More Words, Deeper Hole

If the population of attendance at Readercon is anything like what I assume it to be (several thousand people), it should be run by paid professionals, or at the very least volunteers with enough experience to ease the mind of local civic governance, and should be expected to hold to a high standard for the safety of the participants.

What astounds me about this whole Readercon fiasco (and similar con-nish tales related in the light of these events) is that nowhere do I find expectation or comments that (a) criminal investigations or charges get levied against people who commit crimes in the context of these kinds of events, or (b) that civil or criminal actions aren't being brought against not only the con organisations themselves, but also the hotels and civic governments that host these events.

If someone misbehaves at a large sporting event (like for example the chucklehead(s) at the recent ballgame I attended who tossed a not-yet-empty plastic beer cup over the fifth-deck railing), they're firmly and immediately ejected, and handed over to the local security staff and then the police.

It frankly boggles my mind that people who systematically harass others at conventions, or who wander any inch of themselves outside the clearly set out safety policies put in place, aren't firmly and immediately ejected from the premises, and handed over to the local security staff and then the police.

By not doing so, I would think that the Readercon organization is clearly opening themselves up to legal action. I would expect the venue and/or local civic government to think seriously about giving Readercon another license to hold their event in the near future. Or first insist they take steps to indemnify themselves further against risk (such as insisting the convention hold more, and prove holding, of private insurance against such risk).