#Code of Conduct
##Entrepreneur Chat
Version 1: Released January 13, 2016
Changelog:
First release
##Creating a Culture of Innovation We aspire to create a culture where people work joyfully, communicate openly about things that matter, and collaborate on projects. We would like our community to reflect the diversity of the wider community of entrepreneurs. We want to foster diversity of all kinds—not just the classes protected in law. Diversity fosters innovation. Diverse teams are creative teams. We need a diversity of perspective to create solutions for the real and urgent challenges we face. This is the Entrepreneur Chat Code of Conduct. We expect everyone we work with to adhere to the rules and guidelines laid out herein. We expect everyone who joins our chat to follow this code of conduct and all applicable laws.
##Be Empowering Consider what you can do to encourage and support others. Make room for quieter voices to contribute. Offer support and enthusiasm for great ideas. Leverage the low cost of experimentation to support your colleagues' ideas, and take care to acknowledge the original source, not just the most recent or loudest contributor. When someone offers something unexpected, look for ways you can contribute and collaborate. Share your knowledge and skills. Prioritize access for and input from those who are traditionally excluded from the civic process.
##Guidelines Business school is an odd place. There is an eclectic mix of young adults and seniors, military and civilian, professionals and hobbyists. To keep the environment open and honest, please adhere to the following guidelines:
Be friendly and patient.
Be welcoming.
We strive to be a community that welcomes and supports people of all backgrounds and identities. This includes, but is not limited to members of any race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, color, immigration status, social and economic class, educational level, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, size, family status, political belief, religion, and mental and physical ability.
Be considerate.
Your work will be used by other people, and you in turn will depend on the work of others. Any decision you take will affect users and colleagues, and you should take those consequences into account when making decisions. Remember that we're a world-wide community, so you might not be communicating in someone else's primary language.
Be respectful.
Not all of us will agree 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. It’s important to remember that a community where people feel uncomfortable or threatened is not a productive one.
Be careful in the words that you choose.
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. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Violent threats or language directed against another person.
- Discriminatory jokes and language.
- Posting sexually explicit or violent material.
- Posting (or threatening to post) other people's personally identifying information ("doxing").
- Personal insults, especially those using racist or sexist terms.
- Unwelcome sexual attention.
- Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior.
- Repeated harassment of others. In general, if someone asks you to stop, then stop.
When we disagree, try to understand why.
Disagreements, both social and technical, happen all the time and the Entrepreneur Chat is no exception. It is important that we resolve disagreements and differing views constructively. Remember that we’re different. The strength of this group comes from its varied community, people from a wide range of backgrounds. Different people have different perspectives on issues. Being unable to understand why someone holds a viewpoint doesn’t mean that they’re wrong. Don’t forget that it is human to err and blaming each other doesn’t get us anywhere. Instead, focus on helping to resolve issues and learning from mistakes.
##Boundaries Create boundaries to your own behavior and consider how you can create safe space that helps prevent unacceptable behavior by others. We do not seek to list all cases of unacceptable behavior, but provide examples to help guide our community in thinking through how to respond when we experience these types of behavior, whether directed at ourselves or others.
If you are unsure if something is appropriate behavior, it probably isn’t.
Each person you interact with can define where that line is for them. Impact matters more than intent. Ensuring that your behavior does not have a negative impact is your responsibility. Problems happen when we assume that our way of thinking or behaving is the norm or ok with everyone. This is particularly problematic when we are in a position of power or privilege.
Here are a few examples of unacceptable behavior:
- Negative or offensive remarks based on the protected classes of race, religion, color, sex (with or without sexual conduct and including pregnancy and sexual orientation involving transgender status/gender identity, and sex-stereotyping), national origin, age, disability (physical or mental), genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, parental status, marital status, and political affiliation as well as gendser expression, mental illness, socioeconomic status or background, neuro(a)typicality, physical appearance, body size, or clothing. Consider that calling attention to differences can feel alienating.
- Touching people without their affirmative consent.
- Sustained and negative disruption of meetings or talks.
- Patronizing language or behavior.
- Aggressive and micro-aggressive behavior, such as unconstructive criticism, providing corrections that do not improve the conversation (sometimes referred to as "well actually"s), repeatedly interrupting or talking over someone else, feigning surprise at someone’s lack of knowledge or awareness about a topic, or subtle prejudice (for example, comments like “That’s so easy my grandmother could do it.”).
- Referring to people in a way that misidentifies their gender and/or rejects the validity of their gender identity; for instance by using incorrect pronouns or forms of address (misgendering).
- Retaliating against anyone who files a formal complaint that someone has violated these codes or laws.
##Reporting This Code of Conduct is a work in progress. A formal reporting process has not yet been established. In the meantime, if you are being harassed in the chat, please speak to the community organizer, owner, or admin. Admins are required to include full contact details in their profile so that you may reach them in multiple ways.
Current Organizers:
Stephen Smith
Chat: @stephensmith
Twitter: @TheMapSmith
GitHub: @TheMapSmith
Email: stephen@mapsmith.net
##Changes These code of conduct may change as the Entrepreneur Chat grows and evolves. @everyone will be notified before any changes are made.
##Credits We are greatly appreciative of 18F and the multiple sources that they drew from to build this Code of Conduct, including:
- Bridge Foundry Code of Conduct used for RailsBridge, and other related workshops and open source projects
- Open Hatch Project Codes of Conduct
- Yes and Yes Yes Code of Conduct
- Ada Initiative: HOWTO design a code of conduct for your community
- PyLadies Code of Conduct
- Hacker School User's Manual: The Environment
- Geek Feminism Code of Conduct
- Geek Feminism Wiki: Codes of Conduct Evaluations
- Python Code of Conduct
- Code for America Code of Conduct
- EmberJS Slack Code of Conduct
- Guidelines text courtesy of the Speak Up! project via the Django project CoC.