Code of Social Conduct for Board Gaming Geeks
Our goal is to create a great Pittsburgh community that is a safe, friendly, and fun place to learn and play board games of all sorts. We want every member of the Board Gaming Geeks (BGG) community to be able to focus their full attention on becoming a better gamer, both at BGG and as a part of our larger online or real-world Pittsburgh community. This is impossible to do if one is being harassed, stalked, intimidated, or discriminated against.
Please note: “Geeks” herein refers to persons, often of an intellectual bent, who are enthusiasts of board game activities. Prior board game experience is not required. Any game at a BGG event will be explained prior to play.
Accordingly, all Board Gaming Geek members, as well as guests and visitors, are expected to show respect and courtesy to each other in all interactions, whether at BGG, in our online community, or in other contexts.
Attendance and Participation Guidelines
We ask for courtesy if your plans change. Please inform an Organizer if you cannot attend a Gaming Event to which you RSVP’d “yes”. This group is cross-posted on Facebook but is managed on Meetup. Please use the Meetup App to RSVP. Consistently being a No Show or not attending any of our Meetup Events for 8 months will make us perceive the group is no longer of interest to you. We reserve the right to delete your membership.
Costs and Fees
Costs to run this Meetup are currently being covered by the organizers. We may charge a nominal $5 fee in the future. Any change in our membership fees will be announced 6 months in advance and will then require annual registration. Any excess fees collected will be used to pay for snacks at a future Event.
Venue Respect
Please respect the commercial establishment that is allowing us the space to game. If you want food or drink, buy it from them and do not bring items from elsewhere. Also, dispose of your refuse before you leave.
Agreement to the Code
To make sure that everyone has a common understanding of “show respect and courtesy to each other,” and to prevent undesirable harassment or behavior of participants in our Board Gaming Geeks [BGG] Meetup Events, we have adopted the following code of conduct. The code of conduct is enforced by the BGG Administrators.
All members are expected to signal they have read, understand, and agree to this code.
The Code
The following are unacceptable at BGG, both online and in-person, and constitute code of conduct violations:
Harassment
Including offensive verbal comments related to gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, political affiliation, race, or religion, as well as sexual images in public spaces, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual or romantic attention.
Threats
Threatening someone physically or verbally. For example, threatening to publicize sensitive information about someone’s personal life.
Blatant -isms
Saying things that are explicitly racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. For example, arguing that some people are less intelligent because of their gender, race or religion. Subtle -isms and small mistakes made in conversation are not code of conduct violations. However, repeating something after it has been pointed out to you that you broke a social rule, or antagonizing or arguing with someone who has pointed out your subtle -ism is considered unwelcoming behavior, and is not allowed at BGG.
Maliciousness towards other members
Deliberately attempting to make others feel bad, name-calling, singling out others for derision or exclusion. For example, telling someone they’re not a real gamer or that they don’t belong at BGG.
Being especially unpleasant
For example, if we’ve received reports from multiple gamers of annoying, rude, or especially distracting behavior.
Other Unacceptable Social Behavior
The following is also prohibited and includes but is not limited to:
Verbal comments that reinforce social structures of domination related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, political affiliation, race, age, or religion
Using membership information for your or your company’s gain - You agree not to spam other members
Sustained disruption of games or other events
Subtle -isms that are subtle expressions of racism, sexism, ageism, homophobia, transphobia and other kinds of bias and prejudice. They are small things that make others feel unwelcome, things that we all sometimes do by mistake. Subtle -isms make people feel like they don’t belong at BGG. We want to create an environment where everyone can focus all their energy on gaming. It’s hard to do that if you’re regularly being made to wonder whether you belong.
Subtle -isms can also be things that you do instead of say. This includes things like boxing out the only woman at the board during a discussion or assuming someone isn’t a gamer because of their race or gender.
This social rule is more complicated than the others. Not everyone agrees on what constitutes a subtle -ism. Subtle -isms are baked into society in ways that can make them hard to recognize. And not everyone experiences subtle -isms in the same way: subtle homophobia won’t hurt someone who’s straight in the same way it hurts someone who’s gay.
There’s another part of no subtle -isms: If you see racism, sexism, etc. outside of BGG, please don’t bring it in. For example, please don’t start a discussion about the latest offensive comment from Person XY or Z. Everyone who comes to BGG Meetup Events should have the same opportunity to focus on gaming, and people from oppressed groups often find discussions of racism, sexism, polarizing politics, etc. particularly hard to tune out. There are many places to discuss and debate these issues, but there are few where people can avoid them. We want to be one of those.
Please note these subtle -isms may be things that everyone does unintentionally, and making one doesn’t make them a bad person. If someone says, “hey, that’s subtly sexist,” don’t worry. Just apologize, reflect for a second, and move on.
Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above unwanted behaviors
Enforcement
Participants asked to stop any unwanted or harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. If a participant engages in unacceptable behavior, Board Gaming Geek Meetup organizers retain the right to take any actions to keep their event a welcoming environment for all participants. This includes warning the offender or expulsion from the Meetup (with no refund).
Event organizers may take action to redress anything designed to, or with the clear impact of, disrupting the event or making the environment hostile for any participants. We expect participants to follow these rules at all event venues and event-related social activities. We think people should follow these rules outside event activities too!
Reporting
If someone makes you or anyone else feel unsafe or unwelcome, please report it as soon as possible to an Event Organizer.
Instead of reporting a code of conduct violation, please contact law enforcement (call 911) directly to report criminal activity (e.g. physical assault, sexual assault, theft, or fear that someone will hurt themselves or someone else) or contact store personnel to report a dangerous physical situation (e.g. flood, fire or serious injury or damage).
Confidentiality
We will keep all reports confidential, except if we’ve discussed with you and agreed otherwise. When we discuss incidents with people who are reported, we will anonymize details as much as we can to protect reporter privacy.
If the violation happened online, please link to or send us the relevant text.
If the violation happened in person, please detail what exactly the other person said or did. In order to take action, we need to know the concrete actions that someone took.
Contact Information
For questions about this code of conduct or to report violations, please contact our organizers through our Meetup group.
This code of conduct helps ensure that Board Gaming Geeks remains a welcoming space for everyone to enjoy the hobby we all love.