Chris Wallish
Media & Communications
We received the following question on Friday’s statement on the findings and recommendations of the recently-concluded subcommittee:
Is it the intent of the Concom to apply this policy universally, such that anyone who has a pattern of directing caustic comments at people they disagree with will also be excluded from public-facing volunteer positions?
Everyone attending WisCon, including all volunteers and Concom members, is held accountable to WisCon’s policies and rules of conduct. These policies have never been, nor will they be, applied on a universal pre-emptive basis — quite the opposite. Reports of harassing behavior will always be approached on a case-by-case basis and investigated according to the specifics of the report.
In particular, WisCon’s approach to volunteers at the convention has always been that if someone isn’t appropriate for a position — whether because of complaints of behavior or because of behavior that has been observed by another volunteer or by a Concom member — our volunteer coordinators have discussed the situation with the individual volunteer and asked them to do something else or to step down.
We will continue to address concerns and reports of harassment, including those involving volunteers, on a case-by-case basis.
Information on our revised anti-harassment policies will be posted for public comment tomorrow, Friday, April 3.
Thank you for the thoughtful reply to my question!
You are very welcome! And thanks again for asking — I’ve heard from others that they had a similar question, so your comment helped clarify things for everyone.