TIO put a lot of trust in our attendees, we are very much led by our attendees throughout - we encourage lively debate, we encourage people to get to know each other socially, as we are growing and organising events in other countries it is becoming important that we make sure that everyone feels safe and comfortable to come.
Sadly, in the past, at other industry events people have mentioned someone made them feel less than comfortable. This discussion also highlighted many other situations in which our fellow colleagues have been harassed or assaulted. Situations like these are what TIO wants your help to avoid.
We want TIO to be a safe space for all, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment of event participants in any form. We wish for TIO to be a place you can hang out and focus on being with other people in your industry.
To make this possible we are going to ask you all to step up and do two things - the first should seem obvious,
- Ensure the people around you aren’t made uncomfortable by your behaviour
- Keep one eye on the people around you, especially if they are more likely to feel vulnerable.
In the words of President Lincoln
This means:
- If you do something that makes someone uncomfortable
- If you abuse power, authority you have access to
- If you abuse any personal contact details you have (this includes phone, WhatsApp & social channels).
Whether sober or drunk if you make another person uncomfortable, threatened or harassed you will be excluded from our events, we may share this information with other event organisers and may approach senior colleagues, and will support discussion with legal authorities. It will not be tolerated.
Please help keep TIO a safe space and look after your fellow humans - report if someone else around you isn't comfortable
How can I get help / report something
- At the start make a list of both male and female people who can be approached, these are often hosts, organisers and volunteers - people who are trusted to help with your personal safety.
- If it is a serious incident and you believe you should go to the police first, please do (and follow up with us afterwards).
We will take matters seriously - we put trust in you to know the line & alcohol (or any other substance) is not an excuse.
Participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the event without a refund at the discretion of the organisers.
This document is organic, so will undoubtedly be revised continually.