A safe environment is defined by professionals, who treat each others with respect: Be excellent to each other.
We are committed to providing a friendly, safe and welcoming environment for all. And so we invite all those who participate in any of our events and the surrounding community to help us create safe and positive experiences for everyone.
- Be welcoming, friendly, and patient.
- Be respectful. Not all of us will agree with each other all the time, but disagreement is no excuse for poor behavior and poor manners. We might all experience some frustration now and then, but we cannot allow that frustration to turn into a personal attack.
- Be aware of the effect your words may have on others. We are a community of professionals, and we conduct ourselves professionally. Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down other participants. Harassment and other exclusionary behavior aren't acceptable.
To further our mission of making our events a supportive, non-threatening environment, we employ the following safe space policies:
- We enter this space with a commitment to mutual respect, mutual aid, anti-oppression, advocacy, conflict resolution, non-violence, and community building.
- We respect everyone’s names, preferred gender pronouns, expressed identities, and experiences. We avoid making assumptions and promote mutual appreciation
- We support the empowerment of each person and strive to continually acknowledge the histories and structures of oppression that marginalize some and divide us all.
- We do not engage in violence or threats.
- We obtain explicit consent for physical touch or using others’ belongings.
- We recognize that certain behavior can be triggering for individuals, such as trivializing or dismissing someone’s thoughts or experiences.
- We commit to hearing each other and creating opportunities for all voices to be heard.
- We accept a shared responsibility where we hold ourselves and one another accountable to these agreements, without violence, judgment, or assumption of intent.
- We encourage open minds and open hearts. We do not assume the intentions of others in order to foster a non-judgmental and accessible environment.
- We promote inclusive learning spaces. We encourage anyone who is feeling less than familiar with terminology, concepts, or context to ask questions in the spirit of personal growth.
This definition has heavily borrowed from Values of the SoCraTes Conference and the Safe Space Policy of LadyHacks.