Our IAC20 head of safety is Mykle Brossette, and Dylan Wilbanks is our head of diversity and inclusion.
The IA Conference (IAC) is committed to providing a welcoming and harassment-free experience for all participants. The Conference organizers and volunteers are dedicated to creating a safe environment for all participants of all genders, gender identities, ethnicities, races, religions, sexual orientations, physical or cognitive abilities, physical appearances. You are our community. This Conference would not exist without you, your support, and your candor.
Conference participants agree to the following Code of Conduct for all interactions during the Conference, including, but not limited to: online Conference sessions, Conference online Q&A, online Workshops, on social media (Slack, Twitter, etc.) during the Conference, and all other online media.
- 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 and respect their home time.
- Refrain from all forms of harassment. Do not harass others 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. Do not make 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 memes, use of sexual or discriminatory imagery, comments, or jokes, and unwelcome contact. If someone does not want to speak to you and declines an invitation to talk, please do not continue contacting them unless welcomed at a later date.
- Behave like a community. Have each other’s backs. If you see someone who appears to be uncomfortable with the actions or words of another, speak up. Stand beside them. Ask them if they’d like to talk to a Conference volunteer or official.
- Do not use offensive imagery, or explicit content. Sexualized or vulgar imagery is not appropriate for any Conference venue. Participants should not participate in sharing sexual language or imagery. Be very careful of any memes you might want to share due to some usually depicting stereotypes and/or sexist/racist content. Or some content of memes may not be understood by everyone and seen as offensive without context. It might be best to refrain from sharing memes; even in a private Slack channel. Speakers’ talks should contain warnings, which the Conference 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.
IAC event staff, volunteers, and sponsors are subject to the anti-harassment policy, as well. Particular to sponsors, staff (including volunteers) should not wear sexualized clothing/uniforms/costumes, use sexualized imagery or content, or otherwise create a sexualized environment.
The 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 Conference team. You can alert team members (identified as “Staff”) through Slack by direct messaging @safety. You can also send an email to codeofconduct@theiaConference.com.
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 behaviour 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 Conference credentials with no refund.
We expect participants to follow these rules at all IAC-related events.
This Code of Conduct was last updated on April 18, 2020. It is a living document, and will be updated regularly.