2021-03-01 Samvera Helpers Meet-up

Participants

• @Hannah Frost

• @Jessica Hilt

• @Simeon Warner

• @Brian McBride

• @Rosalyn Metz

• @Kevin Kochanski

• Chris Awre

• Jon Cameron

• Jeremey Friesen

• Michael Klein

• Alicia Morris

• Heather Greer Klein

Discussion topics

• Notetaker?

• Agenda review

• Code of Conduct review - update on work with consultant Annalee Flower Horne - Simeon

• Opportunities for the Samvera Helpers (AKA business we should tend to)

  • How do we onboard new Helpers? See draft for vetting process as example for feedback

  • What’s actually involved in being a Helper?

    • What duties are separate from CoC issues and should there be some separate role?

    • Event helpers vs Samvera community helpers? Or should it be a different name? (not the name… bikeshed)

  • Where should we store our files (incident report templates, training resources, etc.)

  • What is the role of the Community Manager with respect to the Helpers?

  • ….

• Present at Samvera Virtual Connect?

  • Submissions due March 22

  • Esmé had offered to help

Code of Conduct Review:

• Initial meeting w/ Annalee going over how we have operated to this point, which highlighted a need for more formality

• We need a process to vet CoC group; is this the same as the helpers?

• Need a process for reporting performance issues, which is subject to a lot of variety in requirements state by state

• Reviewing CoC outline, w/ Vetting Helpers as the first example draft

  • Need to update draft w/ comments by Wed 3/3

  • Helpers are welcome to review the Vetting Helpers draft and provide feedback (to Simeon et al)

• Meeting as needed, no current set schedule

Opportunities for Helpers:

• What are helpers' responsibilities?

  • Especially in-person, helpers often serve as ambassadors, orienting new folks to the conference (though there are mentors to do this to specific individuals)

  • What is the difference between a vetted level of CoC helper vs. community ambassador (e.g., at a conference)?

  • Helpers: we’re defining this as a CoC-related role; while people can also be ambassadors, it’s explicitly a different role

    • Mandatory Reporter laws are different per state; some may have to drop out depending on their job description, vs. others may have to clear with their employer that they’re wearing a different hat while in the Samvera space

    • “Helpers” vs. “CoC Incident Response Team” - in this terminology, “helper” is more of the ambassador role

    • We need CoC/incident response name vs. Community Helper name:

      • “Responders” vs. “Helpers”

• What is the process for off-boarding CoC helpers?

  • This can be a high-stress position, should there be a prescribed rotation schedule independent of people needing to leave for other reasons?

    • This may be a future goal to define, this is not as stressful or demanding in the moment as it could be in the future

    • Is there a way to tie this rotation to how active you’ve had to be (ie, how may incidents they’ve had to be part of)

    • Do we need to track incidents regarding the same individual and have a process for rotating Responders in regard to that individual?

      • This last item highlights a need for the CoC process to define issues around repeat “offenders” and dismissal from Samvera Community and how this may pertain to the individual’s job

• Delicate issues that Annalee and CoC group needs to consider:

  • Documenting multiple violations

  • Handling issues when it may affect an offender’s performance

  • Diversifying Responders when regarding multiple incidents with the same individual

  • Identifying conflict of interest (ie, a responder as offender; a manager as offender)

• Storing and Documenting

  • Retention:

    • Slack is now a permanent mode

    • Record retention - do we want to responsible for having retained certain documents or communications?

  • Where to store files for templates, training resources, documenting incidents

    • We have a Google Drive, so let’s use this space

    • Have not discussed this in particular with Annalee yet

    • Slack has many admins, which compromises confidentiality. Should Community Manager own this?

      • Makes sense, but we need to make sure theres No Single Owner of anything

Virtual Connect:

• Who can work on a 20-min presentation proposal with Hannah (Jessica)

Working Group:

• We’ll charter this as a WG

Action items

Decisions

CoC Helpers:

• Helpers and “ambassadors” are a different role and we need to make that distinction. We will keep “helpers” as event ambassadors and form a new identity around CoC helpers (“Responders,” for example).

VC21:

• Hannah and Jessica will work on CoC presentation proposal

Formalizing what THIS GROUP is:

• We’re a Working Group to define Helper roles, etc.