If you believe someone is violating the Code of Conduct form IBM Code Meetups Code of Conduct we ask that you report it to the Organisers as listed on the IBM Code Meetup pages in any of the following ways:
- Sending a message to the Code of Conduct Text Service (number will published at our events)
- Speaking to your instructor or speaker at the event
- Speaking to an IBM’er at the event
- Sending us a direct message via Meetup.com
- Sending us a direct message via Twitter @codemeetup
All reports will be kept confidential. In some cases we may determine that a public statement to the Meetup Group and / or Event attendees will need to be made. If that's the case, the identities of all victims and reporters will remain confidential unless those individuals instruct us otherwise.
If you believe anyone is in physical danger, please notify appropriate law enforcement first. If you are unsure what law enforcement agency is appropriate, please include this in your report and we will attempt to notify them.
If you are unsure whether the incident is a violation, or whether the space where it happened is covered by this Code of Conduct, we encourage you to still report it.
If you speak to us in person at an event, we will write down these details. If you contact us via text or email during or after the event, please include this information in your report:
- Your contact info (so we can get in touch with you if we need to follow up)
- Names (real, nicknames, or pseudonyms) of any individuals involved. If there were other witnesses besides you, please try to include them as well.
- When and where the incident occurred. Please be as specific as possible.
- Your account of what occurred.
- Any extra context you believe existed for the incident.
- If you believe this incident is ongoing.
- Any other information you believe we should have.
What happens after you file a report?
If you are reporting an incident during an event, we will attempt to speak to you privately to gather more information and discuss next steps.
If the act is ongoing (such as someone engaging in harassment or sustained disruption), or involves a threat to anyone's safety (e.g. threats of violence) during one of our events, any member of the Moderation Team or event Organiser may act immediately (before reaching consensus) to end the situation. If the incident involves physical danger, any member of the Moderation Team or event Organiser may -- and should -- act unilaterally to protect safety. This can include contacting law enforcement (or other local personnel).
In situations where an individual Organiser acts unilaterally, they must report their actions to the Moderation Team for review within 48 hours.
After the event, and for any written report that is received, a Code of Conduct Moderation Team comprised of at least 3 members of the IBM Code Meetup Organisers will be appointed to review the report The Moderation Team will meet and respond within 7 days to review the incident and determine:
- What happened.
- Whether this event constitutes a code of conduct violation.
- Who the bad actor was.
Once the Moderation Team has a complete account of the events they will make a decision as to how to respond. Responses may include:
- Taking no further action (if we determine no violation occurred).
- A private written warning from the Moderation Team to the individual(s) involved. In this case, a member of the Moderation Team will deliver that warning to the individual(s) over email, or Meetup.com Direct Message cc'ing the Moderation Team
- A permanent or temporary ban from some or all IBM Code Meetup events. The Moderation Team will maintain records of all such bans so that they may be reviewed in the future.
- Once a resolution is agreed upon, but before it is enacted, the Moderation Team will contact the original reporter and any other affected parties and explain the proposed resolution. The Moderation Team will ask if this resolution is acceptable, and must note feedback for the record. However, the Moderation Team is not required to act on this feedback.
Once we've determined our final action, we'll contact the original reporter to let them know what action (if any) we'll be taking. We'll take into account feedback from the reporter on the appropriateness of our response, but we don't guarantee we'll act on it.
Finally the Moderation Team will make a report to all Organisers and the Head of IBM Developer Ecosystems, Europe. The Moderation team will never publicly discuss the issue; all public statements will be by the IBM Meetup Group Organisers via Meetup.com.
What if your report concerns a possible violation by an Organiser?
If your report concerns a current IBM Code Meetup Organiser you can make a report directly to any of the Organisers via the Direct Message service on the Meetup.com platform. The Moderation Team will follow the usual enforcement process with the other Organiser, but will exclude the Organiser(s) that the report concerns from any discussion or decision making.
Reconsideration
Any of the parties directly involved or affected can request reconsideration of the Moderation Team's decision. To make such a request, contact [email protected] with your request and motivation.
It is our expectation that this will be a living document and change as we grow to understand how to meet this challenge and best serve our community.
This document has been adapted from this https://www.djangoproject.com/conduct/reporting/