It started with Laura Anne Gilman:

I will be a Guest at Anachrocon this weekend, and there’s something I want everyone there to know.

I may look about as tough as a toasted corn muffin, but I lived and worked in NYC for two decades. I take no shit, and I give no shits. If you are at the convention and feel unsafe or harassed, you can walk straight up to me, no matter who else I’m talking to, and tell me you need Leverage (term in this usage suggested by the awesome Seanan McGuire).

I won’t be at Anachrocon, but you may do this at conventions and conferences I attend. Tell me you need Leverage, and you’ll have:

• My attention
• My sympathy
• Someone who can help you sort out what you need and want in the situation
• An abortion clinic escort with experience getting people through ugly situations without escalating them
• A well-networked person who regularly drafts competent people on the spot to handle emergencies
• Someone who doesn’t get deflected by social pressure or caught up in irrelevant arguments
• A code-of-conduct advocate familiar with the con’s reporting structures and procedures
• A reputation for being sympathetic to the challenges of organizers but unwilling to accept failure

Whether I’m one of the good guys or the bad guys depends on who you ask, but I’m a good person to have on your side if you need me. Leverage is what I do.

Elizabeth Bear is in as well.

If I am a guest at a convention you are attending, or simply a fellow attendee, and you feel that you have been harassed, intimidated, or that your boundaries have been trampled or ignored, please feel free to ask me for support, help, intervention, or just an escort to a safer area or backup on the way to talk to convention or hotel security.

If you do not feel that you can stick up for yourself, I will help. I will be a buffer or a bulwark if necessary or requested.

I expect there will be others stepping up too. We have skills, we have connections, and we’re there and easy to spot if you need us. And we’re ready to provide Leverage to make sure this all works for you the way it’s supposed to.