Reporting Code of Conduct Infractions

Last updated by the ISFiC Board 2024-10-29

What is the Independent Incident Response Team (IRT)?

The IRT is not part of ISFiC but has the authority to carry out actions concerning attendees, convention staff, and board members. The IRT was instituted by ISFiC so that everyone involved with ISFiC and by extension Windycon are held to the same standard of conduct and all incidents can be addressed. The IRT is staffed by persons in the community who are not on the ISFiC Board and not on Windycon’s staff.

There is a Problem at the Convention, What Should You Do?

Should you choose to report misconduct, you can expect a member of the event Operations Staff or IRT to be called in to provide support, investigate, and take the necessary actions to ensure that the situation is handled with the utmost care and concern with clear and concise actions. ISFiC reserves the right to remove attendees from any ISFiC event and/or ban future attendance if conduct and safety guidelines are not followed. Operations and the IRT will maintain a record of active misconduct reports, while permanent records of resolved incidents will be maintained by the ISFiC Board.

In either case, we will make a written report, and ask you for the details needed to understand and resolve the problem or prevent further harm. If you give us your name and contact information, we will follow up with you as needed, but we also will accept anonymous reports.

We will tell you what our next steps will be and further action(s) to be taken, if any. If you request, we will follow up with you and let you know the outcome of our actions. We will endeavor to remain in contact, as per your choice, at least every 2 weeks until the matter has reached resolution.

If other people are named in the incident, they will be told that there is an incident against them, but if the reporter wishes to remain anonymous, the identity of the person making the report will not be named.

For Incidents Outside of Windycon (Delayed Reporting or Involving Other Sanctioned ISFiC Events)

Issues may be reported throughout the year, not just during Windycon, Picnicon, or any other ISFiC event. If you need to report an issue outside of Windycon or do not feel comfortable discussing the matter with the Operations Staff, you may contact the Independent Incident Response Team (IRT) directly at [email protected] and someone will be in touch with you within 24 hours.

• If the incident involves one or more Board members, IRT will handle the incident
• If the incident involves a previous or current Chair or Vice-Chair, IRT will handle the incident
• Otherwise, the incident is forwarded to the Board, who will either investigate it themselves, assign it to the previous or current Chair if appropriate, or request IRT to handle the incident if most appropriate

For All Windycon Staff and ISFiC Board members

As a staff member you are an important part of assuring our attendees are safe and happy. Our problem resolution process is designed to help accomplish this.

If someone approaches you with a problem that is either too complicated for you to solve or appears to be a Code of Conduct violation, stay with the person and help find a member of Operations or the Incident Response Team as appropriate. If there is an immediately dangerous situation, do not hesitate to call 911 first. Please notify Operations after calling 911 so that convention leadership can stay in the loop.