Confident and Ready: Developing a Code of Conduct Incident Response Plan
The Samvera Community is over 1,000 strong, and creating a safe space for discourse and mutual support has been key to the success of what is truly a “community.” Samvera has had a Code of Conduct for many years. When the Code was revised in 2019, participants recognized that the community was underprepared to address Code of Conduct violations. A Working Group was formed and, in partnership with two outside consultants, developed a comprehensive Code of Conduct Incident Response Manual. When we became the victims of a coordinated attack in 2020 from an online group whose mission is to harass trans* and non-binary people, this theoretical problem became an active threat to our community, thereby underscoring the importance of community safety preparedness. This presentation will focus on how the process helped community volunteers build confidence in their ability to respond to Code of Conduct violations, including proactive steps to prevent bad actors from accessing community channels; team vetting and onboarding; and a response checklist. It will highlight how the response manual helps keep the goal of community harm prevention and mitigation in mind as they collect information, make decisions, and report those decisions in ways that strengthen community trust.
