Code of Conduct

PHP South West (PHP-SW), all its venues and online spaces are an inclusive environment, based on treating all individuals respectfully, regardless of gender and gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability (physical or mental), nationality, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), physical appearance, lifestyle choices, software preferences or other dimensions of diversity.

PHP-SW is an intentionally positive meetup that recognises and celebrates the creativity and collaboration of independent creators as well as the diversity of people, cultures, and opinions that they bring to the PHP-SW.

We value respectful behaviour above individual opinions.

This Code of Conduct outlines our expectations as well as the consequences for unacceptable behaviour. All participants at PHP-SW must adhere to the PHP-SW code of conduct.

RESPECTFUL BEHAVIOUR INCLUDES:

  • Be considerate, kind, constructive and helpful.
  • Treat everyone with respect and dignity.
  • Be mindful of your surroundings and of your fellow participants.
  • Refrain from demeaning, discriminatory or harassing behaviour and speech.

If you're not sure, ask someone instead of assuming. Alert meetup organisers if you notice a dangerous situation or someone in distress.

UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOUR:

  • Intimidating, harassing, abusive, discriminatory, derogatory or demeaning conduct by any attendees of PHP-SW and related events.
  • Offensive or disrespectful comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, mental illness, physical appearance, race, religion or disability.
  • Unwelcome comments regarding a person’s lifestyle choices and practices, including those related to food, health, parenting, drugs and employment.
  • Inappropriate use of nudity and/or sexual images in public spaces (including presentation slides).
  • Deliberate intimidation, stalking or following.
  • Harassing photography or video recording, including logging online activity for harassment purposes.
  • Sustained disruption of talks or other events.
  • Inappropriate physical contact and unwelcome sexual attention.
  • Wearing clothing that is not suitable for a professional work environment, that is provocative or otherwise potentially offensive.
  • Failure to obey any rules or regulations of the venue.

Scope of this code of conduct

We expect all meetup participants (organisers, sponsors, venue staff, volunteers, speakers, attendees, and other guests) to abide by this code of conduct at all meetup venues and meetup-related social events.

What to do if you witness or are subject to unacceptable behaviour

You are empowered to politely engage when you feel that someone is engaging in unacceptable behaviour. The person engaging in unacceptable behaviour may not be aware of what they are doing - politely bringing their behaviour to their attention is encouraged.

If you are uncomfortable speaking up, or feel that your concerns are not being duly considered, please notify an organiser as soon as possible (contact details below). All concerns shared with us will be kept confidential, but you may also submit an anonymous report.

If you experience unacceptable behaviour and feel in any way unable to respond or resolve it respectfully (for any reason), please immediately bring it to the attention of a member of the PHP-SW Team. We want to hear from you about anything that you feel is disrespectful, threatening, or just icky in any way. We will listen and work to resolve the matter.

Apologise for mistakes

Should you catch yourself engaging in unacceptable behaviour, or be confronted as such, own up to your words and actions, and apologise accordingly. No one is perfect, and even well-intentioned people make mistakes. What matters is how you handle them, and avoiding repeating them in the future.

Consequences of unacceptable behaviour

Unacceptable behaviour will not be tolerated whether by other attendees, media, speakers, volunteers, organisers, venue staff, sponsors or exhibitors.

As organisers, we will seek to resolve conflicts peacefully and in a manner that is positive for the community.

Consequences for failing to comply with this policy may include, at the sole discretion of the PHP-SW organisers:

  • a request for an apology;
  • a private or public warning or reprimand;
  • a temporary expulsion and exclusion from the event without warning;
  • a permanent expulsion and exclusion from the event without warning.

Participants warned to stop any harassing behaviour are expected to comply immediately; failure to do so will result in an escalation of consequences.

REPORTING & CONTACT

Please contact one of the PHP-SW organisers:

E-mail: [email protected]

Twitter: DM to @phpsw

You can also make an anonymous report. Please note that without a way to contact you, an anonymous report may be difficult to act on. You may also create a throwaway account to report.

In cases where a public response is deemed necessary, the identities of victims and reporters will remain confidential unless those individuals instruct us otherwise.

While all reports will be taken seriously, the PHP-SW team may may not act on complaints that they feel are not violations of this code of conduct.

Thanks

Thank you to every PHP-SW attendee for helping making PHP-SW the respectful and inclusive meetup that it is.

Credit

This Code of Conduct is based on the Dutch PHP Conference Code of Conduct. It is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license so others can re-use this Code of Conduct as they see fit.