ckd: two white candles on a dark background (candles)
blue shark of friendliness ([personal profile] ckd) wrote2012-07-28 03:09 pm

Readercon

There's a lot I want to say about the Readercon failure, but other people have said most of what I wanted to say already -- and my RSI is acting up, so typing is a bad idea.

Two things I think need saying, though:
1. The Board is not the Concom, and the Board is not Readercon. The Board can be replaced without the convention ending...and it is my opinion that it should be replaced due to its failure to respect its own declared policies. Perhaps the members that supported this decision can "retroactively retire".

2. I haven't yet asked for my money back for next year's preregistration. I will if I have to (see #1 for why I might not have to), and if so I will then turn around and donate it to BARCC. (Sure, the policy says "non-refundable but transferable" -- but hey, Readercon's policies are made to be broken.)

[identity profile] cjtremlett.livejournal.com 2012-07-28 09:38 pm (UTC)(link)
I like this bit "The Board is not the Concom and the Board is not Readercon." I don't know the specifics of how the organization works, but is there a way for the Board to be replaced? Given the damage to the Con's reputation from this problem, that and a public apology would go a long way towards repairing some of the damage. If the Board does not seem inclined to do so, is there a way for Concom, or the membership at large, to impeach the Board?

I hope that there will be steps taken to repair the damage. I've never been to Readercon, though I had heard good things in the past and had it on the "maybe someday or if I move to the area" list. But I do care, because even if it's not a Con I'm invested in, the nature of fandom and Cons means that what happens at one Con can spill over to others. Sometimes, that's a good thing. Sometimes it's even awesome.

In a case like this, I expect other Cons will be thinking of what they might need to do in terms of their own harassment policies - even if they decide the policies in place are fine, I expect the discussion will happen. It would be nice to see Readercon decide to set a better precedent than what they've done so far, or other Cons will be seeing the discussion as one of how not to make the mistakes that Readercon's board has made thus far.

[identity profile] emilytheslayer.livejournal.com 2012-07-29 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
There are things in progress but I'm drunk and not entirely sure what's public yet and what's not, so I'll leave it at that.

[identity profile] emilytheslayer.livejournal.com 2012-07-29 02:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Heh so, in case it's unclear, Rainbow Dash is mad about what's going on, not you for asking the question. I woke up this morning and realized it could look a lot meaner than I meant, sorry. :)