THESE ARE THE STANDARDS TO WHICH WE HOLD OUR COMMUNITY

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TiE Boston isn’t just a place to support entrepreneurs, build your network and learn about the latest trends in tech - it’s also a place to lift your head up from your everyday and think about how what’s going on in the world affects your work.

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We believe there’s immense value in being exposed to new viewpoints—including ones that challenge your own way of looking at the world. TiE Boston is a place for thought-provoking conversations, but we can’t have those conversations unless everyone feels safe and respected.

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We’re committed to being a safe and inclusive space for all our members, program participants, attendees and guests; regardless of gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, race, nationality, ethnicity, disability, medical conditions, religion (or lack thereof), physical appearance, politics, or ideology. Our Code of Conduct is here to provide a clear set of guidelines to everyone in the TiE Boston community about the standards to which we hold you—and ourselves.

 

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1. BE KIND AND RESPECTFUL

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Above all, we ask that all attendees, speakers, members, sponsors and other guests behave respectfully. Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down other members or attendees. Harassment and sexist, racist, or exclusionary jokes or comments are never tolerated at TiE Boston, at satellite events, or on social media or other online platforms for the organization or its events.

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Harassment includes (but is not limited to) comments using demeaning, derogatory, or discriminatory language, comments intended to cause offense or harm to other members of the community, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention.

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If you’re asked—whether by an TiE Boston team member, event organizer or another attendee—to stop your behavior, you’re expected to do so respectfully and immediately. 

 

2. DON’T SPAM 

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Respecting your fellow attendees also means interacting with them in human, collaborative, and non-spammy ways. Whether you’re sponsoring or just attending, remember that no one has opted in to hear from you simply by being a member of TiE Boston or in attending our events. It’s important not only to be kind to your fellow attendees, but also to their inboxes.

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Of course, we encourage you to connect with other attendees in genuine, human, and helpful ways. However, scraping emails, blasting people with unsolicited pitches for your startup/foundation/business opportunities, or spamming your fellow attendees is not acceptable. Please don’t be THAT person. 

 

3. SPEAK OUT AND OWN UP

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We believe peer to peer discussions, feedback, corrections can help build a stronger, safer, and more welcoming community.

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If you see someone behaving disrespectfully, and you feel safe and comfortable doing so, you are encouraged to respectfully discourage them from such behavior. If you do not feel safe, comfortable, or otherwise able to respond and resolve it respectfully, please bring it to the attention of TiE Boston staff immediately. We want to hear from you about anything that you feel is disrespectful, threatening, inappropriate or is leaving you with a bad feeling. We will listen and work to resolve the matter.

 

If you catch yourself behaving disrespectfully, or if someone else shares their discomfort with you, own up to your words and actions, and apologize accordingly. No one is perfect, and even well-intentioned people make mistakes. What matters is how you handle them, and avoiding repeating them in the future.

 

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4. GETTING HELP

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If someone is causing problems for you, please notify TiE Boston Executive Director, Rowena Kay Mascarenhas at rowena@tieboston.org, so we can step in and deal with the issue. We take all concerns seriously, and we will use our discretion in determining when and how to follow up on reported incidents.

 

Depending on the circumstances involved, we may take or decline further action and/or may direct the participant to other resources for resolution.

If we determine that a TiE Boston member or event participant is acting inappropriately, we may take any actions that we feel are necessary to prevent continued disrespectful behavior or harassment. This may include expulsion from TiE Boston membership or an event without warning or refund.

 

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LICENSE & ATTRIBUTION

This policy is licensed under the Creative Commons Zero license. Feel free to borrow from our Code of Conduct to help make your events safer and more inclusive. This policy is based on several other policies, including Google Events Anti-Harassment Policy, Pycon 2013 Code of Conduct, Inbound and Yxyy Community Code of Conduct.

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