Who made the law?

[Mark Fowler]

On Thursday, 30 August 2012 at 14:14, Ash Berlin wrote:
> On 30 Aug 2012, at 18:47, Dave Hodgkinson wrote:
> > Where is the usage policy of #london.pm IRC channel.
>  

We don't have one.  We should have one.  And not just for irc, but for the mailing lists and for real live events.  Here, let me write one (or at least steal one.)

Here's the nutshell version, stolen from Tim O'Reilly, which was stolen from Flickr.

   Don’t be creepy. You know the guy. Don't be that guy.

Here's my longer drawn out version, stolen from YAPC::NA's code of conduct.  Comments on this are genuinely welcome, and I'll leave it to the current London.pm leader to make a call on what exactly we should adopt (if anything)

Code of Conduct

1. Purpose

London.pm believes our community should be truly open for everyone. As such, we
are committed to providing a friendly, safe and welcoming environment for all,
regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, religion,
preferred operating system, programming language, or text editor.

This code of conduct outlines our expectations for participant behavior as well
as the consequences for unacceptable behavior.

We invite all posters to the mailing list, members of the irc channels, event
attendees, London.pm t-shirt wearers and other participants in the London.pm
community to help us realise a safe and positive experience for everyone.

2. Expected Behavior

Be considerate, respectful, and collaborative.

Refrain from demeaning, discriminatory or harassing behavior, speech, and
electronic communication. Be aware that what may be mild banter to you might be
perceived as demeaning, discriminatory or harassing behavior to other members or
potential members of the wider London.pm community.

Be mindful of your surroundings and of your fellow participants. Alert the
London.pm leaders (part or present,) or event organisers if you notice a
dangerous situation or someone in distress.

Participate in an authentic and active way. In doing so, you help to improve the
London.pm community.

3. Unacceptable Behavior

Unacceptable behaviors include: intimidating, harassing, abusive,
discriminatory, derogatory or demeaning conduct on the mailing lists, irc
channels and while attending London.pm events and related events. Be aware
London.pm venues may be shared with members of the public; please be respectful
to all patrons of these locations. Be aware that electronic communications are
effectively archived forever and are accessible to the public and therefore
become the "public face" of London.pm.

Harassment includes: offensive verbal comments related to gender, sexual
orientation, race, religion, disability; inappropriate use of nudity and/or
sexual images in public spaces (including presentation slides); deliberate
intimidation, stalking or following; harassing photography or recording;
sustained disruption of talks or other events; inappropriate physical contact,
and unwelcome sexual attention.

4. Consequences of Unacceptable Behavior

Unacceptable behavior will not be tolerated by anyone associated with the
London.pm community.

Anyone asked to stop unacceptable behavior is expected to comply immediately.
If a participant engages in unacceptable behavior, the London.pm leaders (past
and present,) event organisers, or any person delegated responsibility by the
aforementioned may take any action they deem appropriate, up to and including
permanent expulsion from the event, mailing list or irc channel.

5. What to do if you witness or are subject to unacceptable behavior

If you are subject to unacceptable behavior, notice that someone else is being
subject to unacceptable behavior, or have any other concerns, please notify a
London.pm leader (past or present,) event organiser, or any person delegated to
handle this task by the aforementioned as soon as possible.

These people will be available to help participants contact law enforcement, and
in the case of in-person events contact venue security, to provide escorts, or
to otherwise assist those experiencing unacceptable behavior to feel safe for
the duration of the event.

Members of the London.pm community are encouraged to bring these matters to the
attention of the London.pm leaders, event organisers, and delegated
representatives rather then dealing with issues solely themselves so matters can
be dealt with properly in a manner that does not expose those members to
accusations of personal vendettas. Issues of harassment are important, and as
such we are keen that issues are seen to be dealt with at a community wide
level.

6. Scope

We expect all people participating in the London.pm community, be it in person
or through electronic communication, to abide by this code of conduct whenever
they participate in the London.pm community.

7. Contact info

leader at london.pm.org

8. License and attribution

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Adapted from the YAPC::NA community guidelines which can be found at
http://yapcna.org/conference/code-of-conduct