Monday, August 6, 2012

Have You Heard About Readercon?

This convention has been mentioned a lot in the past few weeks, due an incidence of harassment, and an less-than-admirable decision on the part of Readercon's Board. Despite a "zero tolerance" for harassment and a stated policy of lifetime banishment, the punishment for the harassing individual was only two years, setting off a number of blog posts about harassment in general, Readercon in specific, and a lot of calls for action.

Today I read a statement by the Readercon Committee (concom), who have overturned the Board's decision, apologized to the harassed individuals, as well as others, and detailed a list of changes that will be implemented.

As they say in their statement, "It is probably impossible to create a 100% safe and harassment-free convention, but that doesn't mean we should stop striving toward that goal."

I urge anyone who has attended Readercon, planned to attend, or thought about attending Readercon, to hear the statement. Through everything I'd read, members of the concom have been supportive of those who were harassed, and I am glad to see them not only listening to the community, but taking action against what was an unfair decision.

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