Emerald City Comic Con, 2024

L! Code of Conduct

Level Up! Vocal Ensemble and its members pledge to act and interact in ways that contribute to an open, welcoming, diverse, inclusive, and healthy community. Discrimination is not tolerated here.

As an ensemble that promotes and performs video game music, we want to acknowledge that the video game industry as a whole has systemic problems including misogyny, gatekeeping, and racism. We seek to defy and overcome the toxicity that is present in the gaming community of which we are a part.

Do

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

• Demonstrating empathy, kindness, and support toward other people

• Being respectful of differing opinions, viewpoints, and experiences

• Gracefully giving and 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

Don't

The below points are examples of violations of our code of conduct:

Discrimination

Offensive, harmful, or hurtful comments, at any level of casualness or (in)directness, related to:

• Age

• Religion

• Native language or accent

• Race, caste, color, ethnicity, or nationality

• Gender identity or expression

• Sexual identity or orientation

• Visible or invisible disability

• Body size or physical appearance

• Dietary restriction or abstinence

• Marital, family, or socioeconomic status

• Education, level of experience, or musical ability

• Political party affiliation

• Gatekeeping or questioning the legitimacy of the above statuses or identities

• Deliberately referring to someone by a status or identity they do not identify with (e.g. misgendering)

Harassment

Harassment includes, but is not limited to:

• Unsolicited or unwanted direct messages or communication

• Disruptive behavior, e.g. talking over speakers or performers

• Stalking, following, non-consensual photography or recording

• Doxxing (publishing others’ private information without their explicit permission)

• Knowingly falsified defamation or allegations

• Unwelcome sexual attention or sexual images in public spaces

• Any sexualization of minors (fictional or otherwise)

• Unsolicited proselytizing

Abuse

Abusive and aggressive behavior includes, but is not limited to:

• Non-consensual physical contact (cosplay is not consent)

• Demeaning or derogatory comments or slurs

• Deliberate intimidation, which may include non-verbal gestures or physical blocking

• Threats of violence or encouraging self-harm

• Personal or political attacks, including inflammatory trolling/baiting

Content Warnings

At all times, these topics should be prefaced with a verbal content warning in public spaces, or written warning and use of spoiler tags if on Discord.

Never acceptable:

• Sexualization of minors

• Racist jokes or opinions

• Promotion of self-harm

• Explicit descriptions of sexual acts

Situational, must provide content warning:

• Explicit descriptions of violent acts or gore (R-rated or above)

• Political news or current events

• Drug use or addiction

No content warning needed:

• General references to video game violence (G to PG-13)

• Non-directed sexual innuendo

• References to alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana

Reporting violations

Instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable behavior should be reported to the Level Up! Vocal Ensemble board via this form.

Confidentiality

The board is obligated to respect the privacy and security of the reporter of any incident. In some cases we may determine that a public statement will need to be made. If that's the case, the identities of all victims and reporters will remain confidential unless those individuals instruct us otherwise.

Conflicts of interest

Board members that have conflicts of interest with either victims, reporters, or perpetrators must recuse themselves if necessary from investigating or enforcing resolutions.

Complaints alleging misconduct on the part of board members will be investigated promptly and as confidentially as possible by a task force of board members that do not represent a conflict of interest.

Retaliation

We will never ask you to withdraw an incident report, nor do we tolerate retaliation against members who report concerns in good faith. Acts of retaliation should be reported in the same process as described above.

However, reports that are discovered after investigation to have been made in bad faith, and are proven to be knowingly or deliberately falsified, will be treated as incidents of harassment and enforced accordingly.

If you are unsure whether an incident is a violation, we encourage you to still report it. We would much rather have a few extra reports where we decide to take no action, rather than miss a report of an actual violation. As noted above, we will not retaliate or look negatively upon the reporter if we find the incident to be factual and not a violation. And knowing about incidents that are not violations, or happen outside our spaces, can also help us to improve the Code of Conduct or the processes surrounding it.

What happens after a report is filed

You will receive an email from the LU!VE board acknowledging receipt as soon as possible. We will attempt to acknowledge your report within 24 hours or less.

• The board will meet to review the incident and investigate:

• What happened (which will include obtaining versions of the event from all parties involved).

• Whether this event constitutes a code of conduct violation.

• Who the bad actor was.

• Whether this is an ongoing situation, or if there is a threat to anyone's physical safety.

If this is determined to be an ongoing incident or a threat to physical safety, the working groups' immediate priority will be to protect everyone involved. This means we may delay an official response until we believe that the situation has ended and that everyone is physically safe.

Once the board has a complete account of the events, they will make a decision as to how to respond. Official resolutions are listed in the Enforcement section below. We will strive to respond within one week with either a resolution or an explanation of why the situation is not yet resolved.

Once the board has determined a final resolution, we will contact non-anonymous reporters to let them know what action (if any) we'll be taking, thank them for their diligence, and offer more support if anything else happens.

We will take into account feedback from the reporter on the appropriateness of our response, but we don't guarantee we'll act on it.

Enforcement

Level Up! Vocal Ensemble's board members are responsible for clarifying and enforcing our standards of acceptable behavior, and taking appropriate and fair corrective action in response to any behavior that violates our code of conduct.

Resolutions

The below resolution levels serve as an escalation ladder and a guideline for determining violation consequences. While LU!VE strives to make room for teaching and learning, some incidents may be so egregious as to warrant skipping several rungs of the ladder or may result in immediate removal from the choir.

Level 0: No Action

A violation of our code of conduct was not found.

Level 1: Warning

A private, written warning from the board, stating:

• Clarity around the nature of the violation

• An explanation of why the behavior was inappropriate

• The consequences of continued behavior

• A public apology may be requested, depending on the infraction.

Example causes:

• Use of inappropriate language or behavior deemed unprofessional or unwelcome in the community

• Casual discrimination or unchecked biases

Level 2: Warning + Mediation

Alongside a Level 1 warning, a face-to-face meeting will be called with board members present to mediate, with the goal of providing:

• Resolution for any interpersonal conflict

• An opportunity to gain perspective and empathy, and consider intentions vs. impact

• Steps for resetting future behavior

• Required re-acknowledgement / re-signing of LU!VE's code of conduct

• A cool-down period may be called, which means further interactions between involved parties should be suspended until the meeting convenes.

Example causes:

• Harassment

• Abuse

• Repeated Level 1 infractions

Level 3: Removal

Termination from the organization entails:

• A permanent ban from attending LU!VE's events, performances, and rehearsals

• A permanent ban from LU!VE's Discord server and online communications

• No further private or public interactions with the people involved, including unsolicited interaction with those enforcing the Code of Conduct

• A public statement to this effect may be made for individuals with which LU!VE no longer wishes to associate.

Example causes:

• Sexual harassment

• Violence or aggression toward classes or individuals

• Repeated Level 2 infractions

Unilateral Enforcement

If a violation involves a threat to anyone's safety (e.g. threats of violence) or physical danger, any member may - and should - act unilaterally to protect safety. This can include contacting law enforcement or other local personnel.

If the violation is ongoing (such as someone engaging in harassment on Discord), any board member may act immediately (before reaching consensus) to end the situation, using methods such as temporary bans, blocks, or ejection from an in-person event.

In situations where an individual board member acts unilaterally, they must report their actions to the board for review within 24 hours. If they are found to have escalated or retaliated inappropriately, they will be required to undertake further code of conduct training. Repeated unwarranted unilateral enforcement can be reported or treated as a code of conduct violation.

Scope

If the board receives a report that a member of our community has been publicly participating in a Level 3 violation of our code of conduct even outside of LU!VE spaces, this may be grounds for dismissal from the choir pending investigation, depending on the severity of the infraction.

Attribution

This Code of Conduct has been adapted from several Creative Commons works, attributed below:

• Contributor Covenant 2.1

• Mozilla Community Participation Guidelines 3.1

• Django Code of Conduct Enforcement Manual