attendee procedure for handling harassment

This procedure has been adopted from the Ada Initiative’s guide titled “Conference anti-harassment/Responding to Reports” and the PyCon 2014’s Procedure For Handling Harassment.

  1. Keep in mind that all conference staff will be wearing a BLUE OpenWest conference t-shirt. The staff will also be prepared to handle the incident. All of our staff are informed of the code of conduct policy and guide for handling harassment at the conference.There will be a mandatory staff meeting onsite at the conference when this will be reiterated as well.
  2. Report the harassment incident (preferably in writing) to a conference staff member – all reports are confidential.
  3. When reporting the event to staff, try to gather as much information as available, but do not interview people about the incident – Staff will assist you in writing the report/collecting information.
  4. The important information consists of:
    1. Identifying information (name) of the participant doing the harassing
    2. The behavior that was in violation
    3. The approximate time of the behavior (if different than the time the report was made)
    4. The circumstances surrounding the incident
    5. Other people involved in the incident

The staff is well informed on how to deal with the incident and how to further proceed with the situation.

  1. If everyone is presently physically safe, involve law enforcement or security only at a victim’s request. If you do feel your safety in jeopardy please do not hesitate to contact local law enforcement by dialing 911. If you do not have a cell phone, you can ask a staff member or find a core team member in room SB136.

If at all possible, all reports should be made directly to:
Victor Villa, Conference Chair
vvilla@utos.org +1 (801) 613-8867

Sara Dansie Jones, Core Team Member
sara@utos.org +1 (202) 430-5633

David Oswald, Core Team Member
david@utos.org +1 (818) 305-4405

Stacie Farmer, Core Team Member
stacie@utos.org +1 (801) 810-9752

Or you may find a core team member in room SB136 (follow the music).