Skills Matter is owned and operated by The Quad4 Group Limited. Quad4 understands the importance of community and is dedicated to providing a safe and friendly environment for everyone to learn and share skills regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, ethnicity, nationality, race, age, religious views (or lack thereof), education or socio-economic status.
This Code of Conduct outlines our expectations for participants (including speakers, staff, volunteers, event sponsors/exhibitors) within the Skills Matter Community, as well as steps for reporting unacceptable behavior. We expect participants to follow these rules at all event/course venues, both face to face and online, and at any Community social events. We are committed to providing a welcoming and inspiring experience for all and expect our code of conduct to be honored. Anyone who violates this code of conduct may be banned from the Community.
Your Promise
- Behave professionally.
- Attempt collaboration before conflict.
- Use welcoming and inclusive language.
- Be respectful of differing viewpoints and experiences.
- Treat other Community members with courtesy, kindness and empathy.
- Gracefully accept constructive criticism.
- Refrain from demeaning, discriminatory, or harassing behavior and speech.
- Participate in an authentic and active way. In doing so, you contribute to the health and longevity of this community.
- Alert Community leaders if you notice a dangerous situation, someone in distress, or violations of this Code of Conduct, even if they seem inconsequential.
Unacceptable Behavior
Harassment is unacceptable within the Skills Matter Community. Harassment includes, but is not limited to:
- Offensive verbal comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, neuro(a)typicality, physical appearance, body size, race, age, religion;
- Deliberate misgendering and/or use of rejected or ‘dead’ names
- Sexual images in public spaces including event booths and online spaces;
- Deliberate intimidation;
- Stalking or following;
- Harassing photography (including photography of attendees who have indicated either verbally or visually that they do not wish to be photographed);
- Threats or incitement of violence towards any individual;
- Other harassing recording (including recording of online activity for harassment purposes);
- Sustained disruption of talks or other events or discussions;
- Personal insults or put downs;
- Non-consensual physical or simulated physical contact (e.g. textual descriptions like *hug* or *backrub*);
- Unwelcome sexual attention;
- Pattern of inappropriate social contact, such as requesting/assuming inappropriate levels of intimacy with others;
- Continued one-on-one communication after requests to cease.
Consequences of Unacceptable Behavior
Unacceptable behavior from any Community member, including sponsors and those with decision-making authority, will not be tolerated.
Anyone asked to stop unacceptable behavior is expected to comply immediately.
If a Community member engages in unacceptable behavior, Skills Matter may take any action we deem appropriate, up to and including a temporary ban or permanent expulsion from the Community without warning (and without refund in the case of a paid event or Premium Membership).
Reporting Issues If you believe someone has violated the Code of Conduct, we encourage you to report it, even if you are unsure whether the incident is a violation, or whether the space where it happened is covered by this Code of Conduct.
If you experience or witness unacceptable behavior — or have any other concerns, please contact a member of the Skills Matter team immediately and the situation will be addressed. If the person who is harassing you is on the team, they will recuse themselves from handling your incident.
At a face to face event, Skills Matter staff can be identified by t-shirts and special badges. You can also message us via our Twitter accounts @skillsmatter or @yow_conf, email us at info@skillmatter.com or use the messaging within our online events platform.
Conference staff will be happy to help participants contact hotel/venue security or local law enforcement, provide escorts, or otherwise assist those experiencing harassment to feel safe for the duration of the conference. We value your attendance.
Licence and Attribution This Code of Conduct was constructed using the works of other communities and conferences:
- Geek Feminism Code of Conduct (The Ada Initiative)
- http://2012.jsconf.us/#/about
- Pycon code of conduct
- Citizen Code of Conduct
- Open code of conduct
These works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License