Virtual Coffee Code of Conduct

In order to create a welcoming and inclusive community, we pledge to make participation in our community a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, body size, visible or invisible disability, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, level of experience, education, socio-economic status, nationality, personal appearance, race, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.

Examples of behavior that contributes to a positive environment for our community include:

• Participating in an authentic and active way. In doing so, you contribute to the health and longevity of this community.

• Demonstrating empathy and kindness toward other people.

• Exercise consideration and respect in your speech and actions.

• Attempting collaboration before conflict.

• Refraining from demeaning, discriminatory, or harassing behavior and speech.

• Being mindful of your surroundings and of your fellow participants. Alert community leaders if you notice a dangerous situation, someone in distress, or violations of this Code of Conduct, even if they seem inconsequential.

• Giving and gracefully accepting constructive feedback.

• Accepting responsibility and apologizing to those affected by our mistakes, and learning from the experience.

• Focusing on what is best not just for us as individuals, but for the overall community.

Examples of unacceptable behavior include, but are not limited to:

• The use of sexualized language or imagery, and sexual attention or advances of any kind

• Trolling, insulting or derogatory comments, and personal or political attacks

• Public or private harassment

• Publishing others' private information, such as a physical or email address, without their explicit permission

• Promotional messages are not acceptable unless authorized by the Moderator.

• Other conduct which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional setting

• Inappropriate photography or recording.

• Unwelcome sexual attention. This includes sexualized comments or jokes; inappropriate touching, groping, and unwelcome sexual advances.

• Deliberate intimidation, stalking, or following (online or in-person).

• Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior.

• Sustained disruption of community events, including talks and presentations.

One of the many goals of this Code of Conduct is to strengthen our community, uplift and encourage each other, and to recognize the positive effects of our community on the industry as a whole.

If you see someone who is making an extra effort to ensure our community is welcoming, friendly, and encourages all participants to contribute to the fullest extent, please recognize their efforts.

Communities often mirror the societies in which they exist and positive action is essential to counteract the many forms of inequality and abuses of power.

As a community, we choose to focus on the impact of our individual actions rather than our intent. We recognize that when it comes to people's lives and identities, the impact of our actions can be profound and wide-reaching.

While, individually, we can never fully understand the ways in which oppressive acts or language impact those around us, we can listen with every desire to understand, and can work to change our behavior.

The moderator is responsible for clarifying and enforcing our standards of acceptable behavior and will take appropriate and fair corrective action in response to any behavior that they deem inappropriate, threatening, offensive, or harmful.

While Virtual Coffee is an open and welcoming community, citation of other's comments in a public forum must have the prior permission of the contributor(s).

Instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable behavior may be reported to the Moderator responsible for enforcement at hello@virtualcoffee.io or anonymously at our CoC violation form. All complaints will be reviewed and investigated promptly and fairly.

The Moderator is obligated to respect the privacy and security of the reporter of any incident.

The Moderator will follow these Community Impact Guidelines in determining the consequences for any action they deem in violation of this Code of Conduct:

Community Impact: Use of inappropriate language or other behavior deemed unprofessional or unwelcome in the community.

Consequence: A private, written warning from the moderator, providing clarity around the nature of the violation and an explanation of why the behavior was inappropriate. A public apology may be requested.

Community Impact: A violation through a single incident or series of actions.

Consequence: A warning with consequences for continued behavior. No interaction with the people involved, including unsolicited interaction with the Moderator, for a period of time specified by the moderator. This includes avoiding interactions in community spaces as well as external channels like social media. Violating these terms may lead to a temporary or permanent ban.

Community Impact: A serious violation of community standards, including sustained inappropriate behavior.

Consequence: A temporary ban from any sort of interaction or public communication with the community for a period of time specified by the Moderator. No public or private interaction with the people involved, including unsolicited interaction with the moderator, is allowed during this period. Violating these terms may lead to a permanent ban.

Community Impact: Demonstrating a pattern of violation of community standards, including sustained inappropriate behavior, harassment of an individual, or aggression toward or disparagement of classes of individuals.

Consequence: A permanent ban from any sort of public interaction within the community.

Engaging in diverse communities, we may accidentally cause offense by using unknowingly offensive terminology or by missing social cues. Recognizing the impact of your actions is far more important than your intent.

If you realize (or are told) that you have offended someone, then please consider taking the appropriate steps:

1. Acknowledge that you've done something inappropriate.

2. Briefly apologize. Do not minimize the issue. If you believe it helps to explain your intent, first listen, and hear out the other person. Then, speak with respect.

3. If possible, edit your message, restate your communication in a better way, or withdraw your statement. Publicly revising your statement helps define the culture for others.

This will allow the conversation to quickly continue without any need for further action or escalation of the situation.

If you don't understand what you did wrong, assume that the hurt party has good cause and accept it. We cannot know everyone's background and should do our best to avoid harm. After all, in the end, what does the intent of our action really matter if our actions have the impact of furthering the marginalization or oppression of those around us.

This Code of Conduct is adapted from:

• Contributor Covenant, version 2.0

• WeAllJS Code of Conduct, available at https://wealljs.org/code-of-conduct

• Reactadelphia Code of Conduct, which itself was copied from the Open Source Bridge.

Community Impact Guidelines were inspired by Mozilla's code of conduct enforcement ladder.