AIGA New Mexico Code of Conduct

This policy is a “living” document, and subject to refinement and expansion in the future. Last updated Apr 21, 2020.

Everyone participating in the AIGA New Mexico community—including, but not limited to live events, remote events, and Slack channel—is required to agree to the following AIGA New Mexico Code of Conduct and the national AIGA Code of Conduct. This includes all attendees, speakers, performers, patrons (sponsors), volunteers, and staff.

AIGA New Mexico is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, neurotype, physical appearance, body, age, race, ethnicity, nationality, language, or religion. We do not tolerate harassment of participants in any form.

Anyone who violates this Code of Conduct may be sanctioned or expelled from these spaces at the discretion of AIGA New Mexico organizers.

DEFINITIONS

Harassment includes:

  • Offensive comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, neurotype, physical appearance, body, age, race, ethnicity, nationality, language, or religion
  • Unwelcome comments regarding a person’s lifestyle choices and practices, including those related to food, health, parenting, drugs, and employment
  • Deliberate use of incorrect name or pronouns, including misgendering or use of ‘dead’ or rejected names
  • Gratuitous or off-topic sexual images or behavior
  • Derogatory comments that refer to a particular person without directly mentioning them, especially for, but not limited to, means of mockery or criticism (eg, “subtweeting” or “vaguebooking”)
  • Making intentionally false communications, either written, spoken or posted on any social media, that harms a member’s or AIGA New Mexico’s reputation
  • Stealing or misappropriation of any property (including digital) belonging to another member or AIGA New Mexico, including all materials developed for or on behalf of the AIGA New Mexico without the express permission of the member and/or AIGA New Mexico
  • Acting in a manner that endangers the health or safety of another person
  • Exhibiting disorderly conduct, including but not limited to, abuse of controlled substances or overt drunkenness
  • Bringing any weapons (including realistic prop weaponry), firearms, dangerous chemicals, or any materials specifically banned by AIGA New Mexico and/or venue space to an AIGA New Mexico-sponsored activity or event in either physical or digital spaces
  • Defacing property
  • Any social media posting reflecting any of the above behavior occurring at an AIGA New Mexico-sponsored/affiliated event or activity
  • Threats of violence
  • Incitement of violence towards any individual, including encouraging a person to commit suicide or to engage in self-harm
  • Deliberate intimidation
  • Stalking or following, including both physical and digital spaces
  • Harassing photography or recording, including logging online activity for harassment purposes
  • Sustained disruption of discussion
  • Unwelcome sexual attention
  • Pattern of inappropriate social contact, such as requesting/assuming inappropriate levels of intimacy with others
  • Continued one-on-one communication after requests to cease
  • Physical contact and simulated physical contact (eg, textual descriptions like “hug” or “backrub”) without consent or after a request to stop
  • Deliberate “outing” of any aspect of a person’s identity without their consent except as necessary to protect other AIGA New Mexico community members or other vulnerable people from intentional abuse
  • Publication of non-harassing private communication without consent by the involved parties

AIGA New Mexico prioritizes marginalized people’s safety over privileged people’s comfort. The organization reserves the right not to act on complaints regarding:

  • AIGA New Mexico reserves the right not to act on complaints of ‘reverse’ -isms, including ‘reverse racism,’ ‘reverse sexism,’ and ‘cisphobia’.
  • AIGA New Mexico reserves the right not to act on complaints against the reasonable communication of boundaries, such as “leave me alone,” “go away,” or “I’m not discussing this with you.”
  • AIGA New Mexico reserves the right not to act on complaints of someone communicating in a ‘tone’ you don’t find congenial.
  • AIGA New Mexico reserves the right not to act on complaints against criticisms of racist, sexist, cissexist, or otherwise oppressive behavior or assumptions.​

REPORTING

If you experience disrespectful or harassing behavior by a member of the AIGA New Mexico community, notice that someone else is being disrespected or harassed, or have any other concerns, please immediately contact a member of the AIGA New Mexico Board of Directors, a volunteer, or moderator.

ENFORCEMENT & CONSEQUENCES

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

If a participant engages in harassing behavior, AIGA New Mexico may take any action deemed appropriate by the current AIGA New Mexico Board of Directors, up to and including expulsion from all AIGA New Mexico spaces and identification of the participant as a harasser to other AIGA New Mexico members or the general public.

Any and all complaints received by the AIGA New Mexico Board of Directors are investigated to the fullest extent possible. Anonymous complaints are investigated to the extent that information provided allows. In the case of a formally-lodged complaint, the AIGA New Mexico Board of Directors will endeavor to protect the confidentiality of a complainant to the fullest extent possible.

If the person who is harassing you is a member of staff, either officially or in an ancillary capacity, they will recuse themselves from the handling of your incident.

The AIGA New Mexico Board of Directors must investigate allegations of prohibited behavior, and must document the issue in a formal written complaint, either as written by the complainant or as compiled by a representative of the Community Care team and approved by the complainant.

​If you are uncomfortable putting your complaint in writing, the person to whom you brought the allegations will create a written complaint and ask you to review and correct it and to then approve the final version. Complaints will be maintained in a confidential file in the office of the AIGA New Mexico Board of Directors.

You should be assured that there will be no retaliation against you for making good faith claims.

Thank you!

This policy was based on the existing XOXO Community Code of Conduct, which is itself based on resources provided by Geek Feminism, and borrows heavily from similar open source policies authored by JSConf AU and Django.

It also incorporates and acts as a companion document to the AIGA Code of Conduct. Both the AIGA Code of Conduct and the AIGA New Mexico Code of Conduct are in effect and applicable to everyone who interacts with and under the auspices of AIGA New Mexico.

This policy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. We encourage other events to adopt (and enforce) similar policies by using and remixing ours.

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