Colorado Springs Board Game Club Code of Conduct

Draft Status

This document is still in its draft form. It is currently in the process of being reviewed, commented, and edited by community members and other affected parties. The code here does not formally take effect until such a time that it passes this draft phase. Even though the language here does not yet formally define acceptable conduct in our community, its general principles and spirit always apply.

About This Document

This document formally defines which behaviors are considered acceptable and/or unacceptable for people who wish to participate in our community. It defines procedures by which possible violations of the code may be reported, adjudicated, and resolved. Lastly it defines processes by which this document itself may change over time.’

To Whom Does This Code Apply?

This code of conduct applies to any people who wish to participate in any community space that falls under the purview of Colorado Springs Board Game Club (CSBGC). This includes spaces both on and offline. It also applies to any new community spaces that do not yet exist at the time this document comes into existence. For example, this code applies to, but not limited to, the following spaces:

Conduct Outside of CSBGC Community Spaces

This code addresses the standard of behavior a person must adhere to if they wish to participate in the applicable community spaces. However, people will be held to that standard of behavior in all spaces, even outside of the community. For example, if someone is found to have engaged in harassment outside of our community space, that person is still a known harasser. They may no longer be welcome in our community, even though their code violation occurred outside of our spaces.

Interaction With Third Party Codes of Conduct

Many of the places this code applies are third part platforms that have their own codes of conduct. In such spaces, both this code and the code of the place will apply. e.g.: A person who violates Facebook’s code of conduct in the CSBGC Facebook Group will also be considered to have violated this code of conduct.

The Code

Engage with the Community

A person who wishes to participate in our spaces, must have an honest desire to be a member of the community. A person must exhibit behaviors such as actively listening and making meaningful contributions. For example: A person who only comes into the community space for the purpose of self-promotion is not trying to actually trying to join it.

Always Engage in Good Faith

All community engagement must be in good faith. This means that at no time should a person share information or promote ideas that they themselves do not honestly believe. Sarcasm and facetiousness is often lost from language, especially online in text form. That usually leads to misunderstandings, often harmful ones. A good community member exhibits honesty, only stating what they believe to be truthful to the best of their knowledge.

Do Not Espouse Evil Ideologies

There are too many evil ideologies in the world. Almost all of them have one thing in common in that they do not respect the equal value of all human life. Any person who adheres to or promotes ideas that are in line with any of these belief systems, and others not listed is absolutely unwelcome in our community.

Racism
Fascism
Misogyny
Homophobia
Transphobia
Ableism
Antisemitism
Islamophobia
etc.

Membership in, or advocacy for any group or organization that espouses such evil ideologies is also strictly prohibited. This specifically includes all SPLC designated hate groups, and many others not listed here.

Do Not Send Traffic to Evil People

There are plenty of perfectly fine websites, sources, and people in the world. Do not link to or otherwise cite websites known to traffic in fake news, pseudoscience, or any of the things listed above. If the information you wish to cite is truly valid, you should be able to find a real citation from a trusted source. We will not list examples of poor sources to avoid even the most remote possibility that someone will visit them.

Absolutely No Harassment

Any person who engages in any form of harassment against any other person is not welcome in our community spaces. This includes, but is not limited to:

Using unwelcome, uninclusive, or abusive language.
Mental or physical assault
Sexual harassment
Sharing of content to intentionally make other people feel uncomfortable
Trolling or griefing of any kind
Publishing another person’s private information (doxing) without their consent
Any kind of bullying
Not stopping, or arguing, after being told what they are saying is offensive
Minor harassment such as annoying or pestering other people

Do Not Advocate Violence or Other Immoral Acts

Do not advocate for or encourage other people to engage in violent or immoral activities. Likewise, do not wish for specific harm to befall others, even if you believe they might deserve it. In keeping with the rule of always engaging in good faith, this should not be done, even in a facetious manner.

Do Not Endanger the Community or its Members

As a member of the community, a person’s behavior reflects on all the other members. Any behavior that could put other community members, or the community itself, in danger is strictly prohibited. The most common example would be to do something that draws unwanted negative attention to the community or its members.

We recognize that anything that violates this rule will also likely violate at least one of the other rules, e.g.: advocating immoral acts is also likely to endanger the community. That doesn’t mean this rule is redundant. It exists to emphasize the extreme seriousness of acts that violate this rule as well as others.

Argument and Debate Must be Constructive

We recognize that arguments and debates are an unavoidable and necessary part of any community. They can even be fun under the right circumstances. However, when they are not productive, they devolve into flame wars. If there is a debate, all contributors should take care to reference the following image:

Anyone participating in a healthy and constructive debate must always stay in the top three segments of the pyramid. Arguments that stray into the bottom of the pyramid will not be tolerated.

Put Warnings on Potentially Sensitive Content

Some content that is permitted in our community may be potentially disturbing, triggering, or simply unwanted by other members of the community. This could be for a wide variety of reasons. Sexual content may be not safe for work. A particular video with strobing lights might not be safe for someone with epilepsy to watch. All content should be shared with appropriate warnings, spoiler tags, etc. so that no other community member will run into an unwelcome surprise.

Spoilers

Although there is some debate with regards to the nature of spoilers in media. However, that does not change the fact that spoiling a surprise for someone who did not ask for it is still rude and unwelcoming. Take care to not intentionally or unintentionally reveal narrative surprises for anyone who does not want to know them.

Enforcement

Reporting

Community leaders are always on the lookout for violations of this code. if they see any, they will take action accordingly. However, not everyone can be aware of everything. If any community member sees what they believe to be a violation of this code, please report it to community leadership. If the platform which the violation occurred has a reporting mechanism, please use it as appropriate. Otherwise, any code violations may be reported to us via email at codeofconduct@csboardgame.club. They can also be reported in-person if and when possible and appropriate.

All reports will always remain completely anonymous.

You can report in-person to the following people:

Amanda N
Ashley N
Chris W
Danielle K
David M
Fran K
Kirk M
Mike C
Mike D
Zlatan H

Corrective Action

All reports of conduct violations will be reviewed by community leadership. They will decide what action to take, if any, completely at their own discretion. The transparency of their decision-making process will vary on a case-by-case basis.

If it is determined that a violation of this code has occurred, the community leadership will take action against the member who committed the violation. Possible corrective actions could include, but are not limited to:

Verbal or written warnings
Removal of offending content from relevant platforms
Temporarily or permanently banning members from community participation on one or more platforms
Temporary or permanent restrictions on community activities

A Living Document

This code of conduct is a living document. It may be modified by community leadership at any point in time. Community members are always encouraged to make suggestions for how to improve this code. Suggestions should be emailed to codeofconduct@csboardgame.club.