<LanHack>

Code of Conduct

This document is adapted from the Hackathons UK Code of Conduct. The section on Incident Response is adapted from the Hackathons UK Incident Response Policy.

Please note that, if Hackathons UK are present at the event, they may have additional clauses you must abide by. The spirit of the two documents should be the same, but please consult the Hackathons UK Code of Conduct for the most up-to-date information on their side.

The Short Version

The following is a summary of the Code of Conduct, the full language is below.

Hackathons are a safe space and are dedicated to providing a safe, comfortable, and harassment-free experience regardless of the following:

We do not tolerate harassment of any kind of hackathon participants, organisers, sponsors, mentors, volunteers, or anyone else attending the event. Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate at any hackathon venue, this includes the following:

Hackathon participants, violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the hackathon at the discretion of the organisers.

The Long Version

Harassment includes but is not limited to offensive written, signed, gestured, or verbal comments related to sex, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, political views, social class, economic status, previous hackathon attendance or lack of, computing experience or lack of, chosen programming language or tech stack, sexual images in public spaces, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, brigading, doxxing, photography or audio/video recording against reasonable consent, sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention. If what you’re doing is making someone feel uncomfortable, that counts as harassment and is enough reason to stop doing it.

Participants asked to stop any harassing behaviour are expected to comply immediately.

Sponsors, judges, mentors, volunteers, organizers, and anyone else participating in the event are also subject to the anti-harassment policy. In particular, attendees should not use sexualised images, activities, or other material both in their hacks and during the event. Booth staff (including volunteers) should not use sexualised clothing/uniforms/costumes, or otherwise create a sexualised environment. Additionally, any hacks created or presented at the hackathon are equally subject to the anti-harassment policy.

Photography is encouraged, but other participants must be given a reasonable chance to opt out from being photographed. Participants with a red lanyard are indicating that they do not wish to be photographed. You should still check if participants without a red lanyard are comfortable being photographed. If they object to the taking of their photograph, comply with their request. It is inappropriate to take photographs in contexts where people have a reasonable expectation of privacy (for example, in bathrooms or where participants are sleeping).

If a participant engages in harassing behaviour, the organisers may take any action they deem appropriate, including warning the offender, or expulsion from the event with no eligibility for reimbursement or refund of any type, or reporting their behaviour to the local law enforcement. Full details of how we handle harassment and other incidents can be found in our incident response policy.

If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact us using the reporting procedures below.

Participants are expected to follow these rules at all hackathon venues, online interactions in relation to the event, hackathon-related social events, and on hackathon supplied transportation.

Reporting Procedure

If you feel uncomfortable or think there may be a potential violation of the code of conduct, please report it to an organiser or volunteer immediately. All reporters have the right to remain anonymous.

If Hackathons UK are present at the event, you can also report incidents to them as follows:

Response Policy

Try to get as much of the incident in written form by the reporter. If you cannot, transcribe it yourself as it was told to you. The important information to gather include the following:

Prepare an initial response to the incident. This initial response is very important and will set the tone. Depending on the severity/details of the incident, please follow these guidelines:

If everyone is presently physically safe, involve law enforcement or security only at a victim’s request.

There are also some guidelines as to what not to do as an initial response:

If Hackathons UK are present at the event, immediately contact the incidents team via the phone number listed under Reporting Procedure. The main objectives of this meeting are to find out the following: - What happened? - Who did the actions? - When did it occur? - Are we doing anything about it?

Once the incidents team has been contacted, they will take joint control over the situation, along with the lead organiser.

Allow the alleged harasser to give their side of the story to the staff. After this point, if report stands, let the alleged harasser know what actions will be taken against them.

Some things for the staff to consider when dealing with Code of Conduct offenders:

It is very important how we deal with the incident publicly. Our policy is to make sure that everyone aware of the initial incident is also made aware that it is not policy to share specifics, but that official action has been taken — while still respecting the privacy of individual attendees. When speaking to individuals (those who are aware of the incident, but were not involved with the incident) about the incident it is a good idea to keep the details out.

Depending on the incident, the lead organiser may decide to make one or more public announcements. If necessary, this will be done with a short announcement. No one other than the lead organiser or someone delegated authority from the lead organiser should make any announcements.

If some attendees were angered by the incident, it is best to apologize to them that the incident occurred to begin with. If there are residual hard feelings, suggest to them to write an email to [email protected]. It will be dealt with accordingly.

Attribution

This code of conduct is adapted from Hackathons UK Code Of Conduct, which is in turn adapted from the Hack Code of Conduct and the Major League Hacking Code of Conduct.