insomnia, birmingham - 27/08/2022

My first Press pass since 2012 - I was so excited to have a press recognition again. Concerning my journalist efforts to be seen as a serious writer, I’ve had friends say to me:

“You take this journalism thing seriously, don’t you?”

And yes, I do. I love writing and I especially love writing about gaming and gaming events. It’s no secret that at one point, I wanted to do travel round war zones writing about conflicts. Have you ever watched Gilmore Girls and seen how Rory Gilmore wanted to be Christiane Amanpour? I wanted to be Martin Bell - I remember him on TV as a teenager, standing in the middle of conflicts and being shot at. I wanted that in my life.

Then my parents pretty much put the kibosh on war journalism, so I headed off in the direction of war historian. Which I still am - I specialise in the Second World War, mainly looking at genocides caused by the Russian Army and how that led to a power imbalance in the Soviet Union.

Anyhoo- I’m digressing. Back to Birmingham.

My first ever Press Pass was when I was reporting on behalf of a now-defunct online games review site and I was their Nintendo Editor. I went to Eurogamer 2012 and I got a lot of:

“Are you sure you’re in the right place?”

and

“Alright love, give us your phone number?”

Cretins.

Insomnia 2022 was different.

I got my Press lanyard and wristband - I was designated as a member of the Press, not a creator. I’m not saying I’m special but as someone who has fought tooth and nail to get these accreditations, you can be sure I’m going to hold them aloft proudly. I also learned at university that people don’t get into journalism with university degrees, they get their jobs by socialising and meeting the right connections.

And so here I am today. The Deaf/Hard of Hearing Editor of Games Accessibility Nexus and a position I’ve worked hard to get. I’ve seen people use journalism positions such as these to get into the games industry, but honestly I’m pleased as punch just to have this role. The only way I want to go is this position, but paid. A paid journalism role would truly be the best outcome for me, because it’s what I love and everything I know I’m good at.

But hey, ooh look a double regression!

Insomnia (yep, that’s what we’re writing about remember…)

I got there and collected my pass and tried my best to find the press room (as I was told that there was one) but when I looked for it, I couldn’t find one and I couldn’t find any signs that pointed towards one. I was adrift, like a ship at sea. I realised that I was going to have to anchor myself to a position very quickly otherwise I was going to feel like I was unwanted at the event.

I took a walk around, it felt very small for an event and I believed that I walked around the whole event in about a fifteen minute loop? The other thing I noticed is the lack of seating, I could see chairs set out in front of the PCs (these were generally Noblechairs - so a good sturdy choice of chair) - but the rest of the seating that I saw was either a beanbag in an open area or a bench set up to watch esports.

Now, I like esports - heck I enjoy watching them. I’ve even been known to undertake armchair casting from time to time. But giving people one of the only options of seating is to watch esports? It’s not everyone’s cup of tea as a sport and as an attendee to an event - it shouldn’t be a thing.

At one point, I saw a disabled lady who was laid on a blanket next to her wheelchair and a blanket over her - asleep. It saddened me greatly.

It very much felt like the event had been catered towards twenty year olds and below - sod the rest of us. Never mind if you had a disability. A lack of seating or accessibility options. And no quiet spaces!

Why are these spaces needed?

Some people (like myself) get very overwhelmed by loud noises and flashing lights. Being hard of hearing, I’m generally using all my senses at a convention to hear, lip read, figure out people and what’s going on around me. Other people may have autism or sensory disorders.

Or physical disabilities. Insomnia was mostly flat and very spread out, so it was great for wheelchairs and anyone with a mobility aid. But I saw so many people sitting on the floor and they didn't look comfortable at all. And then when a bean bag was free, it was like watching a hive of angry bees making a beeline for it (aha, terrible pun I know.)

A simple reason why people might want a quiet area is that they just want to sit down, regroup and get some energy back so they can stay at the event for a bit longer and enjoy themselves. I ended up leaving after four hours as I developed the worst migraine ever from all the sensory overload.

I know that there’s a whole conversation around safe spaces and how they’re generally only ever required for people referred to as ‘the snowflake generation’. But this is something I’ve noticed for years - since I was a teenager myself (a while back now!) This need to just suck it up and crack on is horrific. It’s this requirement to treat all gamers the same, when we’re shown time and time again that the industry and the players themselves are such a spectrum. No two gamers are alike so why should a set of event rules be the same from one gaming event to another?

I want to see a change. There has to be a change.

I was glad to see that Overclockers were killing it with their booth design though. It was in a darkened area of the event, with the comfy Noblechairs (I obviously realise that they are selling these!) but even the choice of games I felt was intentional - PC Building Simulator 2. A nice steady, cosy, simulation game. I found myself spending more and more of my time at Insomnia camped out in front of one of their PC playing that game because it was the only place I could go and get some chill out time.

So many people seemed to be having a noise contest, who can play their music the loudest? And the noise from the stage reverberated around the whole event - so there was no escaping that. Of course, if you’re like me - you carry noise cancellation headphones …

But should you need to do that to grasp the tiniest shred of peace and quiet from a noisy event?

That’s why I’m proud to say that I’ve had a chat with Rachael from Samaritans about the creation of a quiet room at Insomnia - Charlotte from Press Engine is also involved in this venture. We’re working towards the inclusion of these spaces in events such as Insomnia. And we’re hoping that Insomnia take on our advice that it will be a jumping off point for other events.

Accessibility and mental health needs to be at the forefront when designing gaming events such as these and not as an afterthought. It’s been a massive bugbear of mine for the longest time and I just hope that by putting our heads together, we can finally start to make some change.