Policies

Anti-Harassment Policy

THATCamp seeks to provide a welcoming, fun, and safe unconference and community. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Discriminatory language and imagery (including sexual) is not appropriate for any venue, including unconference sessions and any community channel such as the THATCamp forums. THATCamp organizers have both the power and the duty to investigate all reported incidents of harassment and to remove confirmed harassers from THATCamp venues both physical and virtual.

Harassment is understood as any behavior that threatens another person or group or produces an unsafe or uninclusive environment. It includes offensive verbal comments or non-verbal expressions related to gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, religious beliefs, sexual or discriminatory images in public spaces (including online), deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention.

Conflict Resolution

1. Initial Incident

If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please first consider informing the offender that the speech or behavior is problematic and that you would like them to stop. Oftentimes, the offending behavior is unintentional, and the accidental offender and offended will resolve the incident by ceasing the behavior and/or apologizing.

If you believe that bringing up the incident with the offender will have negative professional consequences for you or will only lead to further offenses, then please inform an organizer of the THATCamp you are attending about the incident.

2. Escalation

If the offender insists that he/she did not offend, or if the offender continues the harassment after being asked to stop, then you will need a third party to step in. If you are at an unconference or other event, find an event organizer or staff person and let them know about the incident. If you are on a THATCamp website, please email or message an organizer of the relevant THATCamp. To message someone, log in to the THATCamp website, go to the People page on the main THATCamp site, find the person, and click the “Send Private Message” in the lower left corner of their profile.

3. Investigation

THATCamp organizers are obligated to investigate thoroughly any reported incidents of harassment, seeking private accounts of the incident from all concerned parties. If you are a THATCamp organizer, you can use the THATCamp contact form to ask for help with an investigation, including asking that a user’s account be deleted from thatcamp.org.

Sanctions

Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. If a participant engages in harassing behavior, organizers may take any action they deem appropriate, including warning the offender, expelling the offender from the THATCamp event, or banning the offender from the THATCamp user community.

Specific sanctions may include but are not limited to:

  • warning the harasser to cease their behavior and that any further reports will result in other sanctions

  • requiring that the harasser avoid any interaction with, and physical proximity to, their victim for the remainder of the event

  • requiring that the harasser immediately leave the THATCamp and not return

  • not allowing a person who violated the policy to attend future THATCamps

  • ending immediately any event volunteer responsibilities and privileges the harasser holds and requiring that the harasser not volunteer for future THATCamps (either indefinitely or for a certain time period)

  • publishing an account of the harassment

THATCamp event organizers will 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 event.

We expect participants to follow these rules in all unconference venues, unconference-related social events, community gatherings, and online communication channels.

We value your participation in the THATCamp community, and your efforts to keep THATCamp a safe and friendly space for all participants!

*Based on the Code4Lib Code of Conduct and the [example policy](geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Conference_anti-harassment) from the [Geek Feminism wiki](geekfeminism.wikia.com/), created by the Ada Initiative and other volunteers.

THATCamp Organizing Terms

In order to call your event a THATCamp, you must register it with thatcamp.org and agree to the following terms:

I agree that our THATCamp will be…

  • FREE or CHEAP to attend (registration fees of up to $30 USD are fine)
  • OPEN to anyone who wishes to apply or register (no restricting registration to members of a particular institution, association, organization, discipline, or rank)
  • PUBLIC on the open web (sessions can be blogged, twittered, photographed, recorded, and posted)
  • SELF-ORGANIZING (no program committee: all participants together will set the agenda, either before or during the unconference)
  • PARTICIPATORY and spontaneous (most sessions are group discussions, productive co-working sessions, or joyous collaborations of any kind; there should be few if any prepared, monologuing presentations, papers, or demonstrations with the exception of skills training workshops, and even workshops should generally allow for hands-on exercises by the group)
  • SAFE for and welcoming to all participants; THATCamps are required to adopt our anti-harassment policy and to abide by its procedures.
RCHN Mellon Mellon