Square Egg Entertainment, which organizes Phoenix events Phoenix Comicon, Phoenix Fan Fest, and Keen Halloween as well as St. Paul’s Minnesota Fan Fest, has announced that it will move to paid staff for all of its events.  The company had recently moved to using a third-party non-profit, Blue Ribbon Army, to handle its volunteer staff to avoid violating wage-hour regulations that require for-profit companies to pay all staff  (see “Con Volunteer Headaches Are Coming Home to Roost”).

Square Egg Entertainment CEO Matt Solberg explained the move.  “While this was not the original decision as announced three weeks ago, nor was this the option selected by most of our volunteers, we do believe this is the best decision long term for our company and our conventions based on feedback and concerns raised,” he said.  “It avoids further controversies as this industry changes, keeps us compliant with changing laws, and increases the professionalism and effectiveness of our team.” 

Square Egg is asking its former volunteers to apply for the new paid positions, and is offering free passes for Phoenix Comicon 2017 and 2018 to volunteers that are not selected for the paid slots.  Square Egg is continuing to support the Blue Ribbon Army, a 501c7 social club “focused on giving like-minded geeks a place to meet new friends,” which had been planned as a source of volunteers for the show, as a corporate member and through promotion of its activities, the company said.