ACSOS 2021
Mon 27 September - Fri 1 October 2021 Washington, DC, United States
ACSOS 2021 (series) /

Code of Conduct

We strive to make ACSOS a safe, enjoyable and educational place for all participants. You should feel welcome in the community and be able to express yourself, no matter where you’re from, which gender you are, which color your skin is, or which religion you observe. We also want you to feel included no matter your career stage — all contributions are welcome, those from seniors and Ph.D. students alike.

If you feel that we do not live up to these standards, please be in touch with us by email or via Slack DM. You can identify our staff on Slack with the “Staff” badge.

Rules

  • All participants must follow the terms of service for the technical infrastructure and platforms ACSOS is using to provide you with a virtual conference experience.
  • Please use your full name as your alias on all communication platforms. This ensures that you are recognisable by other members of the community and that people can find you and interact with you.
  • We strongly suggest you add a picture of yourself to your Slack profile in order to make it easier for people to identify you who might have run into you someplace but don’t necessarily remember your name. A comic or similar won’t help with that much.
  • Everything you post on the public channels on Slack or to the “Everybody” channel in Zoom will be available to all conference participants and to the conference organisers.
  • We are going to record the sessions and share the recordings among the participants. If you choose to join the sessions and speak up, you will implicitly consent to be a part of these recordings.
  • Do not distribute conference material – only upload your own material (i.e., your own presentation) to your YouTube channel or others. Personal recordings of the sessions and distribution of any recordings are not permissible!

Anti-harrassment Policy

This anti-harassment policy is based on the example policy from the Geek Feminism wiki, created by the Ada Initiative and other volunteers.

ACSOS is dedicated to providing a harassment-free conference experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age or religion. We do not tolerate harassment of conference participants in any form. Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate for any conference venue, including talks. Conference participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the conference without a refund at the discretion of the conference organizers.

Harassment includes, but is not limited to:

  • Verbal comments that reinforce social structures of domination related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, religion.
  • Sexual images in public spaces
  • Deliberate intimidation, stalking, or following
  • Harassing photography or recording
  • Sustained disruption of talks or other events
  • Inappropriate physical contact
  • Unwelcome sexual attention
  • Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behaviour

Enforcement

  • Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately
  • If a participant engages in harassing behaviour, event organisers retain the right to take any actions to keep the event a welcoming environment for all participants. This includes warning the offender or expulsion from the conference with no refund.
  • Event organisers may take action to redress anything designed to, or with the clear impact of, disrupting the event or making the environment hostile for any participants.
  • We expect participants to follow these rules at all event venues and event-related social activities. We think people should follow these rules outside event activities too!

Reporting

If someone makes you or anyone else feel unsafe or unwelcome, please report it as soon as possible. Harassment and other code of conduct violations reduce the value of our event for everyone. We want you to be happy at our event. People like you make our event a better place.

Please contact one of the ACSOS organisers to make a report, either by email or via Slack DM. When taking a personal report, our staff will ensure you are safe and cannot be overheard. They may involve other event staff to ensure your report is managed properly. Once safe, we’ll ask you to tell us about what happened. This can be upsetting, but we’ll handle it as respectfully as possible, and you can bring someone to support you. You won’t be asked to confront anyone and we won’t tell anyone who you are.