The IA conference (IAC) is committed to providing a welcoming and harassment-free experience for all participants.
You are our community. IAC would not exist without you, your support, and your candor.
Conference organizers, volunteers, speakers, sponsors, and attendees agree to the following Code of Conduct for all interactions during the conference, including, but not limited to: in-person or online conference sessions, in-person or online conference Q&A, in-person or online workshops, on virtual conference platforms and tools (Discord, Gather, Miro, etc.), on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.) used for and after the conference, and all other online platforms that allow interaction.
- Be respectful of all participants. Understand and respect the boundaries of your fellow attendees, speakers, sponsors, venue staff, and volunteers. For example, if approaching someone online ensure they have time to speak to you. You may be taking time they could spend with their family.
- Refrain from any and all forms of harassment, through speech or actions. Do not make any insulting or demeaning comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, physical ability, personal appearance, age, race, ethnicity, nationality, language, religion, or belief. Avoid making threatening statements to others. Do not incite others to make harassing statements. Harassing actions include, but are not limited to, deliberate intimidation, stalking, recording of people who have indicated they do not want to be recorded (this includes attendees who would prefer their comments kept to IAC and not publicly posted on social media), purposeful disruption of talks online, inappropriate and/or unwanted chatting or publishing memes, use of sexual or discriminatory imagery, inappropriate comments or jokes, making false statements (or reports), and unwelcome contact. If someone declines to talk to you, please stop contacting them unless welcomed at a later date.
- Act as members of a community and have each other’s backs. Should you see someone appear uncomfortable because of the actions or words of another, speak up and stand beside them. Offer to connect them to a IAC volunteer or staff.
- Avoid offensive imagery, and explicit content. Sexualized or vulgar imagery is not appropriate for any conference venue, be it virtual or in-person. Participants should not engage in sexual language or imagery on any conference communication channel. Please be very careful of posting memes as a lot of them are based on stereotypes and/or sexist/racist content, or may be perceived as offensive by people not having the right context… Speakers’ talks should contain warnings, which the IAC staff will post, if there is potentially traumatic content (regarding abuse, assault, death, war, mental health crises, etc.) that is pertinent to illustrating a key point of the talk. The definition of “offensive” will be determined by the leadership, and will apply to what any reasonable person would consider to be offensive.
- Do not misrepresent yourself or others. While the IAC continues to be an all-virtual event, and once it returns to an in-person event with virtual aspects, it is important that we all respect the peculiarities of virtual gatherings. Participants should not misrepresent their identity and if not using a ‘real name’ should make it possible for other participants to identify who you are (e.g., a Discord member name such as “Nickname (First Last)”. Similarly, participants should take care not to misrepresent others, even in jest; public messages, posts, comments, etc., out of context, can be easily misinterpreted.
IAC does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or events.
Need help?
If you feel that someone has harassed you or otherwise treated you inappropriately, or if you witnessed someone being harassed or treated inappropriately, please alert any member of the IAC team. You can alert team members (identified as “Staff”, “CoChairs”, and/or those identified as “Safety”) through chosen online media (details to be given before IAC starts). You can also send an email to codeofconduct@theiaconference.com or file an IAC Safety Issue Report.
Event staff will be happy to help participants contact safety and assist those experiencing harassment to feel safe for the duration of the event. We value your attendance.
What are the consequences?
Anyone asked to stop any harassing or offensive behavior is expected to comply immediately. Please respect someone else’s “no” and “stop.”
If a participant engages in harassing behavior, the co-chairs and staff may take any action they deem appropriate, including but not limited to warning the offender or revoking the offender’s IAC credentials with no refund.
We expect participants to follow these rules at all IAC-related events.
This Code of Conduct was last updated on Apr 12, 2022. It is a living document, and will be updated regularly.