Wikimedia Österreich/Event guidelines

From Meta, a Wikimedia project coordination wiki

These event guidelines apply to community events at which their applicability will be announced to all participants in advance. The provision of a link to the guidelines on the event's website shall suffice for this purpose. The people organising the event shall make the relevant decision.

These guidelines describe various participants' rights and how these can be enforced. They apply to the event venue and all other rooms that are accessed in the context of the event. Their applicability extends to all participants, meaning all the people physically present at the event venue.

Right to attendance and participation[edit]

  • Participation in the event is essentially open to all active users of Wikimedia projects.
  • No one may be excluded from participation for reasons such as national or ethnic affiliation, gender or sexual orientation, or due to any physical handicaps, due to political, ideological or religious beliefs or due to an affiliation to specific roles, positions and/or groups within the Wikimedia communities.
  • Restrictions to participation may apply due to limited space, compulsory registration, venue requirements or necessary language proficiency and skills. If the event addresses a specific target group, attendance by people who are not affiliated with this group can be restricted in a targeted manner. However, completely excluding all active users who are not affiliated with the target group should be avoided.
  • All participants are entitled to undisturbed attendance of the event. Therefore, the persistent disruption of other speakers and the systematic blocking of group work is unwelcome.

Right to self-determination and integrity[edit]

  • All participants shall have the right to not participate in communication, to withdraw and to remain undisturbed, if they so wish.
  • None of the attendees may be subjected to personal insult, humiliation or deliberate intimidation.
  • Personal attacks and derogatory comments because of someone's presumed or actual affiliation to a group are not allowed.
  • Unwanted physical contact, physical violence and threatening such violence is prohibited.

Right to friendliness and fairness[edit]

  • All participants shall have the right to friendly and fair interaction with one another.
  • No one shall be prevented from expressing divergent opinions and justified criticism.
  • No one shall be permitted to spread wrong or misleading information at the event with fraudulent intentions, in particular information that could harm other people or groups. Objectionable, degrading and discriminating comments about certain groups are detrimental to a climate of friendliness and fairness. Therefore, comments that can be understood as the expression of racism, xenophobia or sexism or as the degradation of marginalised groups in society are not welcome.
  • All participants shall have the right to defend themselves verbally against charges raised against them during the event or to otherwise take a stand in this regard.

Right to anonymity and data protection[edit]

  • Generally speaking, all participants shall have the right to anonymity. This is understood to mean appearing exclusively under the individual's user name or completely anonymously. This person's real name, personal data and non-public correspondence, differing from such individual's user name, may not be disclosed to others against this person's express wish. Image and audio recordings may not be made at the event against the will of the parties concerned.
  • The attempt to act under someone else's user or real name or to untruthfully claim to represent specific people or organisations is undesirable.
  • The right to anonymity may be limited with regard to specific people and groups that are involved in the event's organisation. In this case, non-public disclosure of real names and personal data may be a participation requirement.
  • People and groups who have access to personal information, may not publish it without the approval of the parties concerned. They are not permitted to share this information with third parties except for necessary organisational purposes and for no other purposes than for the organisation of the event. The provision of a formal privacy statement is recommended at larger events.

Right to compliance and enforcement[edit]

  • All participants shall be responsible for compliance with these provisions. If you become aware of unwanted conduct as described herein, ask the person infringing against the guidelines to cease such behaviour immediately, making reference to these guidelines if necessary.
  • In a next step towards enforcement, inform at least one the people responsible for organising the event of the incident. If necessary, organise the provision of external assistance such as by the security staff at the venue, the police force and the emergency services.
  • The people responsible for organising the event can take the measures they deem appropriate to enforce these guidelines. For example, they can admonish the participants and exclude them from attendance of the event with immediate effect.
  • Excluding people from the event in advance, because a violation of these guidelines is to be expected on their part, should be avoided where possible. This step should only be taken following careful consideration by the people organising the event.