my hairy arms (a first). He then started telling me all this crazy shit about how he was from California and he makes movies and he wants to take me to Malibu. Regardless of sexual orientation, it was pretty weird. People started filling up the seats around us and I didn’t want to make a scene, so I just politely accepted the compliment and tried to deflect. The dude kept petting my arms.

It was at this point that I realized this is the kind of creepy shit women deal with … everywhere … every day. A part of me wondered if the feminists had planted this guy to hit on rape-apologizing MRAs to teach them a lesson about “rape culture.” If that is the case: well-played. Unfortunately I think I was just dealing with a garden-variety creep.

HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISM! On Twitter, several others said they’d also had, er, encounters with this guy.

Here’s Janet Bloomfield’s response:

Paul Elam saddened to turn away a clearly troubled man in search of human contact because of accusations of "molestation" from MSM #icim14

— AVfM Conference 2014 (@icmi14) June 27, 2014

Sworebytheprecious, despite donating the cost of a ticket to charity, has not been let into the conference, despite assurances from Dean Esmay that she would be. Here’s her twitter feed, and her explanation of what happened on Reddit.

i put on my nice heels, a dress, and did my hair and makeup. the lyft was called and i arrived promptly at 3. my breath tight, i introduced myself to the police and to security. inside was a small table, two chairs, a man and a woman. i noticed a small vaporizer on the desk. we used the same tank.

i introduced myself by first name and last name, not knowing if Esmay had put my name down. last i heard i was not allowed on the premises even with a ticket and a video declaring me welcome. no matter who i was reporting for, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. if anything else i wanted to make myself available to the MRA. im still here.

a very large, gruff man appeared and quickly asked me to leave. his bass carried. he looked like Esmay. i asked why i should leave, was cut off, and he repeated himself in a louder voice still. i thanked everyone for their time and exited the building. i took one single photo as proof i was there, and quietly left. the cops followed me out and seemed curiously bemused by my presence. i wondered who they expected.

Janet Bloomfield had this to say about Swore’s treatment:

https://twitter.com/JudgyBitch1/status/482599155986997249

https://twitter.com/JudgyBitch1/status/482608296222662657

https://twitter.com/JudgyBitch1/status/482608815758528514

Follow the links to Twitter to see even more from JB along those lines.

I will post more as I find it.

UPDATE 1:

AnimalNewYork.com has a report with a number of quotes from last night’s press conference. The reporter also quotes a St. Clair Shores police officer saying that no specific threats have been made against the conference.

By the time yesterday’s planned 3pm “press conference” got going 25 minutes late, there were only about 30 people in the audience, most (but not all) white middle-aged men. A handful of them were reporters. The rest were true believers in a “War on Men.” There was a disco ball in the center of the hall, draped with white paper streamers.

“Point the camera that way and that way only,” said one of the three security guards armed with superfluous walkie talkies, reprimanding someone taking video footage of the attendees, which was prohibited. The organizers introduced the speakers at great lengths, taking pride in their various appearances on Fox News. A Voice For Men founder and conference organizer Paul Elam stated that the cop cars parked outside were there because of more death threats. ”I’m getting tired of the death threats,” shouted a staff member.

Outside, I spoke to St. Clair Shores Officer David Burmeister about the alleged death threats. He said that no specific threats have been made at all. The cops were contracted to be there by A Voice For Men. It appeared that they weren’t there to protect them from specific and imminent danger, but to give the illusion of it.

Hmm.