My current thoughts on the enumerated list is if there is a sound legal reason not to include one, ok.
But I do feel there is significant value in having one simply because I believe some (hopefully many) occurrences or offense are unintended. So where can there be one? With the overall goal of avoiding conflicts to eliminate the number of reports made here is one idea. The enumerated list could go on an “Awareness” document. The points made would not be randomly chosen. What if a closed, anonymous poll (like the one Origami USA recently sent out to gauge the comfort level of people to attend their fall convention given the pandemic) could be sent only to people who have attended a particular past convention? This could be done by any organization who chose to do so so the results would be local to what is customary in a particular area. Because regions may be comprised of different cultures and traditions what may be an issue at one convention may not be at another. This is taking a more nuanced approach rather than trying to create a blanket, one-size-fits-all solution. Another (I think) signficant positive of allowing the community to determine what the results are (based on their past experiences) is it will bring them closer together because they’ll have jointly made the determinations of what matters most to them as a whole. I strongly encourage the use of an anonymous poll. Compiling the results will be the most time consuming part of an effort like this but I think it would only need to be done once and could be modified year by year based on if any complaints different from those listed are made. By keeping the poll anonymous it unburdens the organizer(s) of having to respond to replies but still allows people to be heard. With a timeline, such as at least 5 days to respond including at least one weekend day for those who work M-F, the entire process could be implemented quite quickly. It could ask three questions: 1. Were there any moments during your convention experience that you would define as harassment that didn’t warrant contacting the police? Please list and describe them below: 1. Were there any moments during your convention experience that you would define as discrimination that didn’t warrant contacting the police? Please list and describe them below: 3. Did you experience any incident that did warrant contacting the police but you chose not to? Please describe only as much of the incident as you feel comfortable. Please note I did not suggest a yes-or-no, check this box from an enumerated list of examples as the way to implement this simply because if you ask people to describe their experiences the results will more accurately depict how things happened and the degree to which it impacted the person. Answers could be complied and the most common incidents could be posted as the top 5 or 10 things to be aware have made fellow attendees enjoy their convention experiences less in the past. Several of the examples I gave in my “Focus" post could umbrella under “Touching.” After each point a suggestion or suggestions can be made to eliminate the issue. I.E. How can you know when it’s ok to touch someone? Ask them. Handshakes and hugs with someone you’ve just met should be instantaneous. Don’t maintain your embrace or grip too long, especially after the other person has relaxed theirs. Both should occur on middle ground meaning do not pull the other person towards you. Other than greetings it’s best to refrain from touching or placing your hands on anyone you don’t know well until you’re certain doing so will not be misunderstood as anything other than the friendly gesture you intended it to be. I will point out that advice would not only benefit people at the convention but in life in general to avoid unintended faux pas particularly in business settings. I would like to believe any event organizer, origami or otherwise, would want to know the answers to these questions if for no other reason to improve the event experience for all. Maybe they receive 5 replies. Maybe they receive 150. The organization would decide how long their list would be but I’d recommend no more than 10 points. I am not a lawyer nor do I have any experience whatsoever in any of this. But I think such a document would not carry the same legal implications adding them to a CoC would. So in brief: Would making an enumerated list from results of an anonymous community poll and adding at the end something about “these were not the only forms of interactions that caused fellow attendees to feel uncomfortable, they were the most common reasons" be helpful? Closing with something like: We are hoping the awareness of these interactions being misunderstood will help guide you to more positive ways of interacting with others so that everyone can relax, have fun, and enjoy their weekend. Stacie Tamaki
