Code of conduct
FAM is a room full of people who disagree with each other. That is the point of it, and it only works if everybody in the room is safe to be there. This is the short version of how we keep that true.
What we expect
Argue with the idea, not the person. Take on the strongest version of what somebody said, not the easiest one. “That’s rubbish because” is fine. “You’re an idiot for thinking” is not.
Assume the person next to you knows something you don’t. The room contains people who have been making a living from creative work for thirty years and people who arrived in the industry last month. Both of them are worth listening to.
No stupid questions, and no sighing at questions. If somebody asks what a word means, they are doing the whole room a favour. Anybody who makes a person feel small for asking will be asked to stop.
Ask before you photograph or record somebody. We take photographs at events for the archive. If somebody says no, that is the end of it, no negotiation, no explaining why they’re wrong.
Take a no. About a conversation, a drink, a contact detail, a photograph, anything.
Don’t sell from the floor. Talk about your work all you like. Recruiting, pitching and working the room for leads are not what this is for.
What is not acceptable
Harassment of any kind, including: comments that demean people for their race, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, appearance, body size, age, nationality, immigration status, religion, or class; unwanted sexual attention; deliberate intimidation, stalking or following; sustained disruption of a talk; unwelcome physical contact; and photography or recording of somebody who has asked you not to.
This applies in the room, at the bar, in the pub afterwards, and in any group chat that comes out of it.
If something happens
Find Ivan, or any other organiser. You can also email fam@andcake.dev at any time, including anonymously from an address we won’t recognise.
You will be believed and taken seriously. We will not tell you what you should have done differently. We will ask what you want to happen, and where we can, we will do that. If you want somebody removed from the room, say so. We would rather lose an attendee than lose you.
We can also help you find a quiet spot, get you a taxi, or just stand with you for a bit.
Consequences
Depending on what happened, we may have a quiet word, ask somebody to leave for the evening, or ban them from future events. We do not owe anybody a warning first, and we do not run a three-strikes system.
Organisers are held to this more strictly than anybody else, not less.
Adapted from the practices of a lot of other meetups who worked this out before us. If you think something here is wrong or missing, tell us, fam@andcake.dev.
fam@andcake.dev — read by a person.