Code of Conduct

EPIC values and promotes the inherent worth of every person; fosters dignity, understanding, and mutual respect; and embraces diversity as an essential component of our community and ethnographic practice. When you participate in EPIC programs and spaces you are also making a commitment to these principles.

We work in an interdisciplinary field that explores social complexity. We gain strength from diversity by fostering collaboration among groups with different backgrounds, worldviews, interests, needs, and skills. We encourage our community to pursue areas of interest, as well as be inspired and challenged by unexpected people, practices, and ideas. We believe in the value of continual, multi-disciplinary learning and critique in a constantly changing world.

We invite you to help make EPIC a place that is welcoming and respectful to all participants, regardless of race, gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, class or caste, national origin, ethnicity, political affiliation, or religion. By creating an inclusive environment, we can make the most of this wonderful community.

 

What Is Harassment?

We will not tolerate harassment of conference participants in any form, in person or online, including but not limited to:

  • Verbal comments, including jokes, that reinforce social structures of domination related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, religion
  • Verbal threats or demands or personal attacks
  • Sexualized, discriminatory, and/or exploitive images in any conference space, including presentations, sponsor exhibits, or public areas
  • Deliberate intimidation, stalking or following
  • Harassing photography or recording
  • Sustained disruption of talks or other events
  • Inappropriate physical contact
  • Unwelcome sexual attention
  • Advocating for, or encouraging, any harassing behaviors
  • Slights and negative messages based on appearance

The Code of Conduct applies to all conference-related interactions and activities, in any venue, whether public or private, in person or virtual.

Privacy & Communications

With the exception of reporting violations of this Code of Conduct outlined above, please respect the privacy of other individuals. We gather together to share ideas, opportunities, and challenges, and this requires trust. Attendees agree to comply with the following rules for all communications on all platforms:

  • The right to communicate with other members must be exercised with care and respect for every person’s time, attention, trust, well-being and safety.
  • The profile information of other members must not be shared outside this platform. If you’d like to help someone out—for example, by sharing open positions, job status, or the candidacy of individuals (or anything else) that is posted on a profile—it’s essential to obtain permission first.
  • Direct messaging on this platform is private. It cannot be accessed or moderated by EPIC, and message content may not be shared without explicit permission from the individual author of the message.
  • Communications to other EPIC members must consist of substantive, individualized information. Identical messaging may not be sent to multiple people.

Prohibited Uses of Data

  • Scraping or extracting profile information in any quantity for use or storage outside this platform is strictly prohibited. Contact information shared by members in the “Best Way to Connect with Me” section of the profile may be used for personalized, substantive communication between individual EPIC members.
  • Using contact information and profile data for solicitation or promotion on or off the platform (including solicitation for research studies) is strictly prohibited unless the information was personally and specifically requested by the individual.

Chats, Comments & Discussion Boards

  • In spaces for comment such as session chats and discussions boards, posts must be relevant and respectful. Posts that are determined by the EPIC Board to violate the Code of Conduct, or that violate the stated purpose of the space if one is posted, may be removed.

 

Enforcement

By participating in EPIC events, all attendees, speakers, sponsors, and volunteers commit to following this code of conduct at the conference, at conference-adjacent social events at off-site locations, and in related online communities and social media. Participants asked to stop harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. Conference participants violating this code of conduct may be expelled from the conference without a refund at the discretion of EPIC and the conference organizers.

 

Reporting

If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or experience or witness any violation of this code of conduct, please contact us immediately: community@epicpeople.org.

 

Get in touch!

We welcome questions, comments, and suggestions: community@epicpeople.org.

Thank you for making this a warm, inspiring and useful place for EPIC people to hang out!