Reporting Guidelines

If you believe someone is violating the code of conduct we ask that you report it to the Product Marketing Alliance by emailing richard@productmarketingalliance.com

All reports will be kept confidential. In some cases we may determine that a public statement will need to be made. If that's the case, the identities of all victims and reporters will remain confidential unless those individuals instruct us otherwise.

If you believe anyone is in physical danger, please notify appropriate emergency services first. If you are unsure what service or agency is appropriate to contact, include this in your report and we will attempt to notify them.

In your report please include:

• Your contact info for follow-up contact.
• Names (legal, nicknames, or pseudonyms) of any individuals involved.
• If there were other witnesses besides you, please try to include them as well.
• When and where the incident occurred. Please be as specific as possible.
• Your account of what occurred.
• If there is a publicly available record (e.g. a mailing list archive or a public IRC logger) please include a link.
• Any extra context you believe existed for the incident.
• If you believe this incident is ongoing.
• Any other information you believe we should have.

What happens after you file a report?

You will receive an email from the PMA Code of Conduct response team acknowledging receipt as soon as possible, but within 48 hours.

The working group will immediately meet to review the incident and determine:

• What happened.
• Whether this event constitutes a code of conduct violation.
• What kind of response is appropriate.

If this is determined to be an ongoing incident or a threat to physical safety, the team's immediate priority will be to protect everyone involved. This means we may delay an "official" response until we believe that the situation has ended and that everyone is physically safe.

Once the team has a complete account of the events they will make a decision as to how to respond. Responses may include:

• Nothing (if we determine no code of conduct violation occurred).
• A private reprimand from the Code of Conduct response team to the individual(s) involved.
• A public reprimand.
• An imposed vacation (i.e. asking someone to "take a week off" from a mailing list or IRC).
• A permanent or temporary ban from some or all PMA spaces (events, meetings, mailing lists, IRC, slack channel etc.)
• A request to engage in mediation and/or an accountability plan.

We'll respond within one week to the person who filed the report with either a resolution or an explanation of why the situation is not yet resolved.

Once we've determined our final action, we'll contact the original reporter to let them know what action (if any) we'll be taking. We'll take into account feedback from the reporter on the appropriateness of our response, but our response will be determined by what will be best for community safety.

Finally, the response team will make a report on the situation to the PMA board. The board may choose to issue a public report of the incident or take additional actions.

Appealing the response

Only permanent resolutions (such as bans) may be appealed. To appeal a decision of the working group, contact the PMA Board at  board@productmarketingalliance.com with your appeal and the PMA will review the case.