Policy Statements

A statement from the Coordinators of AgilePhilly . . . concerning OUR NO HARASSMENT POLICIES and other Policies

Nov 22, 2017

In the memo today where CBS fired Charlie Rose, it reiterated "What once may have been accepted should never have been accepted." I as Lead Coordinator and the other Coordinators and members of AgilePhilly agree, and always have, and think I this a good time to reiterate our policy in this regard.

Probably unknown to many members are the discussions a long time ago among the Coordinators of AgilePhilly in our YahooGroups forum on this.

That is the forum where discussions of policy and boring logistics of setting up meetings has always occurred, as well as storing other important artifacts such as copies of the push Announcement Emails about meetings.

Given this important shift in openness we see in our own time, I believe it is important to reiterate that our policy at AgilePhilly. It borrows entirely from the published Code of Conduct from the group Girls Develop It. Unsurprisingly, this statement of theirs is the policy of most volunteer User Groups in Philadelphia and other cities. When reading it, just insert AgilePhilly where you see Girl Develop It.

Their Code of Conduct is here https://www.girldevelopit.com/code-of- conduct

and it is also OUR code of conduct.

This has always been so.

And we encourage anyone who has a need or has a question or comment about any individual in our midst to bring it to our attention. The place for this is mail to:AgilePhillyCoordinators@YahooGroups.com

And as members of agile teams in our workplaces, as change agents and being people-oriented, we should be honest in all our discussions.

Where I work, my male coworkers are now freely discussing things seen in the 1980s and 1990s which noone spoke up about. It is not just our female associates sharing these things.

TO REPORT ANY ABUSE OR PROBLEM OF A MEMBER, ACQUAINTANCE OR FACILITATOR

Personally, I would also like to add that anonymous submissions to AgilePhillyCoordinators@YahooGroups.com are always welcome. On any matter.

If you choose to send us an anonymous email, https://www.guerrill amail.comhas been tested.

https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/anonymous- email-providers lists others not tested by me.

( By the way, my favorite place to anonymously receive emails anonymously is at www.mailinator.com )

While expressing this NO HARASSMENT POLICY, perhaps reviewing our other policies is appropriate at this time.

* While speaking of anonymity, this is a good time to remind our membership rolls are never shared with vendors Besides the trust that we as a volunteer group want from our members, there is also the fact that our membership rolls are the only asset that the AgilePhilly group has. Our sole income during the year is from our ability to include vendor job openings and product announcements to our members. We do this service of advertising to members in return for meeting sponsorships - i.e. paying for the pizza - from a sponsoring company.

And hey, anyone want to drop $130 for this month's pizza ? ( Yum . . . . pizza )

There is an exception to this rule, in that a sponsoring company of a single event may request a sign-in sheet for their sponsored event, or a list of those who RSVP'd for the meeting for follow-up. We feel this is appropriate, under the rule "dance with them what brought you to the dance."

* As far as other policies discussed and advocated by Coordinators, we at AgilePhilly prefer a stance of no alcohol at any meeting. This was last discussed 2016/09/26

https://technical.ly/philly/2016/05/02/alcohol- tech-events explains the logic of the BY-NO ( vs. BYOB ) format. Inclusivity must be the norm of any meeting of kindred souls. The BY-NO movement espouses that Liquor and Beer really do not belong at Technical Meetings, even if it might increase attendance. And personally, my sadness should something happen to someone on the drive home would be unbearable.

* We at AgilePhilly will try to keep meetings ( and the pizza ) free.

It means there is an unending plea for local companies to step up and say that a place outside of the workplace where sharing agile education, views and experiences is worthwhile. AgilePhilly strives to promote our local companies, industry and economic marketplace over national vendors. And that no single vendor, host or supplier should think they have an exclusive or biased role in the group. ( Ummmmm, free pizza . . . )

* Our Core Principles which always bear repeating, since they make AgilePhilly successful.

- A Personal Welcome when joining. This follows from "People over Process"

- Monthly meetings, in a repeatable cadence of delivery

- Announce meeting schedules well in advance, even if not fully formed. We shall use the website and tools as information radiators to inform members.

Policy Statements

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